Career
He sat as an Australian Labor Party representative from 1993 to 2007, when he was expelled from the party for failing to pay his membership dues. An outspoken maverick Member of Parliament, he did not contest the 2007 federal election. He first entered politics in 1993 after winning the southern Tasmanian seat of Franklin in the House of Representatives.
On the night of the 1993 federal election, Quick was the first member to become elected (mainly due to the daylight saving time difference), reclaiming Franklin for Labor, for the first time in 17 years.
During the time he has been member for Franklin the one-time Liberal stronghold has become a reasonably safe Labor seat. Even in the 2004 federal election where all Tasmanian Labor members lost support, Quick"s decline was the smallest.
He worked for Senator Michael Tate prior to being elected to the House. He also protested against the 2003 Iraq war in which Australian troops took part.
He once took a Tasmanian apple into the Federal parliament in protest against legalising the import of New Zealand apples which have been banned in Australia for 80 years because of bio-security risk reasons, notably the Fireblight disease.
He opposed the 2005 Walker Corporation planned development at Ralphs Bay, Lauderdale near Hobart that the State Labor Government had hoped foreign He has always believed that politicians should take a "hands on" role in the community. Quick was an Opposition Whip 2001-2004.
Quick caused controversy during the 2006 state election by endorsing not only fellow Labor candidates in the state equivalent of his seat, but also a Tasmanian Greens member, Nick McKim.
Quick was expelled from the ALP on 20 August 2007 for failing to pay his membership fees. He sat as an Independent member until his retirement.
In February 2009, Quick was reported to be seeking preselection for the Tasmanian Legislative Council division of Derwent as a representative of the Tasmanian Greens. Five days after announcing his intention to contest the seat held by Treasurer Michael Aird, Quick abruptly changed his mind, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.