Simon Mitchell
Candidate for President
Right now you get to choose who leads our union over the next four years – a time beset by fluidity, challenge and complexity.
QNMU members need a leadership team who have a track record of success and a plan to keep nursing and midwifery strong.
I've been a QNMU Councillor for 18 years and an Executive Councillor for eight years.
As an RN I've worked across public, private and aged care.
I’ve served on or chaired various QNMU standing committees. I’ve worked at the national and state union levels, and have a respectful understanding of the broader union movement.
I’m a prison nurse now. I love it. And I love fighting for my branch and our union. I'm a proud unionist with a solid activist record.
I began nursing in aged care. I trained in the public system. Mostly I nursed in the perioperative and critical care fields. Nursing took me into management including Nursing Director and Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery roles.
I'm part of the QNMU Members United Team and we're asking for your vote to advance our professions, our rights, and our pay and conditions to a standard the community needs and nurses and midwives deserve.
Support for Simon
“I have worked closely with Simon Mitchell for many years on QNMU Council and Executive and I am proud to endorse him for the position of President in our upcoming union election.
Simon has extensive experience as a nursing leader in a variety of clinical settings in the Townsville area. As a union leader he has also demonstrated great strategic professional, industrial and political acumen. He is courageous and given his years of experience he has the ability to cut through to what are the main issues of concern to members.
I have greatly valued Simon’s wise counsel and contribution to Council over the years. He has certainly contributed to our union successfully weathering some very challenging times over the years I have worked with him.
In the pivotal role of President Simon will be committed to ensuring the highest levels of governance is maintained. He is even handed and fair and is genuinely interested in hearing a diversity of views. I therefore strongly recommend members vote for Simon as our President.”
— Beth Mohle (QNMU Secretary 2011-2022)
“I have had the immense privilege of knowing Simon in our shared union work with the QNMU for many years, and I can confidently say that he embodies the very essence of union values, exceptional leadership, and profound wisdom. His unwavering commitment to fairness, solidarity, and justice has not only strengthened the bonds within the nursing and midwifery community and union movement, but has also inspired countless individuals to stand together for what is right.
Simon has demonstrated his union leadership skills on Council, as Chair of the QNMU Policy Committee, on union recruitment panels and advisory groups, as an ACTU Organiser and ground level activist bringing an ability to find common ground and shared interests to get great outcomes for the union movement, our union and for our professions. His ability to navigate complex challenges with foresight and honesty demonstrates a wisdom that is both intuitive and cultivated through experience.”