A Brisbane couple has stunned Australians by donating an extraordinary $40 million to motor neuron disease (MND) research this week, inspired by AFL great Neale Daniher's battle with the disease before his passing in May.
Quentin and Kylie Birt told Sunrise they were motivated by Daniher's relentless fight against MND and the overwhelming support at Monday's Big Freeze event at the MCG.
"He's one extraordinary Australian; it's a true story. He just did his thing better than all of us put together, that's all," Quentin said.
"You can find an excuse not to do something. He didn't."
Quentin's remark about avoiding excuses not only reveals what spurred the donation but also provides insight into how he and Kylie amassed enough wealth to part with $40 million.
His journey to a vast fortune began in 1973 when he left his job as a cadet engineer with Queensland Railway and founded a family-run earthworks business, Q, H and M Birt.
The company's first contract was for $10,000 to help build a carpark for Australia Post in Moorooka, south Brisbane, using just a Ford Falcon station wagon, wheelbarrow, and a shovel.
Quentin bucked industry trends by choosing not to hire all equipment and vehicles used on jobs and instead used the little money he received to purchase them outright.
He and Kylie quickly built trust within the industry, leading to major state-funded and private projects, including laying the last section of road linking Queensland's east coast with central Australia in 1985.
Since then, Quentin has remained Q, H and M Birt's director as the company expanded and gained partnerships with mining giants such as Rio Tinto on projects across Australia.
The company now claims it owns the largest civil construction fleet in the Southern Hemisphere, which it has used to deliver "over $2 billion of work" in the past decade.
"Our track record of successful project delivery is excellent, and more than half of our business is repeat business as a result," the company's website reads.
Monday's donation to FightMND is not the first time the Birts have opened their wallet for charitable causes.
In February 2025, the couple donated a whopping $57 million to an AFL program in the Northern Territory and South Australia aimed at mentoring young people and opening a pathway to professional football — the Redtails Pinktails Right Tracks Program. Club president and Right Tracks organiser, Rob Clarke, described the donation as a "jackpot" win for the local community, ABC reported at the time.
The donation placed the Birts as the fifth largest philanthropists in Australia for the past financial year, according to the Australian Financial Review. It was also praised by Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, to whom the couple later donated an undisclosed amount for her legal fight against defamation allegations.
