Community
22 November, 2023
Cr Terry James new Cairns Mayor
DESPITE a tight vote, deputy Mayor and division 4 councillor Terry James has been elected as the new Mayor of Cairns at the ordinary council meeting today.
With a motion moved by division 1 councillor Brett Moller and seconded by Ronda Coghlan (division 8), and despite the nomination of division 9 councillor Brett Olds for the position, Cr Terry James has become the new mayor ahead of the local government election in March 2024.
The deputy mayor will be elected next Wednesday, November 29 at a council special meeting.
Ahead of the election at today’s council’s meeting, Cr James said he was confident he would become the new mayor.
“I’m confident, I’ve been doing the job for quite a while now, Bob hasn’t been well, and I believe I have the support of the majority of councillors,” he said.
“I’ve been councillor now for 22 years and deputy mayor for 11 of those years so I know how to do the job and I look forward to the challenge; in tough times like this you really need someone who’s got the experience and there’s a lot to learn.”
Born and bred in Cairns, Cr Terry James is the fourth generation of a pioneering Cairns family whose roots date back to the late 1800s on the Hodgkinson Gold Fields north of Dimbulah, he is married and has five children all of whom reside in Cairns.
Cr James had a long career as a building consultant and operated a small consultancy firm JB Design for 46 years, learning about the ups and downs and running a small business and being in contact with the community he turned his eyes to local government in the late 1980s, getting his start in council in 1988.
Hi first ran for council in 1988 with Mayor Ron Davis as part of the Cairns Civic Association, and then in 1994 as part of the original Unity Team with the late Mayor Kevin Byrne.
In 1999, Cr James served under Mayor Tom Pyne, until his retirement in 2000, Mayor Kevin Byrne from 2000 to 2008, and Mayor Bob Manning from 2012 until today becoming Cairns’ new mayor ahead of the March 2024 elections where he will seek to remain in the position.
Cairns Regional Council chief executive Mica Martin now has 14 days to appoint a new councillor for division 4 with Unity Team candidate Jeremy Neal and independent candidate Shane Cuthbert in the running for the position.
