Russ Hinze

Who was Russ Hinze?

The Hon. Russell James "Russ" Hinze, born in Oxenford on the Gold Coast, was a Queensland politician in the 1970s and 1980s. He presided over an era of controversy that included the setting up of the Racing Development Fund, ministerial re-zonings and the licensing of Jupiters Casino. One of Hinze's favourite sayings was "Never hold an inquiry unless you know what the outcome will be". Hinze's career in public life spanned almost four decades, first in local government in the 1950s and 1960s, and then in State Government from 1966 to 1988.

Apart from his early years, he spent a lifetime living and working in the Oxenford area, where he was born. Hinze was a dairy-farmer who, after becoming chairman of the South Coast Cooperative Dairy Association, was elected to the Albert Shire Council in the early 1950s. He served as shire chairman for nine years between 1958 and 1967. In 1966, Russ Hinze entered the State political arena as the member for South Coast, representing the then Country Party. After eight years as a backbench member of the coalition Government, he was promoted to Cabinet and quickly established a high profile.

In 1971, while still a back bencher, Hinze was part of a plot within the Country Party parliamentary wing to topple Joh Bjelke-Petersen that failed only through the votes of Bjelke-Petersen himself and two proxies.