| Mayor of Cairns | |
|---|---|
| Incumbent Amy Eden since 16 March 2024 | |
| Inaugural holder | Richard Ash Kingsford |
| Formation | 1885 |
The City of Cairns, in Far North Queensland, was originally established as a borough with a chairman from 1885 until 1903, when the Local Authorities Act 1902 transformed it into a town with a mayor. The town achieved city status in 1923. In 1995, when the Shire of Mulgrave amalgamated into the City, the mayor was elected by a much larger base of voters. In 2008, when the City was amalgamated with the Shire of Douglas into the Cairns Region, the mayor's voter base expanded yet again.
Borough of Cairns (1885–1903)
The mayors of the Borough of Cairns were:
| Chairman | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Ash Kingsford | 1885–1886 | |
| Louis Severin | 1886–1888 | |
| Richard Ash Kingsford | 1889 | |
| Callaghan Walsh | 1890 | |
| Louis Severin | 1891 | |
| Alexander Frederick John "AJ" Draper | 1891–1893 | |
| Daniel Patience | 1893–1894 | |
| James Lyons | 1895–1896 | |
| AJ Draper | 1897 | |
| Karl Aumuller | 1898 | |
| Lyne Brown | 1899 | |
| Richard Alfred Tills | 1900–1901 | |
| AJ Draper | 1902 |
Town of Cairns (1903–1923)
The mayors of the Town of Cairns were:
| Mayor | Term |
|---|---|
| Louis Severin | 1903 |
| Donald McLachlan | 1904 |
| Charles McKenzie | 1905 |
| Edward Earl | 1906 |
| Richard Alfred Tills | 1907 |
| Sinclair Miller | 1908 |
| John Coxall | 1909 |
| Andrew Hartill-Law | 1910 |
| John George Hoare | 1911 |
| Charles McKenzie | 1912–1913 |
| Thomas Dillon | 1914 |
| John Griffiths | 1915 |
| Thomas Dillon | 1915–1916 |
| Thomas Henry Donaldson | 1917 |
| AJ Draper | 1918–1919 |
| Richard Cowle Foxdale Gelling | 1919 |
| John George Hoare | 1920–1923 |
City of Cairns Council (1923–1995)
The mayors of the City of Cairns (prior to amalgamation) were:
| Mayor | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| John George Hoare | 1923–1924 | |
| AJ Draper | 1924–1927 | |
| William Aloysius Collins | 1927–1949 | |
| William Henry Murchison | 1949–1952 | |
| Bill Fulton | 1952–1960 | |
| S. Darcy Chataway | 1960–1967 | |
| Colin Penridge | 1967–1969 | |
| David Thomas De Jarlais | 1969–1973 | |
| Kevin Francis Crathern | 1973–1978 | |
| Ronald (Ron) Davis | 1979–1988 | |
| Keith Goodwin | 1988–1990 | |
| John Peter Cleland | 1990–1991 | |
| Kevin Byrne | 1992–1995 |
City of Cairns Council (Amalgamated) (1995–2008)
The mayors of the City of Cairns (following amalgamation):
| Mayor | Term |
|---|---|
| Tom Pyne | 1995–2000 |
| Kevin Byrne | 2000–2008 |
Cairns Regional Council
2008–present
| No. | Portrait | Mayor | Party | Term start | Term end | Notes | Council control (term) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Val Schier | Independent | 3 April 2008 | 28 April 2012 | First female mayor of Cairns. Lost re-election | Independents majority (2008–2012) | ||
| 2 |
|
Bob Manning | Unity | 28 April 2012 | 17 November 2023 | Retired | Unity majority (2012–2024) | ||
| 3 |
|
Terry James | Unity | 22 November 2023 | 16 March 2024 | Division 4 councillor 2012–2023. Lost re-election | |||
| 4 |
|
Amy Eden | Team Eden | 16 March 2024 | present | Division 5 councillor 2020–2024. Incumbent | No overall control (2024–present) | ||
Election results
2024
This section is an excerpt from 2024 Queensland mayoral elections § Cairns.| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Eden | Amy Eden | 25,782 | 30.70 | +30.70 | |
| Cairns Unity | Terry James | 20,187 | 24.04 | −42.93 | |
| Independent | Paul Taylor | 19,532 | 23.26 | +23.26 | |
| Community First | Denis Walls | 10,745 | 12.79 | +12.79 | |
| Independent | John Kel | 3,854 | 4.59 | +4.59 | |
| Independent | Leah Potter | 2,747 | 3.27 | +3.27 | |
| Independent | Warren Binda | 1,139 | 1.36 | +1.36 | |
| Turnout | 88,650 | 75.39 | +4.83 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Team Eden | Amy Eden | 30,364 | 56.64 | +56.64 | |
| Cairns Unity | Terry James | 23,242 | 43.36 | −37.89 | |
| Team Eden gain from Cairns Unity | Swing | N/A | |||
2020
This section is an excerpt from 2020 Queensland mayoral elections § Cairns.| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns Unity | Bob Manning | 47,171 | 66.97 | ||
| Independent | Georgia Babatsikos | 8,161 | 11.59 | ||
| Independent LNP | Ian Lydiard | 7,837 | 11.13 | ||
| Cairns N.Q.S.A. Team | Jen Sackley | 7,266 | 10.32 | ||
| Turnout | 73,850 | 70.56 | |||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Cairns Unity | Bob Manning | 49,048 | 81.25 | ||
| Independent | Georgia Babatsikos | 11,320 | 18.75 | ||
| Cairns Unity hold | Swing | ||||
1933
This section is an excerpt from 1933 Queensland mayoral elections § Cairns.| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | William Aloysius Collins | unopposed | |||
| Independent hold | Swing | ||||
References
- ^ "Mayors of Cairns 1885 to Present" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Cairns Regional Council. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- Australian History Publishing Co (1936), Queensland and Queenslanders : incorporating 'Prominent Queenslanders', Australian History Publishing Co, p. 75, retrieved 1 October 2015 — available online Archived 16 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Mayors of the Cairns City Council" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Cairns Regional Council. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- Pugh, Theophilus Parsons (1927). Pugh's Almanac for 1927. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- Australian History Publishing Co (1936), Queensland and Queenslanders : incorporating 'Prominent Queenslanders', Australian History Publishing Co, p. 78, retrieved 1 October 2015 — available online Archived 16 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- "Local Government Elections". Trove. Brisbane Courier.
| Lists of mayors in Queensland | |
|---|---|
| South East | |
| Wide Bay–Burnett | |
| Darling Downs | |
| Central | |
| North | |
| Far North | |
| North West | |
| Central West | |
| South West | |