Tom Pyne

Thomas Alfred Pyne (generally known as Tom Pyne) became the Mayor of Cairns when the Shire of Mulgrave and the City of Cairns merged in 1995. He was succeeded by Kevin Byrne.

Biography

Pyne was born in January in the town of Babinda. He was the youngest of five children board to John Samuel and Katherine Hannah Pyne. His siblings include his brothers Jack and Frank and his sisters Ethel Hunt and Grace Macauley. He was educated at McDonnell's Creel, Bellenden Ker and Hambledon State Schools. For a number of years he lived at Deeral before moving to Edmonton. On July 2, 1955, at the age of 20, Tom married Marion McKinnon. Tom and Marion had two children, Joann Grace and Robert John. Robert Pyne (politician) is in his second term as Division 3 Councillor for Cairns Regional Council.

His working life began as a wood machinist with A.H. Kent, a furniture manufacturer in Cairns. He later was employed by Queensland Railways, the Department of Works and Advanx Tyre and Motor Services. He later opened his own business, Tin-Sang and Co, at Edmonton.

Pyne was a member of the 51st R.O.R. Reserve and attained the rank of Sergeant. His commanding officer, Sir Sydney Williams O.B.E., become a lifelong friend.

He died in November 2011.

Politics

Pyne joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 18. He rose through the ranks and held the positions of President and Secretary of the branch of several occasions. On 2 August 1985 he was presented with a Life Membership by the then Foreign Minister of Australia (and later Governor-General), Bill Hayden.

Pyne served as Campaign Director to a number of Federal and State members. These have included Ray Jones, Keith De Lacy, and John Gayler.

Local Government Association of Queensland

As a member of the Local Government Association of Queensland he served as the Division 10 representative. This division covered the Councils of North Queensland from Bowen, north along the coast and inland to Charters Towers and Dalrymple – 21 Councils in all. Tom first became a Member of the Local Government Executive in 1982 and was reappointed in 1985, 1988 and 1991.

Prior to the 1995 amalgamation of the City of Cairns and Shire of Mulgrave, Tom Pyne became the Chairman of a group of 20 local authorities known as the Campaign Against Forced Amalgamation. Conversely, in 2007 he was a member of the committee that recommended the amalgamation of the City with the Shire of Douglas into the Cairns Region.

Mulgrave Shire Council

In 1961, he was elected to the Mulgrave Shire Council as the Councillor for Division 1 and served continuously, in one form or another, until 2000. He retired from public office in 2000 having never been defeated at an election.

In 1976, he was elected Deputy Shire Chairman.

In 1979, he was elected unopposed to the Chairmanship of Mulgrave shire council following the retirement of the former Chairman Ken Alley. He was elected to this position unopposed in 1982, 1983, 1988 and 1991. Following the amalgamation of Mulgrave with the City of Cairns, he was elected as Mayor for a five-year term in 1995.

Other positions in the community

While serving as Chairman of the Mulgrave Shire Council, Tom Pyne also filled a number of other official positions, such as Senior Vice-Chairman of the Local Government Association of Queensland and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the local radio station, 4am. Other duties included appointments as the Chairman of the Queensland Electricity Board in 1991 and Committee Member of the Far North Queensland Youth Assistance Inc for 12 years. He was also Deputy President on the Cairns/Mulgrave Water Supply Board, to which he was first appointed to in 1968 and the Wet Tropics Management Authority.

References

Other references

• Profile – Thomas Alfred Pyne – Cairns City Council Historical Archives – 1991
• Councillor Tom Pyne – Cairns City Council Historical Archives – 1991
• Mulgrave Shire Council Media Release – Cairns City Council Historical Archives – 4 October 1993