bondipom

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/...152364455.html

"Love him or hate him, no one - then or since - has been able to bestride the political stage and instil emotions in the same way as Sir Joh."

wombat42

l don't think anyone in the Uk would know who he was.

JAJ

Australian citizens in the UK generally do.



Jeremy

anya4oz

I was just about to post a thread here, asking the Aussies on this forum if they rated him 'saint or sinner'.

As a relatively new immigrant, I'd not heard of him until about a week ago, & have heard a number of contradictory media reports. He certainly sounds like a colorful character....

So: Good guy? Bad guy? What do you all think - and why?

Cheers,
Anya.

JAJ

Probably both



Jeremy

anya4oz

just like the rest of us, then....

OK, maybe I should ask y'all to list his top 5 achievements & top 5 mistakes (the standard History O-level question...!)

Cheers,
Anya.

JAJ

For those who didn't know about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joh_Bjelke-Petersen

His most significant legacy has been the economic development of Queensland. Politically, his actions in the later period of his time in government helped entrench Labor as the natural party of state government in Queensland. Whether intentionally or otherwise.

He helped to force the 1975 federal election (which led to Labor being thrown out of office federally), but not to be outdone in 1987 derailed the Prime Ministerial ambitions of then Opposition Leader John Howard.

It seems that by his birthplace he was a Kiwi, at least technically.

Jeremy

ABCDiamond

Isn't he a New Zealander ?

JAJ

New Zealanders who migrated to Australia before 26 January 1944 generally became Australian citizens on 26 January 1949 if ordinarily resident in Australia during that five year period.


Jeremy

ABCDiamond

Two quotes about him in todays Paper, from prominent Politians::

1: He is a Bible bashing bastard, Paranoiac, bigot and fanatical.

2: A humble man.


But almost everyone seems to agree that he brought QLD forward in many ways.

ABCDiamond

That explains that then. I had just read that he was born in NZ in 1911, and wondered what the rules were to become a State Premier.

mr mover

A great Queenslander, but not a great Australian ................. mm

wombat42

His parents were from Denmark, immigrated to New Zealand, then they did what most New Zealanders with any intelligence do, immigrated to Australia.
Sir Joh become a successful Queenland peanut farmer then premier of Queensland for 20 years, tried to run for Prime Minister in 1987.
Some saw him as a mad dictator others as someone who turned Queenland from a backwater to a booming state driven by tourism.

JAJ

Before 1949 Australia and New Zealand shared a common British nationality.

When the different Commonwealth countries created local citizenships in the late 1940s, provisions were made in some cases for migrants from other Commonwealth countries to become citizens automatically.

Australia legislated that those resident in Australia for 5 years as of 26 Jan 1949 would automatically become citizens on that date if not qualified any other way (such as by birth in Australia).

New Zealand introduced NZ citizenship on 1.1.49 and their rule on automatic citizenship for migrants from Commonwealth countries picked up all those ordinarily resident in NZ during 1948. Again those born in NZ automatically became citizens regardless.

As a British subject, Mr Bjelke-Petersen would hence have acquired NZ citizenship automatically on 1 Jan 1949 based on his birthplace, and Australian citizenship on 26 Jan 1949 based on residence in the country.

If his Danish parents had naturalised as British subjects when in NZ, they would also have acquired both citizenships in 1949 if alive.

Jeremy

MrsDagboy

Whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, as Jeremy said he brought hell of alot of development & economic prosperity to Qld.

to him.