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The Honourable
Stirling Hinchliffe
MP
The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe MP
Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement
	In office; 12 November 2020 – 18 December 2023
Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk ; Steven Miles
Preceded by	Kate Jones (Tourism Industry Development and Innovation) Mick de Brenni (Sport)
Succeeded by	Michael Healy (as Minister for Tourism and Sport) ; Leanne Linard (as Minister for Innovation and Science)
Minister for Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs
	In office; 12 December 2017 – 12 November 2020
Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Mark Furner (Local Government) Grace Grace (Racing, Multicultural Affairs)
Succeeded by	Steven Miles (Local Government) Grace Grace (Racing) Leanne Linard (Multicultural Affairs)
Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games
	In office; 8 December 2015 – 6 February 2017
Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Jackie Trad (Transport) Kate Jones (Commonwealth Games)
Succeeded by	Jackie Trad (Transport) Kate Jones (Commonwealth Games)
Assistant Minister of State Assisting the Premier of Queensland
	In office; 16 February 2015 – 8 December 2015
Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Glen Elmes (Minister assisting the Premier of Queensland)
Succeeded by	Mark Ryan
Leader of the House of Queensland
	In office; 16 February 2015 – 11 December 2017
Premier	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Ray Stevens
Succeeded by	Yvette D'Ath
Minister for Employment and Skills of Queensland
	In office; 21 February 2011 – 26 March 2011
Preceded by	Andrew Fraser (Employment)
Succeeded by	John-Paul Langbroek (Training and Employment)
Minister for Mining of Queensland
	In office; 21 February 2012 – 26 March 2012
Preceded by	Stephen Robertson (Mines)
Succeeded by	Andrew Cripps (Mines)
Minister for Infrastructure and Planning of Queensland
	In office; 26 March 2009 – 21 February 2011
Preceded by	Paul Lucas
Succeeded by	Paul Lucas (as Minister for Local Government)
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Stafford
	In office; 9 September 2006 – 24 March 2012
Preceded by	Terry Sullivan
Succeeded by	Chris Davis
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Sandgate
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 31 January 2015
Preceded by	Kerry Millard
Personal details
Born	23 November 1970 (age 54); Dalby, Queensland
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Megan Clarke
Children	Three
Alma mater	University of Queensland
Signature
Website	www.stirlinghinchliffe.com

Stirling James Hinchliffe (born 23 November 1970^{[citation needed]}) is an Australian politician.

Early life

Born in Dalby, Queensland, he was educated at state schools and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland.

He was a property industry analyst, policy manager, policy advisor and executive officer before his entry into politics. Hinchliffe's long involvement with the Australian Labor Party included a position as national secretary of Young Labor in 1995.

Parliamentary career

In the 2006 Queensland state election, he was elected to the safe Labor seat of Stafford, which he represented until being defeated in the 2012 Queensland state election, losing to the LNP's Chris Davis.^[1] Hinchliffe served as a cabinet minister in the Bligh ministry.^[2]

Hinchliffe returned to parliament in 2015 as the member for Sandgate. He was sworn in as Assistant Minister of State Assisting the Premier in the Palaszczuk ministry on 16 February 2015. He was also nominated as Leader of the House, an appointment confirmed when the Legislative Assembly of Queensland met for the first time following the election.^[3]

In December 2015, he was elevated to Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games.

In February 2017, he resigned as the Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games following an ongoing series of railway passenger services being cancelled due to there being an insufficient number of train drivers, a situation exacerbated by the opening in 2016 of the Redcliffe Peninsula railway line. Hinchliffe's resignation came despite a commission of inquiry not attributing any blame to him, finding that the difficulties were a result of structural and cultural problems within Queensland Rail.^[4]

Following the 2017 state election, Hinchliffe re-entered Cabinet as the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He was charged with responding to a number of integrity issues with the local government sector in Queensland, culminating in him dismissing the entire Ipswich and Logan City Councils.^[5]^[6] He also oversaw the return of racing to the Eagle Farm Racecourse after extensive track remediation,^[7] and has increased funding to multicultural community groups across Queensland.^[8]

Following the re-election of the Palaszczuk government in 2020, Hinchliffe was appointed as the Minister for Tourism Industry Development, Innovation and Minister for Sport.^[9] On October 7, following Brisbane's successful bid for the 2032 Olympic Games, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made a minor reshuffle to her Cabinet. This resulted in Stirling's portfolio being tweaked to become the Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement.^[10]

In October 2023, Hinchliffe confirmed he would not be contesting the 2024 Queensland state election, opting to retire to spend more time with his family.^[11]

In October 2024, he stepped down from his position. His replacement is Asian-Australian Bisma Asif.

References

^ "Queensland Election 2012 rolling coverage". Herald Sun. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023. Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has lost Stafford to the LNP's Chris Davis.
^ "Stirling James Hinchliffe". Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
^ "Queensland's new Labor Cabinet sworn in at Government House". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation 16 February 2015. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
^ Templeton, Anthony; Vogler, Sarah (6 February 2017). "Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe resigns". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ Horn, Allyson; O'Brien, Chris (22 August 2018). "Ipswich council sacking imminent after dismissal bill passes Queensland Parliament". ABC News. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ Queensland Government (2 May 2019). "Logan City Council dismissed as Interim Administrator appointed". Queensland Government Statements. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ Dorries, Ben (11 December 2018). "Long wait is over – Eagle Farm returns December 22". RaceNet. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ Queensland Government (15 April 2019). "Palaszczuk Government delivers $375,000 boost for multicultural projects". Queensland Government Statements. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ "Who stays and who goes in Palaszczuk's new ministry?". www.abc.net.au. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
^ "Palaszczuk announces herself as 'Minister for the Olympics'". 7NEWS. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
^ Elks, Sarah (11 October 2023). "Stirling Hinchliffe calls it quits after 17 years to 'put family first'". The Australian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.

External links

Strachan Commission of Inquiry Report on Queensland Rail train crewing practices

Political offices
Preceded by Ray Stevens	Leader of the House of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 2015–2017	Succeeded by Yvette D'Ath
Incumbent
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Terry Sullivan	Member for Stafford 2006–2012	Succeeded by Chris Davis
Preceded by Kerry Millard	Member for Sandgate 2015–present	Incumbent