The Belgiorno-Nettis Family

The Belgiorno-Nettis family is primarily known for its investments in construction and the arts. The family patriarch, the late Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, was an Italian engineer who emigrated to Australia in 1951. He co-founded the construction and engineering firm Transfield with fellow Italian-born engineer Carlo Salteri in 1956, and throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Transfield became one of Australia’s most influential engineering firms. The partnership between Belgiorno-Nettis and Salteri split in 1997 after a number of business disputes, so the family created a subsidiary called Transfield Services (later rebranded as Broadspectrum, which was then acquired by Ventia), which managed infrastructure and provided services to various industries, including mining, telecommunications and energy. Franco’s sons, Marco, Luca and Guido, were all involved in Transfield Services at various times.

From September 2012, Transfield Services operated the Nauru and Manus Island offshore detention centres. This involvement led to significant backlash from human rights groups and artists associated with the family’s philanthropic work. As an art enthusiast, Franco Belgiorno-Nettis had established the Transfield Art Prize, one of Australia’s most prestigious contemporary art awards at the time. This tradition continued with his son Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, who has been a prominent figure in the arts and served as chairman of the Biennale of Sydney. In 2014, after artists protested Transfield’s association with the detention centres, Luca Belgiorno-Nettis resigned from the Biennale’s board.

Luca Belgiorno-Nettis also founded the newDemocracy Foundation, an organisation designed for nonpartisan research whose “principal interest is to ensure citizens trust government and decision making”. Given his involvement in the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres, Luca has received criticism for his newDemocracy Foundation in the media, with some arguing that “the equalising spirit of democracy contradicts the whole dirty principle of mass detention without trial”.

Luca Belgiorno-Nettis has made significant political donations, admitting that they “bought access” to MPs. Transfield Services was also featured in an ABC Four Corners investigation into donations to Australian political parties, in which Luca Belgiorno-Nettis is quoted by the ABC to have said that “it would be ‘difficult to deny’ that the company’s political donations helped the company gain an unsolicited contract worth $750 million to build the Sydney Harbour Tunnel”.

Although the Belgiorno-Nettis family sold Broadspectrum, they remain influential in Australian business through Transfield Holdings, a privately-owned investment company managed by brothers Luca and Guido. Luca also manages Prisma Investments, a venture capital firm. Marco Belgiorno-Zegna was the Managing Director of Lidco Corporation and Avesta Corporation, and also owns significant real estate across the state of New South Wales.

In addition to their corporate interests, the family remains active in philanthropy. They support the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sculpture by the Sea and the Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk, and are long-time supporters of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Guido Belgiorno-Nettis was the Chairman of the ACO Board for 24 years until 2023, and in 2018 purchased a 1726 Stradivarius violin, gifting it to the orchestra on long-term loan. Marco Belgiorno-Nettis is the Chairman of the Board for the Australian Haydn Ensemble.