Maurice Alter

Moses "Maurice" Alter
Born	(1925-03-30)30 March 1925 Siedliszcze, Poland
Died	13 April 2018(2018-04-13) (aged 93) Melbourne, Australia
Burial place	Melbourne Chevra Kadisha
Citizenship	Australia (since 1955)
Occupations	Property developer Company director
Years active	c1955–2018
Board member of	Hanover Holdings (1964–79) Pacific Group (1979–2018)
Partner	Helen Alter
Children	2

Moses "Maurice" Alter (30 March 1925 – 13 April 2018) was an Australian property developer, billionaire, art collector and philanthropist. Between 1963 and 1979, Alter was a key figure of the Hanover (formerly Masaga) property group in partnership with developers Paul Fayman and George Herscu. He later founded the Pacific Group, which remains in business today under the control of his family. Prior to his death in 2018, Alter was one of ten individuals listed on every Financial Review Rich List since the first list was published in 1984.

Maurice Alter was born at Szedliszcz in eastern Poland, to parents Joseph and Brachell Alter. He received an education in Russia before going to Germany. After surviving Nazi persecution, in 1949, Alter fled to Australia as a displaced person and was the sole surviving member of his family. Upon arriving, Alter studied electrical engineering by correspondence while working two jobs, making his first real estate investment in the mid-1950s through the purchase of two shops and a bank in Kew, Victoria.^[1]

During this period, he married Hinda "Helen" Rubinstein, and they became Australian citizens.^[2][3] The couple shared an interest in music and later owned an expensive contemporary art collection, which included works by Brett Whiteley.^[4][1] He partnered with developer George Herscu in the late 1950s, and they began building shops around Melbourne's booming outer-suburbs. Many of these were leased to large supermarket chains like Coles.^[5]

In 1964, Alter and Herscu assisted Paul Fayman with his Forest Hill Shopping Centre project, which proved to be a highly-successful venture and marked the beginning of a long-standing partnership between the developers. That year, they consolidated their interests as the Masaga Group.^[6][5] Headquartered at the Royal Bank Chambers on Collins Street, the private syndicate mainly held interests in retail, industrial and residential sites around the state of Victoria.^[7]

Masaga went public in 1969 through a highly-strategic reverse takeover, transformed a finance company into a development group known as Hanover Holdings.^[8][9] Alter was put in charge of Hanover Properties, a principal subsidiary which developed and managed property for retention as permanent investments.^[10] Hanover quickly became known for its large-scale shopping centres, profiting immensely during the early-1970s real estate boom.^[11][12]

The company's success during this period, boosted by a property boom, ultimately formed the foundation of Alter's wealth.^[13] In 1975, the Alter-Herscu-Fayman partnership moved to privatise and dissolve Hanover, making an offer to shareholders which was scrutinised for being well below the true value of its assets.^[14][15] Alter retained a significant portfolio of commercial and industrial land, forming the basis of a new private conglomerate known as the Pacific Group.^[16]

In 1982, Alter and several colleagues were implicated in the so-called "Bottom of the harbour" tax avoidance scheme uncovered by government investigators. The operation, which involved falsifying company returns using fabricated names and addresses, was estimated to have defrauded the Federal Government of over $200 million—equivalent to roughly $1.2 billion in 2024 terms. The revelations led to a formal inquiry led by the Corporate Affairs Office under the Liberal government, with investigators gathering extensive evidence.^[17][18]

Several months after the scheme was revealed, a Royal Commission uncovered that Alter had undertaken corrupt practises with trade unionist Norm Gallagher. The Crown alleged that he and George Herscu had given their project managers an "open check book for gifts" to ensure that their projects were completed on time, effectively buying industrial peace. Alter and multiple co-conspirators were charged but not sentenced.^[19][20]

Alter faced further criticism in 1999, when the Sydney Morning Herald published an expose on his history of tax avoidance. It was alleged that Alter had built his property empire with a "no tax" principle, and that he had ordered his accountants not to pay income tax.^[21][22] The allegations came not after it was revealed Alter had sunk $1.2 million into a tax avoidance scam by fraudulent lawyer Max Green, who was later murdered in Cambodia.^[23][24]

Maurice Alter died aged 93, on 13 April 2018, and is buried at the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha. The Pacific Group of Companies are now under the control of his son, Samuel Alter.^[25]

Year	Financial Review Rich List		Forbes Australia's 50 Richest
	Rank	Net worth (A$)	Rank	Net worth (US$)
2011[26]			32	$0.70 billion
2012[27]			30	$0.78 billion
2013[28]			32	$0.89 billion
2014[29]			30	$0.96 billion
2015[30]			19	$1.20 billion
2016[31]			24	$1.10 billion
2017[32][33][34]		$1.81 billion	20
2018[35]	26	$2.26 billion
2019[36][37]	35	$2.33 billion	18	$2.10 billion
2020[38]	34	$2.31 billion
2021[39]	46	$2.32 billion
2022	42	$2.60 billion
2023[40]	44	$2.60 billion

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