Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen,
KCMGThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(13 January 1911 – 23 April 2005),
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
-born
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
, was the longest-serving and longest-lived
PremierBefore the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and...
of the state of
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. He held office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state. His uncompromising
conservatismConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
(including his role within the downfall of the Whitlam federal government), his political longevity, and his leadership of a government that, in its latter years, was revealed to be institutionally corrupt, made him one of the best-known political figures in twentieth-century Australia.
Early life
Bjelke-Petersen was born in
DannevirkeDannevirke , is a rural service town in the Manawatu-Wanganui area of New Zealand. It is the major town of the administrative district of Tararua, the easternmost of the districts in which the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council has responsibilities...
in the Southern Hawke's Bay region of
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, and lived in
WaipukurauWaipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings on the banks of the Tukituki River....
, a small town in Hawke's Bay. Bjelke-Petersen's parents were both
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
immigrants, and his father, Carl, was a Lutheran
pastorThe term pastor usually refers to an ordained person within a Christian church. In some countries the term is more usually used in traditional Protestant churches but is also used in reference to priests and bishops within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. The...
. In 1913 the family left for Australia, moving to
KingaroyKingaroy is an agricultural town in Queensland, Australia, approximately or about 2½ hours drive north-west of the state capital Brisbane. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways...
in south-eastern Queensland and taking up
dairy farmingDairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...
.
The young Johannes suffered from polio, leaving him with a life-long limp. The family was poor, and Carl Bjelke-Petersen was frequently in poor health. Johannes and his mother Maren worked on the farm.
In 1933, Bjelke-Petersen began work on the family's newly-acquired second property at land-clearing and peanut farming. His efforts eventually allowed him to begin work as a contract land-clearer and to acquire further capital which he invested in farm equipment and natural resource exploration. He developed a technique for quickly clearing scrub by connecting a heavy anchor chain between two bulldozers. Obtaining a pilot's licence early in his adult life, Joh also started aerial spraying and grass seeding to further speed up pasture development in
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. By the time he entered Parliament, he had built a thriving business.
Under sponsorship from Sir
Charles AdermannSir Charles Frederick Adermann KBE was an Australian federal politician and government minister.Adermann was born at Vernor Siding, near Lowood, Queensland, the son of German immigrants and educated at Lowood and Wooroolin State schools until he was 13...
and Sir Francis Nicklin, he was elected as
Country PartyThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing rural voters, it was originally called the Country Party, but adopted the name National Country Party in 1975 and changed to its present name in 1982...
member for
NanangoThe division of Nanango is an electoral division in the state of Queensland, Australia.The Division contains the towns of* Nanango* Esk* Kingaroy* Blackbutt* Brooklands* Coominya* Inverlaw* Jimna* Kilcoy* Linville* Kumbia* Maidenwell* Memerambi...
in the
Queensland Legislative AssemblyThe Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...
in 1946 (from 1950 to 1987 he was member for Barambah). The
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
(ALP) had held power in Queensland since 1932 and Bjelke-Petersen spent eleven years as an Opposition member.
Rise to power
In 1957, following a split in the Labor Party, the Country Party under Nicklin came to power, with the
Liberal PartyThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
as a junior coalition partner. In the same year, Bjelke-Petersen married
Florence "Flo" GilmourLady Florence "Flo" Bjelke-Petersen is an Australian politician and writer. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and is the widow of the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen....
, who would later become a significant political figure in her own right.
Bjelke-Petersen became one of Nicklin's cabinet ministers in 1963 as minister for works and housing.
When Nicklin retired in January 1968,
Jack PizzeyJack Charles Allan Pizzey was a Queensland Country Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland, in a coalition with the Liberal Party, from 17 January 1968 until his death on 31 July that year....
became Nicklin's successor both as Premier and as Country Party leader. Pizzey died unexpectedly within seven months of assuming office. In the election for leadership of the Country Party, Bjelke-Petersen won. He became Premier on 8 August 1968. (During the interval between Pizzey's death and Bjelke-Petersen's accession, the premiership was held by the Liberals' leader, Sir
Gordon ChalkSir Gordon William Wesley Chalk KBE was Premier of Queensland for a week, from 1 to 8 August 1968. He was the first, and so far only, Queensland Premier from the modern Liberal Party of Australia....
.) At this stage Bjelke-Petersen was still not very well known even to most Queenslanders, let alone outside the State. Even after becoming Premier, Joh was still very active in his local community teaching Sunday School.
Bjelke-Petersen's administration was partly kept in power by an electoral malapportionment where rural electoral districts had significantly fewer enrolled voters than those in metropolitan areas. This system was originally introduced by the Labor Party in 1949 as an overt electoral fix. Under Nicklin the bias in favour of rural constituencies was maintained. In 1972 Sir Joh strengthened the system to favour his own party, which led to his opponents referring to it as the
"Bjelke-mander"The Bjelkemander was the term given to a system of malapportionment in the Australian State of Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s. Under the system, electorates were allocated to zones such as rural or metropolitan and electoral boundaries drawn so that rural electorates had about half as many...
, a play on the term "gerrymander". Although Bjelke-Petersen's 1972 redistributions occasionally had elements of "gerrymandering" in the strict sense, their perceived unfairness had more to do with malapportionment whereby certain areas (normally rural) are simply granted more representation than their population would dictate if electorates contained equal numbers of voters (or population). The lack of a state
upper houseAn upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.- Possible specific characteristics :An upper house is usually distinct from the lower house in at least one of the following respects:...
(which Queensland had abolished in 1922) allowed legislation to be passed without the need to negotiate with other political parties.
With Labor weak and chronically divided in Queensland throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bjelke-Petersen won a series of election victories, often at the expense of his Liberal coalition partners as much as Labor. Typically the Country Party would gain fewer votes than either Labor or Liberal, but those votes would be spread out across the many rural electorates, giving the Country Party more seats than the Liberals and thus making them the senior coalition partner. Together they had more seats in Parliament than Labor, allowing Bjelke-Petersen to govern as Premier of a State in which his party received, in one election (1972), only 20% of the votes. However at each election Bjelke-Petersen won, the combined Liberal and National two party preferred vote was higher than Labor's.
In 1984 Bjelke-Petersen was created a Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent whilst he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III. It is named in honour of two military saints, St. Michael and St...
(postnominal "KCMG") for "services to parliamentary democracy". He was then generally known as "Sir Joh" (rather than "Sir Johannes"), and his wife generally (if incorrectly) known as "Lady Flo."
Relations with Cabinet
Bjelke-Petersen evolved from a diffident beginner to an aging autocrat who faced no opposition of any consequence in Cabinet, according to Queensland University political scientist, Dr Rae Wear. As a National Party Premier, he could choose and dismiss Ministers. There was no developed Cabinet office and because during his last years, submissions did not go to Department heads, power was further concentrated in the hands of the Premier and his advisors.
State development
Bjelke-Petersen abolished state duties on deceased estates (
inheritance taxInheritance tax, estate tax and death duty are the names given to various taxes which arise on the death of an individual. It is a tax on the estate, or total value of the money and property, of a person who has died...
es), leading to a steady flow of retired people moving from the southern states of
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
and
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
to
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, particularly the Gold Coast. All other Australian states and territories had abolished this tax by 1981 in attempt to stem the flow of people to Queensland. The rapid rise in population in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the
Sunshine CoastThe Sunshine Coast is a coastal region located in South East Queensland, north of the Queensland capital of Brisbane...
led to a building boom that lasted for three decades.
The development boom was particularly noticeable in the tourist area of the Gold Coast. The Bjelke-Petersen government worked closely with property developers, who constructed resorts, hotels, a
casinoA casino is a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions...
and a system of residential developments. The
Hinze DamThe Hinze Dam, also known as Advancetown Lake, supplies most of the water provided to Gold Coast City in Queensland, Australia. Some water is drawn from Little Nerang Dam and until recently northern suburbs received water from Wivenhoe Dam. It was completed in 1976 and expanded in 1989. Advancetown...
was also constructed on the Gold Coast.
In one controversial case, the Queensland government passed special legislation, the Sanctuary Cove Act, in 1985, to exempt a luxury development, Sanctuary Cove, from local government planning regulations. The developer, Mike Gore, was seen as a key member of the "white shoe brigade", a group of Gold Coast businessmen who became influential supporters of Bjelke-Petersen.Gore established Queensland's first gated community at Sanctuary Cove.
Gore was a vocal backer of the "Joh for PM" campaign. Bjelke-Petersen denied that had received any money from Gore. A similar piece of legislation was passed to allow the Japanese company, Iwasaki Sangyo, to develop a tourist resort near Yeppoon in Central Queensland. It was later revealed by the
Morning Bulletin newspaper that Bjelke-Petersen's son-in-law, Lester Folker, had been appointed a director of the Australian-based arm of the development company. Bjelke-Petersen denied any conflict of interest, and was quoted by the newspaper as complaining that every time one of his children bought a Japanese car people decried it as a conflict of interest.
Considerable development of the state's infrastructure took place during the Bjelke-Petersen era.
He was a leading proponent of Wivenhoe and Burdekin Dams, encouraging the modernising and electrifying of the Queensland railway system, and the construction of the Gateway Bridge. Airports, coal mines, power stations, and dams were built throughout the state.
James Cook UniversityJames Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and was proclaimed on 20 April 1970 in Townsville. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland and the first tertiary education institution in North Queensland...
was established. In
BrisbaneBrisbane is the state capital of the Australian state of Queensland and is the largest city in that state. With an estimated population of approximately 2 million, it is also the third most populous city in Australia....
, the
Queensland Cultural CentreThe Queensland Cultural Centre is a multi-venue arts centre designed by Australian architect Robin Gibson at South Bank, in Brisbane, and consists of the Queensland Museum, State Library of Queensland, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, and Queensland Art Gallery...
,
Griffith UniversityGriffith University is a public university based on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, Australia. The total enrolment is 31,000 undergraduate students and 6000 postgraduate students...
, the South East Freeway, and the
Captain CookThe Captain Cook Bridge is a motorway bridge over the Brisbane River built exclusively for vehicular traffic. It was opened in 1972. The bridge crosses at the South Brisbane Reach of the river, linking Gardens Point to Woolloongabba....
, Gateway and
MerivaleThe Merivale Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the Brisbane River. It crosses the Milton Reach of the river, slightly to the west of the William Jolly Bridge...
bridges were all constructed, as well as the Parliamentary Annexe that was attached to Queensland Parliament House. Bjelke-Petersen was one of the instigators of
World Expo'88World Expo 88, also known as Expo '88, was a World's Fair held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between 30 April 1988 and 30 October 1988...
(now Southbank Parlands ) and the
1982 Brisbane Commonwealth GamesThe 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September—9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions...
.
A Queensland defamation jury found in 1992 that industrialist Sir Leslie Thiess had, during 1981-1984, bribed Bjelke-Petersen generally 'on a large scale and on many occasions'; specifically, to procure Government contracts involving Winchester South, Expo '88, a Gold Coast cultural centre and three prisons.
Despite public protests, Brisbane heritage sites, such as the Bellevue Hotel were demolished. Thirteen Liberal backbenchers supported Labor in parliament, condemning the destruction of the state government owned Bellevue. Former Liberal Parliamentarian, Terry Gygar, described the early morning scene at the Bellevue demolition;
"A large crowd had gathered around the building. There was a cordon of police. They had thrown up a barbed... a mesh wire fence around it. And then the Deen Bros arrived, rolling through like an armoured division, straight through the crowd. People were knocked sideways. Police were dragging people out of the way. Parking meters were knocked over. Traffic signs were bent and twisted on the road. It looked like Stalingrad." Bjelke-Petersen reportedly congratulated the contractors, the Deen Brothers, "on a job well done".
Relations with the media
Bjelke-Petersen's Government dominated Parliament, not allowing committees or impartial speech, and ran a very sophisticated media operation, sending press releases out right on deadline so journalists had very little chance to research news items. Journalists covering industrial disputes and picketing, were afraid of arrest. In 1985, the Australian Journalists Association withdrew from the system of police passes because of police refusal to accredit certain journalists. Some journalists experienced police harassment.
Bjelke-Petersen's authoritarian and manipulative approach to media, at times became visible behind his tangled syntax, which frequently bemused interviewers. It was unknown whether he was joking, confused or saying what he really thought when he said: "The greatest thing that could happen to the state and nation is when we get rid of all the media... then we could live in peace and tranquility and no one would know anything." Joh's catchphrase answer to unwelcome queries, "Don't you worry about that," was widely parodied.
Bjelke-Petersen responded to unfavourable media coverage by using government resources to sue for defamation on numerous occasions. Queensland historian,
Ross FitzgeraldRoss Fitzgerald is an Australian academic, historian, novelist and political commentator.Author of 32 books, in 2009 Professor Fitzgerald co-authored "Made in Queensland: A New History", published by University of Queensland Press and also "Under the Influence, a history of alcohol in Australia",...
was threatened with criminal libel when he sought to publish a critical history.
In 1989, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, found that in 1986 Bjelke-Petersen had placed then Channel 9 owner
Alan BondAlan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
in a position of 'commercial blackmail' when Bond improperly agreed to pay $400,000 as an out-of-court defamation settlement.
Terrorism
In 1975, a letter-bomb addressed to Bjelke-Petersen was sent to his office. The bomb exploded, injuring two of his staff.
Civil liberties, the Police and political protest
Police violence was witnessed against demonstrators at the
University of QueenslandThe University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest university in Queensland and the fifth in the nation. The main campus is located in St Lucia, southwest of the Brisbane CBD...
, which was a haven for anti-Bjelke-Petersen sentiment. A decision by this University's Senate to award him an honorary
LL.DDoctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degree such as the LL.D., Ph.D., Dr. iur., D.C.L., and S.J.D. or J.S.D...
brought about criticisms from both students and staff. Leading Queensland poet,
Judith WrightJudith Arundell Wright was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights.- Biography :...
, returned her own honorary Doctorate, in a personal protest.
The
1971 Springbok tourThe 1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia was a controversial six-week rugby union tour by the South African national team to Australia. Anti-apartheid protests came to being all around the country. The tour is perhaps most infamous for a state of emergency being declared in Queensland...
by the
South Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are the current holders of the Rugby World Cup and the Tri-Nations Championship. They are ranked number one in the IRB World Rankings as of Monday, 14 September 2009. They were named 2008 Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards...
sparked nation-wide demonstrations against apartheid. The Springboks Brisbane match was moved from the Rugby Union headquarters at Ballymore because it was easier to erect barricades at the Exhibition Ground.The RNA, which administered the ground refused to co-operate. Bjelke-Petersen "grabbed the political initiative",by declaring a
state of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
,thus compelling the RNA to co-operate. The declaration covered the whole of Queensland and operated for a period from ten days before the first game to fourteen days after the last, "in case the police had any unfinished business".
Doug AnthonyJohn Douglas Anthony, AC, CH , is a former Australian politician. He was Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972 and from 1975 to 1983 and leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984.-Early life:...
, a former National Party Deputy Prime Minister, said Bjelke-Petersen's support for South Africa's apartheid regime, in direct defiance of the Fraser Government's stance, showed him as "unreasonable, selfish and un-Christian". The Bjelke-Petersen government subsequently campaigned on "Law and Order", winning two by-elections, including the seat of Merthyr, won by Don Lane, a former Special Branch policeman.
According to Lane, one of Bjelke-Petersen's closest ministerial allies, Joh saw street marchers as a menace who clogged up traffic, caused distress to pedestrians, motorists and shop keepers and were mainly made up of grubby left wing students, Anarchists, professional agitators and trade union activists. The government transferred 450 police from country areas to suppress anti-apartheid demonstrations. Future Queensland Premier
Peter BeattiePeter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...
, then a student protestor, witnessed police violently attacking peaceful demonstrators, including women. Brisbane aboriginal activist,
Sam WatsonSam Watson is an Australian Aboriginal activist and a socialist politician. He is the grandson of Sam Watson who was of the Birigubba tribe. His grandfather worked in ring-barking camps and saved enough money to hire a lawyer to release him from the Aboriginal Protection Act...
claimed the police wanted to "smash and cripple and destroy". Bjelke-Petersen praised police conduct during the demonstrations and awarded them an extra day's leave.
Peter BeattiePeter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...
said that, "...if you went to a protest there was always photos being taken". "You know, you'd always pose to get your best side. (Laughs) And they had a dossier on everybody", Beattie said.
Bjelke-Petersen rejected recommendations by the Police Minister, Max Hodges, and the Police Commissioner,
Ray WhitrodRaymond Wells Whitrod AC CVO QPM was an Australian police officer and criminologist. He was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime. He was known as a man of high professional standards, with a commitment to justice, equity and integrity...
, who sought an inquiry into an incident in 1976, where a police officer struck a student with a baton during a demonstration. Bjelke-Petersen told Whitrod that the cabinet, not the Commissioner would decide if an investigation was warranted. The Police Union sent a letter of thanks to the Premier and offered support. Hodges was replaced as Police Minister soon after.
The Police, secure in the knowledge that they had the Premier's backing, continued to act provocatively, most notably in a raid on a commune at Cedar Bay later that year. The Police who had been looking for marijuana, torched the residents' houses and destroyed their property. Whitrod sought an inquiry but the results were never revealed.
After seven years as Police Commissioner, Whitrod resigned saying he could no longer tolerate political interference and the Police Commissioner had become a political puppet. He was replaced by
Terry LewisTerry Lewis may refer to:*Terry Lewis, member of American R&B and pop songwriting team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis*Terry Lewis , former Queensland police commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption...
who had been previously promoted to Assistant Commissioner, against Whitrod's recommendation, over the heads of 122 officers of higher or equal rank. Whitrod had already told the new Police Minister, "everybody in the police force knows that Lewis is corrupt. Now if he's appointed assistant commissioner, it will nullify all my efforts', and the new Minister said, 'I will talk to the Premier'. And about an hour or so later the Minister rung me up and said, 'The Premier does not want to see you, nor will he allow you to address cabinet'." Whitrod said that he hoped his resignation would send a message to the people of Queensland; "that something very seriously was going wrong with the Queensland police force and with their Premier".
In 1977, Bjelke-Petersen announced that "the day of street marches is over... Don't bother applying for a march permit. You won't get one. That's government policy now!" Bjelke-Petersen said. Liberal parliamentarians crossed the floor defending the right of association and assembly. Colin Lamont, one of the Liberals, told a meeting at the
University of QueenslandThe University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest university in Queensland and the fifth in the nation. The main campus is located in St Lucia, southwest of the Brisbane CBD...
that the Premier was engineering confrontation for electoral purposes. "Two hours later, he (Bjelke-Petersen) lunged at me across the floor of Parliament, waving a tape recorder and spluttered, 'I've heard every word. You are a traitor to this Government'", Lamont wrote later. Lamont said he learned the Special Branch had been keeping files on Liberal rebels and reporting, not to their Commissioner, but directly to the Premier. "The police state had arrived", Lamont added.
The Uniting Church synod passed a resolution that "Queensland heads of churches to mediate between the State government and student and civil liberties groups to achieve better ways of expressing their differences." Bjelke-Petersen replied "If churches want to consort with atheists and communists dedicated to the elimination of religion, that is their problem."
Bjelke-Petersen often accused political opponents of being covert communists bent on anarchy. "I have always found ... you can campaign on anything you like but nothing is more effective than communism... If he's a Labor man, he's a socialist and a very dangerous man."
Aboriginal people
In June 1976, Bjelke-Petersen blocked the proposed sale of a pastoral property on the
Cape York PeninsulaCape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. This remote peninsula contains some of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth, though about half of the land area is used for grazing cattle and much has been damaged by feral pigs, weeds, and other...
to a group of
AboriginalIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
people, because according to cabinet policy, "The Queensland Government does not view favourably proposals to acquire large areas of additional freehold or leasehold land for development by Aborigines or Aboriginal groups in isolation."
This dispute resulted in the case of
Koowarta v Bjelke-PetersenKoowarta v Bjelke-Petersen was a significant court case decided in the High Court of Australia on May 11 1982. It concerned the constitutional validity of parts of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, and the acts of the Government of Queensland in blocking the purchase of land by Aboriginal people...
, which was decided partly in the
High CourtThe High Court of Australia is the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
in 1982, and partly in the
Supreme Court of QueenslandThe Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts Complex, is the superior court for the Australian State of Queensland and sits around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy...
in 1988. The courts found that Bjelke-Petersen's policy had discriminated against Aboriginal people.
Also in 1976, Bjelke-Petersen evicted a team treating
trachomaTrachoma is an infectious eye disease, and the leading cause of the world's infectious blindness. Globally, 84 million people suffer from active infection and nearly 8 million people are visually impaired as a result of this disease...
, led by
Fred HollowsFrederick "Fred" Cossom Hollows, AC was an ophthalmologist who became known for his work in restoring eyesight for countless thousands of people in Australia and many other countries...
from state-controlled Aboriginal land. Bjelke-Petersen claimed that Hollows' team had been encouraging Aborigines to enrol to vote. In his visits to northern communities, Fred Hollows was accompanied by two respected Aboriginal spokesmen and civil rights activists, Mick Miller and Clarrie Grogan. With an election looming, and keen to shut down this source of independent information, the Premier simply ejected Hollows' team. Electoral office data refuting his claims that there had been a rush of voter enrolments in the wake of the trachoma team, was not released for public consumption.
In 1978, the newly-formed Uniting Church became involved in a struggle between the rights of Aborigines at
AurukunAurukun is an Indigenous community, situated approximately south of Weipa in far North Queensland, Australia. The town faces west to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and during the wet season, roads are impassable....
and
Mornington IslandMornington Island is the northern most of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands. The island is located in the Gulf of Carpentaria at and is part of the Gulf Country region in the Australian state of Queensland. Mornington is the largest of the islands....
(former Presbyterian missions) and the Queensland Government, which was anxious to allow mining to proceed. Bjelke-Petersen granted a 1,900 square kilometre mining lease to a mining consortium under extremely favourable conditions. With support from the church, the Aurukun people challenged the legislation, eventually winning their case in the Queensland Supreme Court. But they ultimately lost when the Queensland Government appealed to the
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
in England.
When learning of Eddie Koiki Mabo's emerging legal claim of native title over islands in the Torres Strait, Bjelke-Petersen and his government pushed through the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 which declared that all native title (even though it had not yet been proved to a court) was extinguished. This law sidelined Mabo's claim, and required him and his legal counsel to get a declaration from the High Court that this law was invalid under the Commonwealth's Racial Discrimination Act 1975 as it clearly discriminated against Indigenous Queenslanders and did not affect any other group's proprietary interests. The High Court declared Bjelke-Petersen's law inoperative which laid the ground for Mabo's historic return to the High Court several years later in Mabo (No 2).
Role in the Whitlam dismissal
In 1975 Bjelke-Petersen played what later turned out to be a key role in
the political crisisThe 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, commonly called The Dismissal, refers to the events that culminated with the removal of Australia's then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, by Governor-General Sir John Kerr and appointing the Leader of the Opposition Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister...
which brought down the federal Labor government of
Gough WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , is a former Australian politician, representing the New South Wales seat of Werriwa, and 21st Prime Minister of Australia....
, who referred to Bjelke-Petersen as "that Bible-bashing bastard, Bjelke". Whitlam's government did not have control of the
SenateThe Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is known as the House of Representatives. Senators, popularly elected under a system of proportional representation, serve terms of six years...
, whose members are elected as representatives of the individual
statesThe Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government.- States and Territories:+ Formerly part of ACT...
. Senators are normally elected directly, but if a Senate position becomes vacant, a replacement is appointed by the relevant
State GovernorThe Governors of the Australian states are the representatives in the six states of Australia of Australia's monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governors perform the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
. State Governors are also responsible for the issue of
writIn law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this public body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs and subpoenas are types of writs; there are many others.-History:...
s for elections to the Senate. Bjelke-Petersen twice used these practices to thwart Whitlam's attempts to gain control of the Senate.
In 1974, Whitlam approached former Queensland Premier and then Senator for the
Democratic Labor PartyThe Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. It is descended from, but not legally the same as, the Democratic Labor Party which existed from 1955 to 1978, and which until 1974 played an important role in Australian...
,
Vince GairVincent Clare Gair was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957 when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party from 1964 to...
, with the offer as a job as ambassador to
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
as a way of creating an extra vacant Senate position in Queensland that Whitlam hoped would be won by his Labor Party. Before this arrangement became public, Bjelke-Petersen advised the Governor Sir
Colin HannahAir Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force and a Governor of Queensland. Born in Western Australia, he served in the militia before joining the RAAF in 1935. During World War II he saw action as Commanding Officer of No. 6...
, to issue writs for five, rather than six, vacancies, denying Labor the chance of gaining Gair's Senate spot. The convention in filling Senate vacancies since 1949 had been that the State Parliament would appoint the nominee of the former Senator's political party. When Labor Senator
Bertie MillinerBertie Milliner was an Australian trade unionist, politician and Senator, representing the Australian Labor Party . He would have been a minor figure in Australia’s political history but for the events that followed his sudden death...
died, Bjelke-Petersen rejected Labor's nominee to fill the vacancy,
Mal ColstonDr Malcolm Arthur Colston , Australian politician, was a Senator in the Parliament of Australia representing the state of Queensland between 1975 and 1999...
, and instead asked for a short list of three nominees, from which he would pick one. When the ALP refused to supply such a list, Bjelke-Petersen appointed
Albert FieldAlbert Patrick Field was an Australian French polisher who was plucked from obscurity to become a Senator in 1975. The circumstances of his appointment were instrumental in precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis....
, an ALP member who was critical of the Whitlam government. The ALP tried to block the appointment by expelling Field, and announcing that it would expel anyone else who would accept the appointment in Colston's place, but Bjelke-Petersen went ahead with the appointment anyway.
Field's appointment was the subject of a High Court challenge and he took leave in late 1975. During this period, the Coalition led by
Malcolm FraserJohn Malcolm Fraser, AC, CH is an Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
declined to allot a
pairPairing is a system whereby two members of parliament from opposing political parties may agree to abstain where one member is unable to vote, due to other commitments, illness, travel problems, etc...
to balance Field's absence. This gave the Coalition control over the Senate. Fraser used this control to obstruct passage of the
Supply BillsLoss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A...
through Parliament, denying Whitlam's then-unpopular government the legal capacity to appropriate funds for government business and leading to his dismissal as Prime Minister. During the tumultuous election campaign precipitated by Whitlam's dismissal by Sir John Kerr, Bjelke-Petersen alleged that Queensland police investigations had uncovered damaging documentation in relation to the
Loans AffairThe Loans Affair, also called the Khemlani Affair, is the name given to the political scandal involving the Whitlam Government of Australia in 1975, in which it was accused of attempting to illegally borrow money from Middle Eastern countries by bypassing standard procedure as dictated by the...
. This documentation was never made public and these allegations remained unsubstantiated.
Break-up of the coalition
In August 1983
Terry WhiteTerry White is an American sprint canoer who competed in the mid to late 1980s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of fourth in the K-2 1000 m event at Los Angeles in 1984.-References:*...
, a Liberal minister, joined backbench colleagues
crossing the floorIn politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
to vote against the government in Parliament. The Liberal leader, Dr Llew Edwards, asked White to resign as a Minister but instead White successfully challenged him for leadership of the Liberal Party. The Coalition agreement was eventually torn up by the Liberals. At the 1983 state election, the intensely divided Liberals suffered a heavy loss of seats losing 14 seats. The National Party were one seat short of a majority. On 25 October, following the election, two Liberal MLAs, Brian Austin (Wavell) and Don Lane (Merthyr) defected to the National Party. The National Party had formed a majority government for the first time in Australian history.
"Joh for Canberra"
In 1987 Bjelke-Petersen launched
a campaign for the Prime MinistershipThe Joh for Canberra or Joh for PM campaign was the 1987 attempt by the Queensland branch of the National Party of Australia to install Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen as Prime Minister of Australia....
. The move attracted intense media attention across Australia. By early 1987 the Joh-for-Canberra push was attracting 20 per cent in opinion polls.
The "Joh for Canberra" campaign was abandoned after a snap election was called by Labor Prime Minister,
Bob HawkeRobert James Lee Hawke, AC was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia and longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
.
Fitzgerald Inquiry
Also in 1987, the
Australian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC", is Australia's national public broadcaster. With a total budget of AUD$1.13 Billion annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as...
investigative journalismInvestigative journalism is a type of reporting in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal....
program
Four Corners aired an episode entitled "The Moonlight State" alleging high-level corruption in the
Queensland PoliceThe Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
, including the receipt of bribes from owners of illegal brothels. At the time the program aired, Bjelke-Petersen was outside Queensland.In response to these allegations, Deputy Premier and Minister of Police
Bill GunnWilliam Angus Manson Gunn OAM was an Australian politician who represented the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Somerset from 1972 until 1992...
, who was serving as acting premier in Bjelke-Petersen's absence, announced an inquiry.
The two-year-long Commission of Inquiry into "Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct" was chaired by barrister
Tony FitzgeraldGerald Edward Fitzgerald, AC, QC was an Australian judge.-Background:Gerald Edward "Tony" Fitzgerald attended high school at St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe and university at the University of Queensland, where he graduated in 1964 with an LLB and was admitted to the bar that same year. In 1975...
and known as the
Fitzgerald InquiryThe Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry was established in response to a series of articles on high-level police corruption in The Courier-Mail by reporter Phil Dickie, followed by a Four Corners report, aired...
. As it began, evidence of corruption was unearthed implicating not only Police Commissioner Terry Lewis, but also senior members and associates of the Bjelke-Petersen government. As a result of the inquiry, Lewis was tried, convicted, and jailed on corruption charges. He was later stripped of his knighthood and other honours. A number of other officials, including ministers
Don LaneDonald Frederick Lane was a Minister of Transport in the Bjelke-Petersen state of Queensland's coalition government. A former policeman in the Special Branch, in 1971 he was elected as the Liberal member for Merthyr. In 1983 he joined the National Party providing it with a majority...
and Austin were also jailed. Another former minister,
Russ HinzeThe Hon Russell James Hinze , born in Oxenford on the Gold Coast, was a Queensland politician in the 1970s and 1980s. He presided over an era of controversy that included the setting up of the Racing Development Fund, ministerial rezonings and the licensing of Jupiters Casino...
, died while awaiting trial.
The Bjelke-Petersen government's decline in political standing prompted fierce conflict between his supporters and his detractors within the Nationals' partyroom. Sir
Robert SparkesSir Robert Lyndley Sparkes was born in Dalby, Queensland, the son of Sir James Sparkes. He was president of the Queensland National Party from 1970 to 1990....
, the State Secretary of the party, who for decades had been Bjelke-Petersen's influential sponsor, withdrew his support and the two became enemies. Bjelke-Petersen then met with State Governor Sir Walter Campbell in an effort to restructure his Cabinet and purge dissenters from the ministry. After negotiations, Campbell agreed to sack three ministers.
Resignation
Bjelke-Petersen denied his National Party opponents the opportunity to confront him by refusing to call a meeting of the party's parliamentarians. Eventually, the organisational wing of the party intervened and called one. Bjelke-Petersen's request that Nationals MPs join him in a boycott went unheeded, and the meeting deposed him as National Party leader and elected in his place
Mike AhernMichael John Ahern AO is a former Queensland National Party politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1987 to September 1989. After a long career in the government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern became his successor amidst the controversy caused by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into...
, one of the ministers he had sacked. After a lengthy standoff, Bjelke-Petersen resigned on 1 December 1987. Announcing his resignation as premier and parliamentarian, he said
"The policies of the National Party are no longer those on which I went to the people. Therefore I have no wish to lead the Government any longer. It was my intention to take this matter to the floor of State Parliament. However, I now have no further interest in leading the National Party any further."
In the
subsequent by-electionThe Barambah state by-election, 1988 was a by-election held on 16 April 1988 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Barambah, based in the town of Kingaroy. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of National MP and former Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen...
in April 1988, the seat was won by Trevor Perrett representing the
Citizens Electoral CouncilThe Citizens Electoral Council of Australia is a minor nationalist political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement, led by American political activist and conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche. It reported having 549 members in 2007...
against the endorsed National candidate,
Warren TrussWarren Errol Truss , is an Australian politician, and leader of the National Party in the Commonwealth Parliament. He has been a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1990, representing the Division of Wide Bay, Queensland.He was born in Kingaroy, Queensland,...
. Perrett ultimately joined the National Party in December 1988 and later became a minister in the
Borbidge MinistryThe Borbidge Ministry was a Ministry of the Government of Queensland, led by National Party Premier Rob Borbidge and his deputy, Liberal leader Joan Sheldon....
.
Perjury trial
In 1991 Bjelke-Petersen faced criminal trial for
perjuryPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the matter lied about would affect the outcome of the case...
arising out of the evidence he had given to the Fitzgerald Inquiry (an earlier proposed charge of corruption was incorporated into the perjury charge). Evidence was given to the perjury trial by Sir Joh's former police Special Branch bodyguard Sergeant Bob Carter that in 1986 he had twice been given packages of cash totalling $210,000 at Sir Joh's office. He was told to take them to a Brisbane city law firm and then watch as the money was deposited in a company bank account.
The money had been given over by developer Sng Swee Lee, and the bank account was in the name of Kaldeal, operated by a trustee of the National Party, Edward Lyons. John Huey, a Fitzgerald Inquiry Investigator later told Four Corners: "I said to Robert Sng, "Well what did Sir Joh say to you when you gave him this large sum of money?" And he said, "All he said was, 'thank you, thank you, thank you'."
The jury in the case remained deadlocked. In 1992 it was revealed that the jury foreman, Luke Shaw, was a member of the Young Nationals and was identified with the "Friends of Joh" movement. A special prosecutor announced in 1992 there would be no retrial because Sir Joh, then aged 81, was too old. Developer Sng Swee Lee refused to return from Singapore for a retrial. One unproved estimate of Bjelke-Petersen's extortions was at least AU$6 million.
In 2003, the Queensland Labor government rejected a $353 million damages claim by Bjelke-Petersen seeking compensation for loss of business opportunities resulting from the Fitzgerald inquiry. In his advice to the government, tabled in parliament, Crown Solicitor Conrad Lohe not only recommended dismissing the claim, but said Sir Joh was "fortunate" not to have faced a second trial..
Post-premiership
Bjelke-Petersen remained a popular figure with rural conservatives in Queensland. For a while he pursued business interests in
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
while trying to pay off debts incurred during his perjury trial. Bjelke-Petersen's memoirs,
Don't You Worry About That: The Joh Bjelke-Petersen Memoirs, were published in 1991.
Death
Bjelke-Petersen died in April 2005, aged 94, with his wife and family members by his side. He received a state funeral at which the then prime minister,
John HowardJohn Winston Howard, AC was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He is the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, was a speaker. Bjelke-Petersen is buried at his property "Bethany" at Kingaroy.
Sources
- Deane Wells, The Deep North (1979) (Outback Press)
- Evan Whitton
Evan Whitton is an Australian journalist who currently is a columnist the online legal journal Justinian. He was editor of The National Times from 1978 to 1981, Chief Reporter and European Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, Reader in Journalism at the University of Queensland, Journalist...
, "The Hillbilly Dictator", Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1989, ISBN 0 642 12809 X