A prominent Cairns businessman, Bob Manning became mayor of Cairns in 2012 as the leader of the Unity 2012 team. Bob has a wealth of experience in senior management roles in Australia and overseas.
A graduate of the University of Southern Queensland he has a Business Studies degree with a major in accounting. He was Shire Clerk at Longreach for seven years before becoming Chief Executive Officer of the Cairns Port Authority from 1984 to 2002. Overseas, he worked as a strategic management consultant in Jordan on a US aid project to modernise the management of the country’s Custom Service.
Bob also worked as an advisor on tourism and port development in the Republic of South Korea before becoming General Manager of the Cairns ship building company NQEA having previously served as a Director of the company for nine years. In 2005, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Hermes Airports Limited, a multinational consortium established to set up new International airports in the Republic of Cyprus. Bob returned to Australia 2008 to resume his life in Cairns where he became chairman of Anglicare North Queensland Limited.
He has received a number of major awards marking his business and community work, they include: the Medal of the Order of Australia (0AM) for service to the Cairns community through the development and promotion of the tourism maritime and aviation industries. He was awarded the Australia Day 2002 City of Cairns Citizen of Year. Bob is a Life Member of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, having served on the Board of the organisation for 15 years, three of these as Chairman and he recently was made an Honorary Member of Airports Council International, the peak world airport association. Bob is a Vietnam veteran. After graduating from the Officer Training Unit with the rank of 2Lt, he served in SVN from 1970 to 1971.