Desley Boyle

Interviewed by
Robin Sullivan
Sep 15 2011
Desley Boyle
Labor politician Desley Boyle discusses her career that began in 1988 as a Councillor on the Cairns City Council before moving into state politics. She ended her ministerial career in 2011 as Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and stepped down from her parliamentary seat in 2012. She discusses the challenges she faced in each of her portfolios, and focuses on her passion for the environment and good planning.
Biography
Time Summary Keywords
00:00:09 Desley Boyle summarises her early life in Wollongong, completing her schooling and winning a scholarship to study for a year in America and undertaking a bachelors and masters degree in psychology at University of New South Wales.
00:03:29 Desley Boyle discusses moving into management psychology after 20 years of clinical practice and completing an MBA. She outlines the different political allegiances of her parents, and her shift towards more left wing politics when she moved to Cairns in the late 1970s. Bjelke-Petersen Government 1968-87, Cairns, Wayne Goss
00:06:45 Desley Boyle outlines her career after moving to Cairns, including her regular newspaper columns and radio appearances. She discusses being drawn into local politics by environmental and development issues. Cairns, Cairns City Council
00:10:26 Desley Boyle reflects on the skills and connections gained while in local government as Councillor and then Deputy Mayor, and her work developing a city plan for Cairns. Cairns, Cairns City Council, local government
00:14:24 Desley Boyle speaks about leaving local government and taking up positions on a number of boards and authorities, and deciding to run for the state seat of Cairns. She discusses the run up to the 1996 election, including the rise of One Nation. Cairns, One Nation
00:18:42 Desley Boyle discusses the conservatism and sense of resentment that permeates the north Queensland electorate. Cairns, Migrant issues, One Nation
00:21:04 Desley Boyle discusses becoming the member for Cairns and her relationship with the Labor Party and with the AWU faction. She describes serving in Beattie's minority government, and the scandals and resignations that marred the end of his first term. Beattie Government 1998-2007, factions, Goss Government 1989-96, Jim Elder, Peter Beattie
00:26:10 Desley Boyle discusses the infrastructure works carried out in Cairns during the second Beattie Government, and dealing with her electorate's view that North Queensland is underfunded. Beattie Government 1998-2007, Cairns
00:28:10 Desley Boyle describes her move into the Cabinet as the Minister for Local Government and for Women, and her main accomplishments in both roles, including local government reforms and domestic violence initiatives. Beattie Government 1998-2007, domestic violence, Indigenous issues, Local council amalgamations, women
00:32:35 Desley Boyle discusses taking on the Environment portfolio in addition to her other responsibilities, and the challenges posed by this additional role. She outlines the Daintree land buy-back scheme, and how unpopular it was with some parts of her electorate. Beattie Government 1998-2007, Environment and Heritage
00:36:22 Desley Boyle discusses her brief time as Minister for Child Safety and beginning reforms to the foster care and adoption systems. Child Safety
00:39:50 Desley Boyle describes taking on the portfolio of Tourism, Industry and Regional Development, contrasting this with the service-related ministries she had held previously and discussing the challenges posed by the tourism downturn and council amalgamations. Local council amalgamations, Tourism Department
00:42.14 Desley Boyle reflects on the move towards increasing private sector involvement in state infrastructure developments. health, infrastructure
00:44:17 Desley Boyle describes her final portfolio, Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, reflecting particularly on alcohol, income and land management initiatives. Bligh Government 2007-12, Indigenous issues
00:48:39 Desley Boyle discusses the Wild Rivers Legislation and the importance of Indigenous education. Bligh Government 2007-12, education, Indigenous issues, Wild Rivers
00:51:36 Desley Boyle describes the appointment of directors general in her various departments, and the role of political and policy advisors. Beattie Government 1998-2007, Bligh Government 2007-12, directors general, media, ministerial advisers
00:56:36 Desley Boyle discusses serving in both the Beattie and Bligh governments, lauding Beattie for his Smart State initiative, and Bligh for her management of the 2010-11 natural disasters. Anna Bligh, Peter Beattie, Smart State
00:59:43 Desley Boyle discusses her experiences as a woman in politics, noting that gender has become less of an issue as more women have entered parliament. Anna Bligh, Emily's List, Peter Beattie, women
01:02:32 Desley Boyle describes saving the Daintree as one of her greatest accomplishments, and the resistance to a cultural/arts precinct in Cairns as her main regret. She discusses her decision to retire. Cairns, Environment
01:03:46 Interview ends
Position:
Labor, Politician
Bailiwick:
Child Safety, Environment, Industry, Local Government and Planning, Women
Decade:
1990s, 2000s
Sound byte: 

Desley Boyle

Biography

Desley Boyle

Labor Party politician Desley Boyle served in a number of ministries in the Beattie and Bligh governments, including Child Safety, Regional Development and the Environment.

Desley Boyle was born in Newcastle in 1948 and grew up in Newcastle, where she completed primary and secondary school. After a year spent studying in the US on a scholarship, Boyle undertook a Bachelors and Masters degree in psychology at UNSW. She worked in clinical practice for more than 20 years before moving into management psychology, and completing an MBA.

Boyle moved to Cairns with her family in the late 1970s, and developed a local profile through newspaper columns and radio segments on psychology. Spurred on by development and environmental issues in Cairns, Boyle became increasingly interested in politics during this period and gradually shifted further to the left in response to what she saw as the excesses of the Bjelke-Petersen Government. In 1988, Boyle successfully ran for a seat on the Cairns City Council, serving both as a Councillor and Deputy Mayor before resigning in 1994.

In 1998, Boyle made the move to state politics as the Labor candidate for the seat of Cairns, and served on the backbench before being elevated to the ministry in 2004. Boyle proceeded to serve in a variety of portfolios over the next seven years, including Minister for Environment, Local Government, Planning and Women; Minister for Child Safety; Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry; and Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

Boyle retired from the ministry in 2011 and did not run in the 2012 election. 

Copyright © The Centre for the Government of Queensland, the University of Queensland, 2011.

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Associated interviews: 
Peter Beattie
Associated interviews: 
Robin Sullivan