Johannes Bjelke-Petersen
Australian Biographical Monograph 3
Bruce Kingston
Paperback, 75 pages, $19.95
ISBN: 9781925826913
Release Date: June 2020
In virtually any state in the Commonwealth I believe you
could ask an adult in their 40’s or above to name a state leader and the
majority of them could name Joh – no other State Premier left such an indelible
mark on the national psyche.
Some Queenslanders may talk about strong development and a
long period of stability. Others, particularly those from southern states will
talk of gerrymanders, corruption, white shoe brigades, civil liberty
infringements or daylight savings. But many will talk of a man who oversaw
perhaps the most dramatic and positive changes the State has ever undergone.
Whether loved or reviled, Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was a
polarising figure, and an indisputably successful one. But too many are quick
to dismiss this incredibly successful politician as an aberration of the oddity
that is Queensland.
To understand Joh a little better, this monograph considers
Joh’s period in office from the following perspectives:
·
His success in moving the Country Party from a
rural base to gaining and holding urban seats
·
His role in assisting in the downfall of the
Whitlam government
·
His economic management, overseeing Queensland’s
transition from a rural economy to a vibrant and rapidly expanding one and
creating funding processes from which the State still benefits
·
His masterful understanding of the mood of the
electorate in dealing with the likes of power strikes, anti-Springbok riots or
street marches
·
His market fundamentalism which potentially
allowed corruption in commercial activities for tangible benefits for the state
