Who is brisbanes longest serving lord mayor

His father was a Master at Churchie and his mother was also an educator. His father was a vegetarian, something almost unheard of in those days. While other children would play snakes and ladders with their parents, Clem would play probability games with his. Their evening entertainment would be to roll three dice and map the sequencing of their fall.

By the age of ten he could do six figure calculations in his head when other people had to use a calculator. It was his father who also encouraged him to be a surveyor, which was his first profession before becoming Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Dr Jones was Lord Mayor for 14 years and during this time he never drew a salary. He and his mates decided that they needed to show the world, and particularly Singapore, that Darwin was ready to trade again. In the bar one night, around 3am in the morning, a decision was made to sail a raft made of beer cans from Darwin to Singapore.

And with Clem, once the decision was made that was it. Of course, no one believed this raft would ever get out of the harbour. But it did and he sailed it all the way to Singapore. But always Clem had total confidence in himself. He even played cricket in a charity match on the day he arrived in Singapore. He was hands on, and had an intimate knowledge of geology — he always loved dirt and digging.

The Brisbane City Council gave one of his charity 40 acres of swamp-land to build a youth centre, and the next thing you know, Clem was on a grader cleaning up the site himself. He helped people who were vulnerable. He always said how lucky he was. Brisbane Times.

By Christine Kellett December 16, — 4. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size. Brisbane's longest serving Lord Mayor, Clem Jones, died yesterday, aged Dr Jones was elected as Labor Lord Mayor in and served a record 15 years in office. He was also a keen sports fan, and served as curator of the Brisbane Cricket Ground.