He seemed to have everyone in Qld’s phone number: Premier
‘The conversation at the Mulherin family table often resulted in a decision around the cabinet table in Brisbane.’
Mackay
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mackay. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Premier has labelled Tim Mulherin the Atticus Finch of Queensland who was an "old soul" but a "progressive thinker".
She described him as gentle, dedicated, respectful and unshakeable - someone who seemed to have the phone number of everyone in Queensland.
"Tim was related to someone or knew someone who knew someone," she said as she delivered an emotional and heartfelt farewell for her friend and former colleague.
"Tim viewed meeting people he didn't know as an opportunity to make new friends.
"Tim loved people and they loved him."
Just as the livestream from St Patrick's Church to the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre faltered initially, so did an emotional Annastacia Palaszczuk as she described someone who was once her right-hand man.
She said his various portfolios in primary industries, rural affairs and agriculture eminently suited him and his interest in those areas never waned.
"The last text message Tim sent to me about a week before he passed away, he had advice for me on regional Queensland," she told 100 people in the church and several hundred more watching a livestream from the MECC.
RELATED STORIES:
We love you dad: He had a PhD in useless knowledge
'Tim's legacy will never be forgotten': Premier's tribute
Family and friends were everything to Tim Mulherin
Vale: The world needs more people like Tim Mulherin
IN PICTURES: Mr Mackay farewelled in moving service
"He mentioned to me he was happy and he had just bought a brand new sports coat.
"In his maiden speech … he said change and development must occur in a sustainable way.
"We owe this to our children and our children's children.
"His great skill was in being a good listener.
"He used learning circles to harness knowledge and would include stakeholders in decision making."
Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Mulherin, whose coffin was draped in the Queensland state flag, had "quite a number of crises to deal with in his portfolio" from fire ants, sugar cane and equine influenza to Cyclone Larry.
"Modern-day Mackay has been shaped by Tim's work," he said.
"He delivered significant projects for the Mackay region including Bluewater Quay, Bluewater Lagoon, Forgan bridge replacement, Edmund Casey bridge, Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre, the Mackay showgrounds redevelopment, the botanical gardens and the Mackay Base Hospital.
"He helped build the new police station in Sydney Street.
"He kept Mackay's roads and bridges modern to improve safety and the supply chain and he played an early role in the Mackay Ring Road.
"After the 2008 flood which encroached on the hospital, he was determined to rebuild the modernised facility that we see today.
"Tim used learning circles after Cyclone Larry to develop the economic assistance packages required to get local economies back on their feet.
"Tim was also an authentic ally of Indigenous Queensland … he even cooked fresh fish curry for the community on several occasions.
"Tim was both an old soul and a modern and progressive thinker.
"Everyone who worked with Tim admired his policy and analytical skills, and were impressed by his passion for policy, economic reform and understanding of wealth creation.
"Tim was an old school politician in the mould of Chifley and Curtin.
"He was smart and he knew good policy was essential to beneficial economic change.
"Tim's enduring achievement in the primary industries portfolio was taking a department that had always been considered a social policy department and converting it to a key economic agency."
Ms Palaszczuk said the three years in Opposition between 2012 and 2015 were "pretty tough years" but "Tim was a great deputy".
"He was fiercely loyal and always had my back," she said.
"I learned a lot from Tim in that time.
"Tim was a leader and he revelled in the challenge of Opposition.
"I remember him telling me on our first day in the parliament as an Opposition of just seven that we would need skin thicker than rhinos to get through this.
"He then turned to me and said we have three more years to endure.
"He was as much at home walking through Mackay cane fields as he was chairing a board room lunch or questioning an estimates committee.
"He was a steady influence on the office and generous with his advice. He was only too willing to share knowledge, garnered over 20 years.
"The thing that struck me most about Tim was his love for his family
"His family was at the centre of everything.
"He adored Erin and had a great respect for her mother Rose.
"He spoke so lovingly of his three boys and loved bringing them into the office.
"They were part of every aspect of his life and he hated being away from them.
"He seemed to have just about everyone in Queensland's phone number.
"When Tim was home, the table was usually set for a visiting colleague.
"The conversation at the Mulherin family table often resulted in a decision around the cabinet table in Brisbane.
"I will miss his friendship and his advice.
"Tim was a gentleman, Tim was a true friend and Tim's legacy will never be forgotten."
Farewell Frank: Wife’s tribute to miner ‘loved by everyone’
The heartbroken wife of a miner killed in a tragic workplace death at a Qld mine has paid tribute to an amazing man who was ‘loved by everyone’. Read her moving words.
$13m on Friday, $20m on Monday: School cashes in on vote grab
Labor has thrown $20m at a Far North Queensland school just days after the LNP pledged $13m, with the cash splash sparking an inevitable war of words.