Brisbane couple donates over $100 million to charity but shuns 'philanthropist' label

Brisbane couple Quentin and Kylie Birt have donated more than $100 million to charities in the past two years.

Despite this, the pair say they do not want to be known as philanthropists.

They recently made a $40 million donation to Neale Daniher's FightMND foundation at the Big Freeze event in Melbourne, inspired to give big after reading Mr Daniher's book.

"We said if we can do it, we will," Mr Birt said.

"We had lunch with the bank and the rest is history."

Mr Birt said they had intended to keep the donation anonymous, but plans went awry.

To him, the couple's offering was not "such a big deal", he said.

"A little kid that decides to save up bottle tops and donates $22 or whatever, you might consider it's the same," Mr Birt said.

"He's done what he could, and I've done what I could."

Mr Birt has also seen the impacts of MND firsthand.

One of his employees died within a few weeks of being diagnosed, and another of his friends battled a similar degenerative disease, he said.

"It's an awful thing in the respect that at this stage, there's no option except the obvious," he said.

"Who knows, around the corner, maybe they will get a cure.

Growing up 'very poor'

Quentin Birt funds his charitable donations through the success of his civil construction company, Q H & M Birt, but came from a humble background.

The 86-year-old grew up "very poor" on a dairy farm north of Gympie and, with encouragement from his father, became the first child in his district to go to high school.

"I wasn't a particularly bright student, but I got to appreciate the fact that if you open your mind, have a look around, that was something that we would never have done on the farm."

After graduating, Mr Birt took a job as a cadet railway engineer in 1957.

"I wanted to get back on the farm and have fun, but [my father] insisted that I take the job available."

By 1973, Mr Birt wanted to hit out on his own and started his business as a challenge to himself.

He arrived at a job site in Brisbane's south that year with a station wagon, wheelbarrow and a shovel to complete his first contract — building a carpark in Moorooka for Australia Post.

He received $10,000 in return.

Since then, his company has grown into Australia's largest civil construction fleet, with more than $2 billion of work completed in the last decade.

'We're not wandering the planet trying to be philanthropists'

Quentin and Kylie Birt's donation to FightMND was not their first major philanthropic investment.

The pair became involved in charity about seven years ago, when Mr Birt visited the School for Life facility in Uganda, founded by Australians Annabelle Chauncy and David Everett.

Mr Birt said the organisation's work "blew him away", and he had been supporting the cause ever since.

In 2025, the Birt's gave $57 million to the Redtails Pinktails Right Tracks Program, a local initiative to open pathways for athletes to play professionally in the Northern Territory and South Australian football leagues.

For Mr Birt, the couple's penchant for charity could be construed as selfish, he said.

"It's what I want to do," Mr Birt said.

"I love what I'm doing at work, and OK, we've got some dollars behind it, but in a weird way it's surplus to my hobby.

"We're not wandering the planet trying to be philanthropists."

Mr Birt said the couple did not actively seek out causes to donate to, but were instead inspired by passionate people.

"You see people are anxious to get something done, and know that they will get it done with a little bit of help," he said.

"In the end, we play the minor part because you're hoping it gets done."