| Kevin Byrne | |
| Native Name: | instead.--> |
| Office: | Mayor of Cairns |
| Term Start2: | 1992 |
| Term End2: | 11 March 1995 |
| Successor2: | Tom Pyne |
| Term Start1: | 25 March 2000 |
| Term End1: | 3 April 2008 |
| Predecessor1: | Tom Pyne |
| Successor1: | Val Schier |
| Birth Name: | Kevin Michael Byrne |
| Birth Place: | Lae, Territory of New Guinea |
| Death Date: | (aged 74) |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Spouse: | Amanda Byrne |
| Education: | St Joseph's College, Nudgee |
| Mawards: | is not set --> |
| Serviceyears: | 1969–1987 |
| Commands: | Senior Instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon |
| Mawards: | Sword of Honour for Leadership (OCS Portsea, 1969) |
| Awards: | is not set --> |
Kevin Michael Byrne (1949 – 21 September 2023) was an Australian politician who served as mayor of Cairns from 1992 to 1995 and then again from 2000 to 2008.
Kevin Michael Byrne was born in Lae in 1949.[1] His family had first arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1906 when his grandfather was appointed Chief Collector of Customs in Port Moresby. His primary education was on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea and he attended Nudgee College, Brisbane from 1963 until 1967.
Byrne graduated in 1969 from Officer Cadet School, Portsea, Victoria (OCS Portsea) with an Australian Army commission. He was awarded the Sword of Honour for Leadership in that year. His 17-year military career included Australian and overseas postings to Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Rhodesia and South Vietnam. His final military assignment was as a Senior Instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, 1987.
Byrne served as the regional manager in the Office of Northern and Regional Development, Cairns, between 1987 and 1990. In 1990 he became the regional manager of the Queensland Confederation of Industry.
Byrne was elected Mayor of Cairns in 1992; and re-elected in 1994. In 1995, he was defeated by Tom Pyne.
Byrne served as the Administrative Director for an oil spill cleanup operation, funded by the World Bank and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, in the Kolva Basin, in the Komi Republic, part of the Russian Federation. The Pechora River tributaries were remediated and 146000t of oil were recovered.
In December 1995, Byrne was appointed the Chief Executive of the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority. He was a member of the national negotiating team for bilateral air service agreements; the acting chairman of the National Airline Commission for two years; deputy chairman of Air Niugini for eighteen months; and a national delegate to the APEC Working Groups on Tourism and Trade.
In December 1999, Byrne returned to Cairns; and was re-elected as Mayor of Cairns on 25 March 2000 and again in March 2004. In 2008 he was defeated by Val Schier for the position of mayor of the Cairns Regional Council.[2]
Byrne was the subject of media attention and controversy for involvement with property developers, attitudes towards racial issues, and his approach to government and the electorate. Some examples of the allegations include:
Byrne claimed formal qualifications from Kensington University. Located in Glendale, California, Kensington was an unaccredited distance education provider that was shut down by state authorities there after the state Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education found that "little or no rigor or credible academic standards are necessary in order to be awarded an advanced degree at Kensington University."[15] [16] The attributed qualification is a Master of Arts (Business Administration and Management) with GPA 4, granted in 1993 by Kensington University.[17]
Kevin Byrne died on 21 September 2023, aged 74.[18] [19]
In 2000 Byrne was awarded the Papua New Guinea Independence Medal (25th Anniversary) for services to Aviation and Tourism; and the Australian Centenary Medal for services to Local Government, in 2001.[20]