104-625: Defunct Defunct Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen KCMG (13 January 1911 – 23 April 2005) was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving premier of Queensland , holding office from 1968 to 1987 as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the Country Party). Bjelke-Petersen was born in New Zealand's North Island to Danish immigrant parents. His family moved back to Australia when he
208-401: A police state . Starting in 1987, this administration came under the scrutiny of a royal commission into police corruption and its links with state government ministers. Bjelke-Petersen was unable to recover from the series of damaging findings and after initially resisting a party vote that replaced him as leader, retired from politics on 1 December 1987. Two of his state ministers, as well as
312-534: A 16.5 percent swing to the Coalition, leading observers to call Labor's caucus a "cricket team." The only seat Labor retained north of Rockhampton was Cairns , by fewer than 200 votes. The National Party, contesting its first state election under the new name and fielding candidates in just 48 seats, lifted its vote from 19.7 percent to 28 percent, creating a threat for the Liberal Party, and also picked up
416-646: A 1944 plebiscite against the sitting member to gain Country Party endorsement in the state seat of Nanango , based on Kingaroy, Bjelke-Petersen was elected in 1946 to the Kingaroy Shire Council , where he developed a profile in the Country Party. With the support of local federal member and shire council chairman Sir Charles Adermann and state opposition leader Sir Frank Nicklin , he gained Country Party endorsement for Nanango and
520-561: A 27.9 percent primary vote—their highest ever—into 35 of the parliament's 82 seats, or 43 percent of seats. It also created a record 13-seat lead over their coalition partners, the Liberals, who had campaigned by offering Queenslanders an alternative style of moderate government. The Nationals picked up all four Gold Coast seats and all those on the Sunshine Coast . Once again the premier took advantage of his party's dominance over
624-780: A GCMG in Skyfall . Daniel Craig , who has portrayed Bond on film, was appointed (CMG) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to film and theatre. The general release on 30 September 2021 of his last appearance as James Bond, in No Time to Die , had been delayed by almost two years due to a change of director and the COVID-19 pandemic. Coinciding with the film's premiere, and matching his fictional character's rank, Craig became an Honorary Commander in Britain's Royal Navy . Following this appointment, he committed to being an ambassador for
728-542: A Labor vote of no confidence on the floor of the legislature were quashed after the intervention of party president Robert Sparkes , who warned that anyone who voted against Bjelke-Petersen would lose Country Party preselection at the next state election. Bjelke-Petersen seized on the controversial visit of the Springboks , the South African rugby union team, in 1971 to consolidate his position as leader with
832-454: A Lutheran minister, was posted to the originally Scandinavian settlement of Dannevirke. The family returned to Australia in 1913 to aid his father's health, settling on a farming property named "Bethany" near Kingaroy, Queensland . Bjelke-Petersen was raised in a conservative religious household, with the Sabbath strictly observed and daily Bible readings; his mother ran a Sunday school from
936-477: A National Party trustee and close friend of Bjelke-Petersen, after a breathalyser test showed he was driving with more than double the legal blood alcohol limit . Relations with the Liberal Party continued to deteriorate. By August 1983, after 26 years of coalition, they had reached their nadir. Bjelke-Petersen was angered by a Liberal Party bid to establish a public accounts committee to examine government expenditure. Shortly afterward, Liberal leader Llew Edwards
1040-528: A bid to broaden its appeal beyond rural voters, the Country Party changed its name to the National Party. In April 1974 Bjelke-Petersen outmanoeuvred Whitlam after the prime minister offered Democratic Labor Party senator Vince Gair , a bitter opponent of the government, the position of ambassador to Ireland as a way of creating an extra vacant Senate position in Queensland. Whitlam, who lacked
1144-494: 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 . By the time he was 30, he was a prosperous farmer and businessman. Obtaining a pilot's licence early in his adult life, Bjelke-Petersen also started aerial spraying and grass seeding to further speed up pasture development in Queensland. After failing in
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#17327932057031248-458: A depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. Knights and Dames Commanders and Companions may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. In the satirical British television programme Yes Minister , Jim Hacker MP is told a joke by his Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley , about what
1352-573: A display of force. Springboks matches in southern states had already been disrupted by anti- apartheid demonstrations and a match in Brisbane was scheduled for 24 July 1971, the date of two Queensland by-elections. On 14 July Bjelke-Petersen declared a month-long state of emergency covering the entire state, giving the government almost unlimited power to quell what the government said was expected to be "a climax of violent demonstrations". Six hundred police were transported to Brisbane from elsewhere in
1456-406: A high level of sophistication in dealing with news media. He held daily media conferences where he joked that he "fed the chooks", established direct telex links to newsrooms where he could feed professionally written media releases and became adept at distributing press releases on deadline so journalists had very little chance to research news items. The Premier's public profile rose rapidly with
1560-685: A key role in the political crisis that brought down the Whitlam government. When Queensland Labor Senator Bertie Milliner died suddenly in June 1975, Bjelke-Petersen requested from the Labor Party a short list of three nominees, from which he would pick one to replace Milliner. The ALP refused to supply such a list, instead nominating Mal Colston , an unsuccessful Labor candidate in the 1970 election, whom Bjelke-Petersen duly rejected. On 3 September Bjelke-Petersen selected political novice Albert Field ,
1664-575: A long-time ALP member who was critical of the Whitlam government. Field's appointment was the subject of a High Court challenge and he was on leave from October 1975. During this period, the Coalition led by Malcolm Fraser declined to allot a pair to balance Field's absence. This gave the Coalition control over the Senate. Fraser used that control to obstruct passage of the Supply Bills through Parliament, denying Whitlam's by now unpopular government
1768-528: A majority in the Senate, hoped Gair's seat would be won by his Labor Party. But when the arrangement was disclosed by newspapers before Gair had resigned from the Senate, the Opposition conspired to keep Gair away from the Senate President (to whom Gair had not yet given his resignation) and ensured he voted in a Senate debate late that night to avoid any move to backdate the resignation. At 5.15pm
1872-455: A mere eight seats in an election held later that year. In 1985 Bjelke-Petersen launched a campaign to move into federal politics to become prime minister , though the campaign was eventually aborted. Bjelke-Petersen earned himself a reputation as a "law and order" politician with his repeated use of police force against street demonstrators and strongarm tactics with trade unions, leading to descriptions of Queensland under his leadership as
1976-427: A move supported by Police Minister Max Hodges, Bjelke-Petersen declared there would be no inquiry. He told reporters he was tired of radical groups believing they could take over the streets. Police officers passed a motion at a meeting commending the premier for his "distinct stand against groups acting outside the law" and censured Whitrod. A week later Bjelke-Petersen relieved Hodges of his police portfolio. Secure in
2080-526: A new company, Exoil NL, for £190,000, and Bjelke-Petersen in turn bought a million shares in Exoil. On 1 September 1968, three weeks after becoming premier, Bjelke-Petersen's government gave two companies, Exoil NL and Transoil NL—in both of which he was a major shareholder—six-year leases to prospect for oil on the Great Barrier Reef north of Cooktown . Opposition Leader Jack Houston revealed
2184-490: A number of city seats including its first in Brisbane, the eastern suburbs seat of Wynnum . The Nationals even managed to oust Labor leader Perc Tucker in his own seat. The Australian newspaper named Bjelke-Petersen, whom it described as the "undistinguished" Queensland premier, "Australian of the Year", citing "the singular impact he has exerted on national political life". In 1975, Bjelke-Petersen played what turned out to be
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#17327932057032288-485: A person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become the person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in
2392-593: A resounding victory, attracting 38.9 percent of the primary vote to give them exactly half the parliament's 82 seats, just one short of a majority. The Keith Wright-led Labor Party, with 44 percent of the vote, won 32 seats. The Liberals were decimated, losing all but eight of their 21 seats. Bjelke-Petersen openly urged Liberals to cross the floor to the Nationals in hopes of getting an outright majority. Just three days later, two Liberals—former ministers Don Lane and Brian Austin —took up Bjelke-Petersen's offer and joined
2496-476: A significant political figure in her own right. In 1957, following a split in the Labor Party, the Country Party under Nicklin came to power, with the Liberal Party as a junior coalition partner. This was a reversal of the situation at the national level. Queensland is Australia's least centralised mainland state; the provincial cities between them have more people than the Brisbane area. In these areas,
2600-594: A smaller number of votes than the state's two other major parties. The system earned Bjelke-Petersen the nickname "the Hillbilly Dictator". Regardless, he was a highly popular figure among conservative voters and over the course of his 19 years as premier he tripled the number of Country/National voters and doubled the party's percentage vote. After the Liberal Party pulled out of the Coalition government in 1983, Bjelke-Petersen reduced his former partners to
2704-494: A thousand university students marched towards the Brisbane city centre to demand better allowances from the federal government. Police stopped the march in Coronation Drive and television cameras captured an incident during the confrontation in which a police inspector struck a 20-year-old female protester over the head with his baton, injuring her. When Police Commissioner Ray Whitrod announced he would hold an inquiry,
2808-592: A town in the North Island of New Zealand. He was the second of three children born to Maren ( née Poulsen ) and Carl George Bjelke-Petersen. His parents were both Danish emigrants to Australia; his mother had arrived in Queensland as a child while his father moved to Australia as a young man. His father's siblings included prominent novelist Marie Bjelke-Petersen and physical culture advocate Christian Bjelke-Petersen . Bjelke-Petersen's parents had moved from Queensland to New Zealand in 1903, where his father,
2912-502: A victory for the forces of corruption, but said he had decided to quit rather than tolerate further political interference by the premier and new Police Minister Tom Newbery. Whitrod said Queensland showed signs of becoming a police state and he compared the growing political interference in law enforcement to the rise of the German Nazi state . Whitrod was replaced by Assistant Commissioner Terry Lewis , despite Whitrod's warning to
3016-461: Is hung, emblazoned with his or her coat of arms. At a considerably smaller scale, to the back of the stall is affixed a piece of brass (a "stall plate") displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order. Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling and crest are taken down. The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed somewhere about
3120-454: Is in very, very good hands." Labor leader Tom Burns said the closure of parliament showed "that no rules exist in the state of Queensland." In a fortnight of political crisis, Bjelke-Petersen defied an ultimatum by Liberal parliamentarians to accept their leader in Cabinet, prompting White to tear up the Coalition agreement and lead the Liberals to the crossbench. Watching with satisfaction as
3224-642: Is mentioned in the novels From Russia, with Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service , and on-screen in his obituary in Skyfall . He was offered appointment as KCMG (which would have elevated him from Companion to Knight Commander in the Order) in The Man with the Golden Gun , but he rejected the offer as he did not wish to become a public figure. Judi Dench 's character "M" is "offered" early retirement as
Joh Bjelke-Petersen - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-682: Is named in honour of two military saints , Michael and George . The Order of St Michael and St George was originally awarded to those holding commands or high position in the Mediterranean territories acquired in the Napoleonic Wars , and it was subsequently extended to holders of similar office or position in other territories of the British Empire . It is at present awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service to
3432-737: Is not a member of the College of Arms , like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Blue Rod . Blue Rod does not, unlike the usher of the Order of the Garter , perform any duties related to the House of Lords . Members of the Order wear elaborate regalia on important occasions (such as coronations ), which vary by rank: At less important occasions, simpler insignia are used: Prior to 2011,
3536-461: Is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote a man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over
3640-514: The 1969 Queensland election , with the state's system of electoral malapportionment delivering the Country Party 26 seats—a third of the parliament's 78 seats—from 21.1% of the primary vote, the Liberals taking 19 seats from 23.7% of the vote and the Labor Party's 45.1% share of the vote leaving it with 31 seats. Further controversy followed. In June 1970 it was revealed that a number of Queensland government ministers and senior public servants, as well as Florence Bjelke-Petersen, had bought shares in
3744-482: The 1972 Australian federal election under Gough Whitlam —the Country-Liberal coalition gained another comprehensive win at the 1972 Queensland state election : Bjelke-Petersen's party took 26 seats with 20% of the vote, the Liberals took 21 seats with a 22.2% share and Labor got 33 seats from 46.7%. It was the first state election to be fought following a 1971 electoral redistribution that added four seats to
3848-425: The 1974 Queensland election for 7 December, declaring it would be fought on "the alien and stagnating, centralist, socialist, communist -inspired policies of the federal Labor government". The premier visited 70 towns and cities in the five-week campaign and attracted record crowds to public meetings. The result was a spectacular rout for the Labor Party, which was left with just 11 of the legislature's 82 seats after
3952-412: The 1977 Queensland election , 400 demonstrators were arrested in what a Melbourne newspaper called "Joh's War". Aided by an electoral redistribution that removed two Liberal-held seats, the Nationals won 35 out of 82 seats, compared with 24 for the Liberals and 23 for a resurgent Labor Party. It was the first time in Queensland political history the Nationals had outpolled the Liberals. Bjelke-Petersen used
4056-709: The Mediterranean ". In 1864, however, the protectorate ended and the Ionian Islands became part of Greece . A revision of the basis of the Order in 1868, saw membership granted to those who "hold high and confidential offices within Her Majesty 's colonial possessions, and in reward for services rendered to the Crown in relation to the foreign affairs of the Empire". Accordingly, nowadays, almost all Governors-General and Governors feature as recipients of awards in
4160-562: The South Australian cabinet without interruption from 1938 to 1965, served longer as a federal or state cabinet minister. Nicklin retired in January 1968 and was succeeded as Premier and Country Party leader by Jack Pizzey ; Bjelke-Petersen was elected unopposed as deputy Country Party leader. On 31 July 1968, after just seven months in office, Pizzey suffered a heart attack and died. Deputy Premier and Liberal leader Gordon Chalk
4264-478: The Uniting Church Synod called on the government to change the march law, Bjelke-Petersen accused the clergy of "supporting communists". His attack sparked a joint political statement by four other major religious denominations, which was shrugged off by the premier. The government's increasingly hardline approach to civil liberties prompted Queensland National Party president Robert Sparkes to warn
Joh Bjelke-Petersen - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-456: The e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition ,
4472-618: The Bath , and The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India . The third of the aforementioned Orders—which relates to Ireland, no longer fully a part of the United Kingdom—still exists but is in disuse; no appointments have been made to it since 1936. The last of the Orders on the list, related to India, has also been in disuse since that country's independence in 1947. The Prince Regent founded
4576-552: The Bjelke-Petersen era the state underwent considerable economic development. He was one of the most well-known and controversial figures of 20th-century Australian politics because of his uncompromising conservatism (including his role in the downfall of the Whitlam federal government ), political longevity, and the institutional corruption of his government. Bjelke-Petersen was born on 13 January 1911 in Dannevirke ,
4680-508: The Country Party lost a by-election in the Gold Coast seat of Albert , prompting several nervous MPs to make plans to oust Bjelke-Petersen and replace him with deputy leader Ron Camm . Bjelke-Petersen spent the night and the next morning calling MPs to bolster support, surviving a party room vote by a margin of one, after producing a proxy vote of an MP who was overseas and uncontactable. Plans by dissident Country Party members to support
4784-432: The Country Party out of the Coalition unless he became Premier. After seven days Chalk accepted the inevitable, and Bjelke-Petersen was sworn in as Premier on 8 August 1968. He remained Police Minister. Within months of becoming premier, Bjelke-Petersen encountered his first controversy over allegations of conflict of interest. In April 1959, while still a backbencher, he had paid £ 2 for an Authority to Prospect, giving him
4888-786: The Country Party was stronger than the Liberal Party. As a result, the Country Party had historically been the larger of the two non-Labor parties, and had been senior partner in the Coalition (until the parties merged) since 1925. In 1963 Nicklin appointed Bjelke-Petersen as minister for works and housing, a portfolio that gave him the opportunity to bestow favours and earn the loyalty of backbenchers by approving construction of schools, police stations and public housing in their electorates. At various times, he also served as acting minister for education, police, Aboriginal and Island Affairs, local government and conservation and labour and industry. He would serve in cabinet without interruption until his retirement in 1987. Only Thomas Playford IV , who served in
4992-560: The Ionian Islands ; now, however, Grand Masters are chosen by the Sovereign. Grand Masters include: The Order originally included 15 Knights Grand Cross, 20 Knights Commanders, and 25 Companions but has since been expanded and the current limits on membership are 125, 375, and 1,750 respectively. Members of the royal family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit, nor do foreign members appointed as "honorary members". The Order has six officers. The Order's King of Arms
5096-448: The Liberal Party engaged in vitriolic infighting, Bjelke-Petersen called an election for 22 October , claiming: "I really believe we can govern Queensland in our own right." The campaign coincided with the launch of an "official" Bjelke-Petersen biography, Jigsaw , which lauded him as a "statesman extraordinaire" and "protectorate of Queensland and her people". Further rubbing salt in the wounds of his former coalition partners, his campaign
5200-458: The Liberals in Cabinet, this time demanding that the seven Liberal ministers sign a coalition agreement in which they promised unquestioned allegiance to Cabinet decisions. The move turned the Nationals' 35 votes to a guaranteed majority of 42 in the House, effectively neutralising any potential opposition by the 15 Liberal backbenchers. Bjelke-Petersen began making appointments, including judges and
5304-608: The Nationals in return for seats in cabinet. With Lane and Austin's defections, the National Party was able to form a majority government for the first time at the state level in Australia. In 1984 Bjelke-Petersen was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for "services to parliamentary democracy". Author Evan Whitton suggests the premier had made the nomination himself. In 1986 Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke discontinued knighthoods in Australia and it
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#17327932057035408-607: The Order to commemorate the British amical protectorate over the Ionian Islands , which had come under British control in 1814 and had been granted their own constitution as the United States of the Ionian Islands in 1817. It was intended to reward "natives of the Ionian Islands and of the island of Malta and its dependencies, and for such other subjects of His Majesty as may hold high and confidential situations in
5512-698: The Order's chapel has been in St Paul's Cathedral in London. (The cathedral also serves as home to the chapels of the Order of the British Empire and the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor .) Religious services for the whole Order are held quadrennially; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. The Sovereign and the Knights and Dames Grand Cross are allotted stalls in
5616-584: The Police Minister that he was corrupt. In 1977, Bjelke-Petersen announced that "the day of street marches is over", warning protesters, "Don't bother applying for a march permit. You won't get one. That's government policy now!" Liberal parliamentarians crossed the floor defending the right of association and assembly. One Liberal MP, Colin Lamont, told a meeting at the University of Queensland that
5720-527: The Premier's financial involvement in the companies at a press conference in March 1969, where he asserted Bjelke-Petersen had gained "fabulous wealth" from the £2 prospecting authority, which had now mushroomed into Exoil shares worth AU$ 720,000. Bjelke-Petersen said he had done nothing wrong, but resigned his directorship of Artesian in favour of his wife. The Country-Liberal coalition was returned to power at
5824-483: The Premier. Bjelke-Petersen praised police for their "restraint" during the demonstrations and rewarded the police union for its support with an extra week's leave for every officer in the state. He described the tension over the Springboks' tour as "great fun, a game of chess in the political arena". The crisis, he said, "put me on the map". The following May—six months before the Labor Party's landslide victory at
5928-593: The Queensland Cabinet met to pass a " flying minute " and advised the Governor, Sir Colin Hannah , to issue writs for five, rather than six, vacancies, denying Labor the chance of gaining Gair's Senate spot. The intention was to have Gair's seat declared a casual vacancy, allowing Bjelke-Petersen to fill the vacancy until the next election. Labor argued that Gair's appointment, and hence his departure from
6032-468: The Royal Navy, particularly in its international role, and to the welfare of its service families. Long-time Doctor Who companion Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart wore the ribbon of the order as the highest of his decorations. See List of current honorary knights and dames of the Order of St Michael and St George . Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name is the name given to
6136-408: The Springboks' visit to Queensland. The football game was played to a crowd of 7000 behind a high barbed-wire fence without incident. The state of emergency, which gave the government the appearance of being strong-willed and decisive, helped steer the government to victory in both by-elections held on match day. Police Special Branch member Don Lane was one of those elected, becoming a political ally of
6240-587: The United Kingdom in a foreign country, and it can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs. The three classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade: It is used to honour individuals who have rendered important services in relation to Commonwealth or foreign nations. People are appointed to the Order rather than awarded it. British Ambassadors to foreign nations are regularly appointed as KCMGs, DCMGs, or CMGs. For example,
6344-706: The badge is suspended from the collar. All collars which have been awarded since 1948 must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood . The other insignia may be retained. The original home of the Order was the Palace of St. Michael and St. George in Corfu , the residence of the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands and the seat of the Ionian Senate. Since 1906,
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#17327932057036448-518: The chairmanship of the Totalisator Agency Board , that had traditionally been the domain of Liberal ministers, and accusations arose of political interference and conflicts of interest as mining contracts, casino licences and the rights to build shopping complexes were awarded to business figures with National Party links. Accusations of political interference also arose when police released without charge TAB chairman Sir Edward Lyons,
6552-413: The choir of the chapel, above which their heraldic devices are displayed. Perched on the pinnacle of a knight's stall is his helm, decorated with a mantling and topped by his crest. Under English heraldic law, women other than monarchs do not bear helms or crests; instead, the coronet appropriate to the dame's rank, if there is one, is used. Above the crest or coronet, the stall's occupant's heraldic banner
6656-410: The devil was portrayed with black skin while St Michael was shown as being white; this was changed that year to show both with same skin colour, although St Michael's wings were changed from being multi-colour to being pure white. The alleged racism of this imagery has resulted in the government of Jamaica suspending the use of the badge entirely. In June 2020, calls were made for a complete redesign of
6760-520: The end of 1978, both the state Liberal and Labor parties had new parliamentary leaders—the fourth Labor opposition leader during Bjelke-Petersen's reign and the third Liberal leader. Florence Bjelke-Petersen was elected to the Senate in October 1980 as a National Party member and six weeks later Joh was successful for a fifth time as premier at the 1980 Queensland election , with the Nationals converting
6864-444: The family home. At their father's insistence, he and his siblings were raised speaking Danish as their home language, something atypical of Scandinavian immigrants in Australia who more often rapidly adopted English. The young Bjelke-Petersen suffered from polio , leaving him with a lifelong limp. The family was poor, and his father was frequently in poor health. Bjelke-Petersen left formal schooling at age 14 to work with his mother on
6968-486: The farm, though he later enrolled in correspondence school and undertook a University of Queensland extension course on the "Art of Writing". He taught Sunday school , delivered sermons regularly in nearby towns and joined the Kingaroy debating society. In 1933, Bjelke-Petersen began work land-clearing and peanut farming on the family's newly acquired second property. His efforts eventually allowed him to begin work as
7072-660: The former British Ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning , was appointed a CMG when he worked for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and then after his appointment as British Ambassador to the US, he was promoted to a Knight Commander (KCMG). It is the traditional award for members of the FCO. The Order's motto is Auspicium melioris ævi ( Latin for "Token of a better age"). Its patron saints, as
7176-484: The former are written out in their fullest forms. Furthermore, honorary (foreign) members and clergymen do not receive the accolade and thus are not entitled to use the prefix "Sir" or "Dame". Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GCMG"; Knights Commanders and Dames Commanders use "KCMG" and "DCMG" respectively; Companions use "CMG". Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters . They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with
7280-410: The general rule of honours, that a husband never derives any style or title from his wife.) Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders prefix "Sir", and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commanders prefix "Dame", to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but husbands of Dames derive no title from their wives. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of
7384-456: The government would believe the police and claiming the public clamour was "all part of an orchestrated campaign to legalise marijuana and denigrate the police". In defiance of the premier, Whitrod went ahead with an inquiry anyway and on 16 November ordered summonses be issued against four police officers on more than 25 charges, including arson. He chose the same day to announce that he was quitting his post. Whitrod claimed his resignation marked
7488-405: The government; one of them, Cairns lawyer Sir Thomas Covacevich, was a fundraiser for the National Party. The malapportionment meant that a vote in the state's west was worth two in Brisbane and the provincial cities. A University of Queensland associate professor of government described the redistribution as "the most criminal act ever perpetrated in politics ... the worst zonal gerrymander in
7592-432: The governments of South Africa and Rhodesia and from 1977 proposed Queensland secede from Australia and establish its own currency. He also accused political opponents of being covert communists bent on chaos, observing: "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." Three weeks before
7696-422: The history of the world" and the most serious action of Bjelke-Petersen's political career. Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV ), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III . It
7800-637: The insignia, including from Sir Michael Palin of Monty Python fame, a Knight Commander of the Order In July, the Cabinet Office announced that officers of the Order who were unhappy with their insignia could exchange them for one of the newer models. On certain collar days designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or morning wear. When collars are worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations),
7904-479: The knowledge that they had the Premier's backing, police officers continued to act provocatively, most notably in a military-style raid on a hippie commune at Cedar Bay in Far North Queensland late the following month. The police, who had been looking for marijuana, set fire to the residents' houses and destroyed their property. Bjelke-Petersen rejected calls for an inquiry into the raid, declaring
8008-520: 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 the governor-general John Kerr , Bjelke-Petersen alleged that Queensland police investigations had uncovered damaging documentation in relation to the Loans Affair . This documentation was never made public and these allegations remained unsubstantiated. Queensland
8112-508: The media to emphasise a distinctive Queensland identity he alleged was under threat from the "socialist" federal government. The Queensland government bought a single-engine aircraft for the Premier's use in November 1971, upgrading it to a twin-engine aircraft in 1973 and even bigger model in 1975. Bjelke-Petersen, a licensed pilot, used it often to visit far-flung parts of the state to campaign and boost his public profile. In April 1974, in
8216-618: The name suggests, are St. Michael the Archangel, and St. George , patron saint of England and of soldiers . One of its primary symbols is that of St Michael trampling over and subduing Satan in battle. The Order is the sixth-most senior in the British honours system , after The Most Noble Order of the Garter , The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle , The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick , The Most Honourable Order of
8320-405: The normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of a person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né
8424-620: The oil search authority to Artesian for £2; the consent was given a week later. When the Taxation Commissioner ruled that the £12,650 windfall from the £2 authority was a taxable profit, Bjelke-Petersen appealed, eventually taking the matter to the High Court . The appeal was dismissed, with Justice Taylor ruling that Bjelke-Petersen's six million percent gain from the £2 authority arose from "a profit-making undertaking". In 1962 Artesian transferred its Authority to Prospect to
8528-612: The order, typically as Knights or Dames Grand Cross. In 1965 the order was opened to women, with Evelyn Bark becoming the first female CMG in 1967. The British sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order (by convention, on the advice of the Government). The next-most senior member is the Grand Master. The office was formerly filled by the Lord High Commissioner of
8632-408: The parliament and created four electoral zones with a weightage towards rural seats, with the result that while Brisbane electorates averaged about 22,000 voters, some rural seats such as Gregory and Balonne had fewer than 7000. From 1971, under the guidance of newly hired press secretary Allen Callaghan, a former Australian Broadcasting Corporation political journalist, Bjelke-Petersen developed
8736-402: The party that it was developing a dangerous "propaganda-created" ultra-conservative, almost fascist image. He told a party conference: "We must studiously avoid any statements or actions which suggest an extreme right-wing posture." Bjelke-Petersen ignored the advice. He condemned the use of Australian foreign aid to prop up communist regimes, urged Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to stop criticising
8840-505: The party's strength to move key Cabinet posts that had long held by the Liberals into the hands of National Party ministers. In October 1978 thousands of demonstrators again attempted to defy anti-march laws with a protest march in Albert St, Brisbane, which was again repulsed by police lined five deep. In a Brisbane byelection a month later National Party support slumped to just 10 percent, half of what party strategists had expected. But by
8944-483: The police commissioner Bjelke-Petersen had appointed and later knighted, were jailed for corruption offences and in 1991 Bjelke-Petersen, too, was tried for perjury over his evidence to the royal commission; the jury failed to reach a verdict as the jury foreman was a member of the Young Nationals and a member of the "Friends of Joh" group, and Bjelke-Petersen was deemed too old to face a second trial. During
9048-516: The premier was engineering confrontation for electoral purposes and was confronted two hours later by an angry Bjelke-Petersen who said he was aware of the comments. Lamont later said he learned the Special Branch had been keeping files on Liberal rebels and reporting, not to their Commissioner, but directly to the Premier, commenting: "The police state had arrived." When, after two ugly street battles between police and right-to-march protesters,
9152-431: The public float of Comalco , a mining company that had direct dealings with the government and senior ministers. The shares finished their first day of trading at double the price the ministers had paid. Bjelke-Petersen again rejected claims of a conflict of interest, but the Country Party state branch changed its policy to forbid the acceptance of preferential share offers by ministers or members of parliament. In October,
9256-464: The resulting media coverage. Bjelke-Petersen began regular media and parliamentary attacks on the Whitlam Labor government, vowing to have it defeated, and he and Whitlam exchanged frequent verbal barbs, culminating in the prime minister's 1975 description of the Queensland premier as "a Bible-bashing bastard ... a paranoic, a bigot and fanatical". The pair clashed over federal plans to halt
9360-491: The right to search for oil over 150,000 square kilometres (58,000 sq mi) near Hughenden in far north Queensland. The next month he incorporated a company, Artesian Basin Oil Co. Pty Ltd, of which he was sole director and shareholder, and the same day entered an agreement to sell 51% of the company's shares to an American company for £12,650. The following day he sought the consent of Mines Minister Ernie Evans to transfer
9464-578: The sale of Queensland coal to Japan , take over the administration of Aboriginal affairs, remove outback petrol subsidies and move the Australian border in the Torres Strait southwards to a point midway between Queensland and Papua New Guinea . Bjelke-Petersen also vehemently opposed the Whitlam government's proposal for Medicare , a publicly funded universal health care system. The battles helped to consolidate Bjelke-Petersen's power as he used
9568-456: The senate, was effective from no later than when the Irish government accepted his appointment, in March. This was a matter of protracted debate in the Senate over many days, and was never resolved, but it was rendered irrelevant when Whitlam called a double dissolution of both Houses, in an election gamble he only narrowly won. In October 1974 Bjelke-Petersen called an early election, setting
9672-733: The stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the Order's Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1906. The reredos within the chapel was commissioned from Henry Poole in 1927. Members of the Order of St Michael are assigned positions in the order of precedence in England and Wales . Wives of male members also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders; relatives of female members, however, are not assigned any special precedence. (Individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives. This follows
9776-444: The state. In the week before the match, 40 trade unions staged a 24-hour strike , protesting against the proclamation. A crowd of demonstrators also mounted a peaceful protest outside the Springboks' Wickham Terrace motel and were chased on foot by police moments after being ordered to retreat, with many police attacking the crowd with batons, boots and fists. It was one of a series of violent attacks by police on demonstrators during
9880-472: The tax. To help compensate for lost revenue, the government introduced football pools ; four years later the government granted a casino licence on the Gold Coast , although this too was mired in allegations of corruption and favouritism. Issues of police powers and civil liberties , first raised at the time of the 1971 Springboks tour, resurfaced in July 1976 with a major street demonstration in which more than
9984-544: The various post-nominals stand for. From Series 2, Episode 2 "Doing the Honours": Woolley : In the service, CMG stands for "Call Me God". And KCMG for "Kindly Call Me God". Hacker : What does GCMG stand for? Woolley (deadpan): "God Calls Me God". Ian Fleming's spy, James Bond , a commander in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), was fictionally decorated as a CMG in 1953. This
10088-499: Was a child and settled on farming property near Kingaroy, Queensland . He left school at the age of 14 and went into farming. Bjelke-Petersen was elected to the Kingaroy Shire Council in 1946 and to the Queensland Legislative Assembly at the 1947 state election . He would serve in state parliament for over 40 years, holding the seats of Nanango (1947–1950) and Barambah (1950–1987). Bjelke-Petersen
10192-472: Was appointed as a government minister in 1963 and succeeded as premier and Country Party leader in 1968 following the death of Jack Pizzey . He would lead the party to seven consecutive election victories, governing in coalition with the Liberal Party until 1983. His first three electoral victories saw his party benefit from a system of rural malapportionment later nicknamed the " Bjelkemander ", which allowed him to remain premier despite frequently receiving
10296-501: Was boosted by the support of prominent Liberals from other states including Tasmanian premier Robin Gray and former Victorian and NSW premiers Sir Henry Bolte and Tom Lewis . The Nationals also poured significant resources into Brisbane-area Liberal seats, seeing a chance to not only win government in their own right, but destroy their former Liberal partners. Three months before his 73rd birthday, Bjelke-Petersen and his party recorded
10400-416: Was elected a year later at age 36, going on to give regular radio talks and becoming secretary of the local Nationals branch. He would hold this seat, renamed Barambah in 1950, for the next 40 years. The Labor Party had held power in Queensland since 1932 and Bjelke-Petersen spent eleven years as an opposition member. On 31 May 1952, Bjelke-Petersen married typist Florence Gilmour , who would later become
10504-589: Was largely in response to Bjelke-Petersen's knighthood. When Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott brought back knighthoods in 2014 he insisted that politicians would not be eligible citing Sir Joh as a reason for the ineligibility. In 1985 Bjelke-Petersen unveiled plans for another electoral redistribution to create seven new seats in four zones: four in the state's populous south-east (with an average enrolment of 19,357 electors per seat) and three in country areas (with enrolments as low as 9386). The boundaries were to be drawn by electoral commissioners specially appointed by
10608-431: Was ousted in a party room coup by Terry White , who had long advocated a greater role for the Liberals in the Coalition. Bjelke-Petersen refused to give Edwards' old post of deputy premier to White, choosing instead to adjourn parliament—which had sat for just 15 days that year—declined to say when it would sit again, and insisted he could govern alone without the need of a coalition, commenting: "The government of Queensland
10712-521: Was renowned for being the lowest taxed state in Australia for much of Bjelke-Petersen's tenure. Over heated objections by Treasurer Gordon Chalk, Bjelke-Petersen in 1977 announced the removal of state death duties , a move that cost his state $ 30 million in revenue. So many New South Wales and Victorian residents sought to establish their permanent address in Queensland as a result, boosting state coffers with stamp duty from property transactions, that other states followed suit within months and also abolished
10816-523: Was sworn in as caretaker premier until the Country Party could elect a new leader, with Bjelke-Petersen as deputy premier. The Country Party had 27 seats in Parliament; the Liberals had 20. Nonetheless, there was some dispute over whether the Liberals should take senior status, which would have made Chalk premier in his own right. Matters were brought to a head when Bjelke-Petersen—elected Country Party leader within days of Pizzey's death—threatened to pull
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