Keith DeLacy: Cairns Labor legend dies after long health battle
Far North Queensland has lost one of its greatest political champions after the death of former Cairns MP and treasurer Keith DeLacy.
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FAR North Queensland has lost one of its greatest political champions after the death of former Cairns MP and treasurer Keith DeLacy.
The veteran of the Labor movement died on Friday morning after a long battle with cancer.
His death brings the end to an era of tireless service to his region and its people, harking back to a political career that began almost four decades ago.
Tributes have already started to flow for the 81-year-old who grew up on a tobacco farm in the Mareeba-Dimbulah district and joined Labor’s Cairns branch in 1970.
Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt said Mr DeLacy was a driving inspiration for his own work within the party and parliament.
“Growing up in Far North Queensland, Keith was an enormous presence in terms of his role as member for Cairns, and particularly as treasurer of Queensland,” Mr Pitt said.
“I remember sitting with Keith, talking after I became treasurer.
“We agreed on the enormous responsibility the role had, but even more so for ensuring that the Far North got its time in the sun.”
Mr DeLacy was a successful businessman in his own right after leaving politics and was well known as director of the Reef Casino Trust for more than 20 years.
He resigned from the position in recent months, at which time he was thanked by Reef Casino Trust executive director Allan Tan.
“I thank Keith for his tremendous contribution to the Reef Casino Trust board and I particularly value his guidance provided to me as to my capacity as CEO and executive director,” Mr Tan said at the time.
Mr Pitt said Mr DeLacy was a gentleman who “always called it how he saw it”.
“He was a mentor to so many people within the Labor movement for a long time,” he said.
“With his passing, as well as the passing of his contemporaries like Wayne Goss, it really is the end of an era.”
His legacy lives on in some of the most important infrastructure in Cairns.
Anyone who visits the Cairns Convention Centre, James Cook University’s Cairns campus or the Cairns Art Gallery owes a huge debt of gratitude to this passionate advocate for the Far North.
Mr Delacy’s beloved wife Yvonne, 74, died in 2018 after a short battle with pneumonia.
The couple were married in 1962.
Mrs Delacy had Keith’s heart from that day forward – and in 2014 she also received his kidney in a successful transplant.
Speaking after her death, Mr DeLacy said Yvonne was the bedrock of their family.
“Yvonne was always the homemaker,” he said.
“She never carved out her own career so she could support everyone else.
“That’s not just me, that is our three daughters as well.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has sent her condolences to the DeLacy family and paid tribute to his service to Queensland and the Labor Party.
“Keith was part of Wayne Goss’s government which will long be remembered for its reforms,” she said.
“I extend my sympathies to Keith’s daughters, Jonnie, Jacquie, Toni and their families.”
Mr De Lacy was a former underground coal miner and farmer who attended the University of Queensland as a mature age correspondence student.
He was an MP for 15 years, notably as Queensland’s treasurer from 1989 until 1996.
After politics, he had a successful business career as both director and chairman of a range of companies.
He was president of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and received that organisation’s gold medal.
He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to Queensland.
Mr DeLacy recently published his memoirs, titled A Philosophical Journey.
The back cover of the 337-page book include quotes from some of the people who knew him best.
Keith DeLacy’s back-page praise
We need more Keith DeLacys in the Queensland Government. – Jim Kennedy AO
When he became Treasurer in the Wayne Goss government he knew that Labor had a bad reputation for reckless spending. He set about making sure that he would not repeat the mistakes of other administrations. He succeeded. DeLacy has had a celebrated career after politics as a company director and entrepreneur. – Gary Johns
I met Keith DeLacy in the early 1990s … We shared mutual friends and a deep love of sport, soon becoming close friends ourselves. This friendship has grown over the 25-plus years since and remains something that I treasure today. – Don Nissen
What an achiever. What a friend … Keith DeLacy has had a remarkable and one of the most extensive and successful careers of any person I know. – Sir Leo Lielscher AC
Queensland was fortunate to have had a man of courage, common sense and practical experience at the controls at exactly that moment when opportunity came knocking. Fortunately, his CV omitted to mention a PhD from the University of Life and Hard Knocks. This is sometimes better than a Harvard MBA. – Martin Kriewaldt
With a personal trajectory from tobacco, tin mining, sugar, communism and dirt-floored houses to the glittering glass towers of Brisbane, Keith’s personal story is an inspirational Queensland yarn. — Graham Young
His legacy for Cairns is considerable, not just the key role he played in establishing James Cook University’s campus, the city’s art gallery or the world-acclaimed convention centre, but also the leadership he showed for numerous local organisations. – Nick Trompf
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