Jim Soorley
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James Gerard Soorley (born 8 April 1951) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician. He served as Labor Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1991 to 2003.<ref name=fblm>Template:Cite web</ref> A laicised Catholic priest,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Soorley has a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in psychology, from Macquarie University, and a Master of Arts in organisational psychology from Loyola University Chicago.Template:Citation needed
Lord Mayor of Brisbane
The 1991 election was a close election with Soorley just edging out then-Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Sallyanne Atkinson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> through the preferences of Drew Hutton, the Greens candidate. Soorley was not expected to wrest the Lord Mayoralty from the very popular first female (and first Liberal Party) mayor of Brisbane. The transition period between Atkinson's administration and the incoming Soorley administration was difficult, with the outgoing Atkinson refusing to believe she had lost the election for many weeks afterward.
Soorley also instituted a number of institutional changes including a 24/7 Call Centre; "business style" accounting for budgets and annual reporting, enterprise bargaining, significant changes to leave and other entitlements,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> increased employment opportunities through increased apprenticeships, traineeships and community jobs programs, including a nationally awarded program for "at risk youth" who were recovering from drug addiction, as well as a shift from Brisbane Council being only concerned with "rates, roads, rubbish" to taking on issues such as drug use, homelessness, domestic violence and social justice.
In 1995, Soorley ended Brisbane's sister city relationship with the French Riviera town of Nice due to France's resumption of nuclear testing, a move which he described as a "symbolic protest."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Post-political career
Soorley currently writes a weekly column for The Sunday Mail and is a registered lobbyist in Queensland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2017, he is Chairman of Sunshine Coast water business Unitywater,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a board member of government-owned electricity generation company CS Energy.<ref>Profile, csenergy.com.au. Accessed 10 July 2023.</ref>
References
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- 20th-century mayors of places in Australia
- 21st-century mayors of places in Australia
- Australian Labor Party mayors
- Mayors and lord mayors of Brisbane
- Living people
- 1951 births
- Laicized Roman Catholic priests
- Loyola University Chicago alumni
- Macquarie University alumni
- Australian expatriates in the United States
- People from Murwillumbah