Graham Quirk (born c. 1958) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th

Lord Mayor of Brisbane The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is the chief executive of the City of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane City Council. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party was sworn in on ...

. From 2008 until 2011, he was Deputy Lord Mayor under Campbell Newman, succeeding the latter when Newman became the

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

. Quirk served as a Councillor in the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...

since 1985. Quirk is a member of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

, affiliated federally with the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. Quirk was elected as Lord Mayor in his own right in a landslide at the

2012 Brisbane City Council election Elections to Brisbane City Council were held on Saturday, 28 April 2012 to elect a councillor to each of the local government area's 26 wards and the direct election of the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. The election resulted in a landslide re-electi ...

, winning 68.3% of the TPP mayoral vote and 18 of the 26 local wards. The Liberal National's increased their representation at the

2016 Brisbane City Council election Elections to Brisbane City Council were held on Saturday, 19 March 2016 to elect a councillor to each of the local government area's 26 wards and the direct election of the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. The election resulted in the comprehensive re ...

to 19 wards, albeit with a smaller margin in the mayoral race with Quirk winning 59.3% of the TPP vote.

Political career

Quirk, an alumnus of St James College, entered Brisbane City Council when elected as Councillor for Rochedale Ward in 1985, aged 27. After three years he was appointed the city's Finance Chairman under Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson and was later appointed Works Chairman. He then served as Opposition Spokesman on Development and Planning, Opposition Spokesman on Finance and Opposition Spokesman on Transport and Traffic. He served as Deputy Opposition Leader and was Opposition Leader at the time of Campbell Newman's election as Lord Mayor in 2004. Quirk was elected as Deputy Liberal Leader to Campbell Newman and was appointed to the role of Chairman of Transport and Major Projects (later known as Roads, TransApex and Traffic). In this role he administered one-third of the council's total budget expenditure for the implementation of TransApex, the road network and traffic management. In 2008 the LNP gained a majority of councillors and Quirk took on the roles of Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee. Following Newman's departure from Lord Mayorship to enter state politics, Quirk was appointed the new Lord Mayor of Brisbane City. On 28 April 2012, Quirk won a four-year term as Mayor in his own right at the Brisbane City Council elections. He won a second full term in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. In March 2019 Quirk announced his retirement from Council, his deputy Adrian Schrinner was subsequently elected his successor. In December 2019, the federal Infrastructure Minister, Michael McCormack, appointed Quirk to the board of

Infrastructure Australia Infrastructure Australia is an independent statutory body providing independent research and advice to all levels of government and industry on projects and reforms relating to investment in Australian infrastructure. It advocates for reforms on ...

, which provides advice to government and industry on Australia’s infrastructure policy and projects.

Personal life

Quirk is married to wife Anne. They have three daughters, with the eldest having

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

References

External links

Quirk website
grahamquirk.com.au; accessed 12 September 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quirk, Graham Living people Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Mayors and Lord Mayors of Brisbane Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)