Mayor says goodbye to his mighty Quinn
NEIL Quinn was lying in the intensive care unit after a nearfatal bout of leptospirosis when the then newly-elected Cairns Mayor Bob Manning asked him to be his right-hand man.
He is now hanging up his hat after five years as the mayor’s executive manager to focus on his cattle operation at Malanda, bringing to a close a long and diligent career.
Mr Quinn’s working relationship with Cr Manning began in 1998 when he joined the former Cairns Port Authority as chief financial officer.
Cr Manning was CEO at the time, a role Mr Quinn would later move into before overseeing the sale of the Cairns Airport in 2012.
He had already notched up a 20-year history at Malanda Milk, starting out as a freshfaced university graduate and rising through the ranks to become company secretary.
But it was those years at the port authority that convinced Cr Manning that his old friend would make the perfect sounding board in his new role.
“When I had to think who I would like sitting beside me in the saddle, it was a pretty clear choice,” Cr Manning said.
“It took me about a week to track him down and he was in the intensive care unit with leptospirosis.”
They had the job interview right there in the ICU.
Mr Quinn accepted the job, recovered from the life-threatening illness, and got back to work organising a local gov- ernment with eight fresh councillors and a new mayor.
The admiration goes both ways and Mr Quinn said theirs was a relationship built on trust and confidence.
“At the port authority we had a few scraps, not between ourselves, but with others. We had to support each other all the way through,” he said.
Cr Manning was sure Mr Quinn would succeed in whatever venture he took next.
“He’s a very careful, deliberate, cautious, quiet worker who gets things done,” he said.
“The council will miss Neil and I’ll miss him. I’ll also miss working beside a mate because he’s great value.”
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