Cr Terry James is Cairns Regional Council’s current Mayor and previously Councillor for Division 4 – an area spanning the Cairns suburbs of Earlville, Kanimbla, and parts of Bungalow, Mooroobool, Woree and Bayview Heights.
Mayor Terry James is the fourth generation of a pioneering Cairns family whose roots date back to the 1800s on the Hodgkinson Gold Fields north of Dimbulah (behind Mareeba).
Cr James’ grandfather is buried at Mount Mulligan, the site of Australia’s worst mining disaster in 1921. After this disaster, the family moved to Cairns, where his father, George James began his trade as a cabinet maker, trained by George’s uncle, Ken Foley (past Alderman of Cairns City Council).
In the 60s Cr James’ father joined his uncle Archie James to establish ‘James Brothers’, a local building/house removalist company that also built, owned, and operated the long gone ‘House on the Hill’ (Division 4).
The House on the Hill
Cairns most historical landmark, the House on the Hill’s colourful past as a secret wartime headquarters where a raid on Singapore Harbour was launched, was known during wartime as ZES-Z Experimental Station. Z was the secret organisation which controlled the undercover war of subversion, sabotage, and intelligence from Australia. On Monday, August 9, 1943, one of the greatest sea raids of the war, Operation Jaywick, began from the House. The Raid took the small motor vessel, the Krait, and her men to Singapore destroying nearly 40,000 tons of Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour. No one in Cairns knew what was happening at the House on the Hill. It was all top secret. The book “The Heroes”, by Ronald McKie, tells the story.
The House (originally named Fairview) was built in 1896, just 20 years after Cairns was founded. It was built by Mr Richard Ash Kingsford, the first Mayor of Cairns Local Government Authority, formed in 1885. The house was designed by French architect, Mr. Louis Severin, who later became Cairns’ 22nd Mayor.
Mr Richard Kingsford’s fourth daughter, Catherine, married the local bank manager, Mr. W. Smith. and hyphenated their name. The couple’s fourth son, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith (the famous aviator), is known to have spent time at the house during his childhood.
The house was sold to Mr N. Munro in 1910. It was one of the family homes (Fairview) of “the Caring Sisters.” Janet Martin and Margaret Munro, half-sisters and well-regarded local philanthropists who contributed to the substantial redevelopment of Norman Park
in 1954. Norman Park now Munro Martin Park was renamed in their memory in 1956.
Terry James worked at the House on the Hill for many years in the 70’s as an a la carte waiter and barman when the house was Cairns leading restaurant followed by nightclub under the James family supervision for 11 years.
Cr James is married with five adult children and 12 grandchildren, all of whom live in Cairns. Cr James has enjoyed a long career as a Building Consultant (Building design/documentation, interior design, project management and planning consultant). Until recently, and for a period of 46 years he operated a small and successful family consultancy firm, JB Design (JB = ‘James brothers’ after his father’s building company), which is now owned by his son-in-law.
In the peak of the late ’80s, just before the ‘recession we had to have’, JB Design had 18 staff. Cr James knows full well the ‘ups and downs’ of running a small business, together with the daily needs of a growing family. JB Design clientele in those days were from Townsville north, across the Cape and up to Papua New Guinea, where the daily routine also included negotiating/dealing with all the local Councils in these areas.
“I have worked both sides of the Local Government counter for many years.”
Terry also applied his expertise and experience to specialist technical reports for the ‘MCS Group’ during the Cyclones Larry and Yasi years. The group is a privately owned Australian National Company that provides independent consultants’ technical reports to the Insurance industry, Loss adjusters, lawyers, Government agencies and private individuals.
Cr James was introduced to his Local Government career in 1988 when he ran (unsuccessfully) for Cairns City Council with Mayor Ron Davis (Cairns Civic Association). He then ran and was successful as a founding member of original Unity Team in 1994 with Kevin Byrne, prior to the amalgamation of Cairns and Mulgrave Councils.
In 1999, Cr James served under Mayor Tom Pyne, until his retirement in 2000, Mayor Kevin Byrne from 2000 to 2008, and Mayor Bob Manning from 2012 to current.
In March 2024 Cr James will have served 22 years in Local Government.
Cr James’ current portfolio is as follows:
History over the past 20+ years
Cairns Regional Council
Volunteer Experience Past Member
Australian Volunteer Coastguard - QF9 Cairns (volunteered 1980 - 1999) 19 yrs
Cairns and District Youth and Recreation Association (volunteered 1992 – 2000) 8 yrs
Far North Queensland Housing Awards Judge for HIA - Housing Industry Association
Volunteer Experience Current Member
Harald's House (volunteer from 2006 – present) 17 yrs
Far North Queensland Youth Assistance Fund (1999 – present) 24 yrs
Mayor Terry James was instrumental in the delivery of the following for Cairns:
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