How The Old Mates Rule Joh Country
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday March 7, 1987
MR Austin Donnelly, a well-known investment advisor who once worked with Sir Arthur Fadden, the then Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister, said this week that most Queensland business people found it unfashionable to look at the economic facts of life in the Sunshine State.
Mr Donnelly has been critical of Queensland's economic record under the Premiership of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. "So don't look for me in the next honours list," he said.
The next day, Donnelly attended a Rotary Club meeting in Brisbane, where he was attacked by a prominent businessman. "You're just a knocker," said his accuser.
Now, Brisbane is not a metropolis and is a more tightly knit society than some. It is natural that politicians and businessmen meet in the normal course of their duties and there is no doubt their relationships have sometimes benefited Queenslanders.
But the last time business in Queensland and the honours list were linked was on the eve of the State election in November, when Sir Roderick Proctor, then a trustee of the National Party, said there was a genuine concern in the business community about the extent of cronyism.
He said tenders had been called "when it was fairly obvious this was only a charade, and that it had already been decided who was going to be granted the contract".
Sir Roderick would not discuss the matter this week. However, several Brisbane businessmen said that, since his criticism, some business ventures in which he was involved were no longer viewed with favour by the Government.
Another "tropical knight" has had something to say on the subject. Justin Hickey was a Sydney insurance businessman who became a knight bachelor, courtesy of the Queensland Premier's honours list and to the bafflement of the Queensland establishment.
Sir Justin told an ABC Four Corners program in 1982 that he was knighted after giving $100,000 towards a senior citizens' home in Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's electorate. Asked whether the cheque or the knighthood had come first, Sir Justin said: "I paid the hundred thousand before I received the knighthood."
Most National Party sympathisers express surprise at accusations of cronyism. They either say it does not exist or that it's natural for politicians to look after their mates, and that this is one way in which Queensland "gets things done", unlike other States. (In fact, Queensland is behind most other states on all the main economic indicators.)
The Minister for Local Government, Main Roads and Racing, Mr Russ Hinze, illustrated the contradiction after Sir Roderick Proctor's "true confessions". He said, on the one hand, that Sir Roderick was "the architect of cronyism in this State".
On the other hand, Mr Hinze said: "He (Sir Roderick) has demonstrated that, far from there being any cronyism, favouritism or corruption by the Government, (that) not even a trustee of our own party has been able to get his way."
Some examples of where the Sunshine State's Old Mates' Act may not necessarily have benefited the Queensland people at large:
Case 1: The tiny township of Duaringa has received - or is receiving - a $4 million dam, $4 million bridge, new road, new police station, new school and upgrading of the racetrack and other sporting facilities.
By the time the spending is over, more than $10 million of taxpayers' money will have been spent. The Bjelke-Petersen family have properties in the district. Sir Joh denied allegations in Parliament by the then Opposition leader Mr Ed Casey that he was "feathering his own family's nest".
Case 2: At the same time as the Premier was fighting the Fraser Government in 1978 to allow cancer quack Milan Brych to practise in Queensland, he fought another battle over the construction of a power station.
Sir Joh had said he would accept the State Electricity Commission recommendation on the matter. But when the SEC chose a site at Millmerran, Sir Joh had the decision overturned.
The power station was built at Tarong, despite the fact that Mr Ron Camm, the then Mines Minister, said the Tarong station would cost $259 million more to build and operate. Queensland electricity prices today are among the highest in Australia.
Tarong is in the electoral district of Barambah, represented by Sir Joh.
Case 3: Mr Robert Bruce Hope is managing director of Prospect Marine, a company building a marina on Fisherman Island, Brisbane.
In 1982 the Port of Brisbane Authority rejected a proposal by Prospect Marine to build a marina on the western side. The company accepted a proposal to build the marina on the eastern side, but withdrew this acceptance the next day, in March.
In June 1982 Cabinet over-ruled the authority, allowing the original proposal for a massive recreational development in what is essentially an industrial area. When the company pumps and fills the area it will be entitled to freehold, the only freehold on the island.
Case 4: The Brisbane Port Authority, supported by independent accountants Hungerford Spooner, the United Graziers' Association, the Queensland Meat Exporters' Association and the Chamber of Shipping, decided that stevedoring rights to a new container terminal should go to Associated Container Transportation (Australia) Ltd.
The Premier subsequently told the board they should favourably consider an alternative proposal by Brisbane Wharves and Wooldumping Pty Ltd, headed by Mr Brian Baillie, who is also Queensland head of P&O, and the Australian National Line.
In February 1979, Cabinet rescinded a previous decision and told the authority to enter into negotiations with BWWD and ANL. This decision was based on a report by Sir Sydney Roberts, a member of the National Party. BWWD and ANL won the stevedoring rights.
Case 5: Sir Edward "Top Level Ted" Lyons was the driving behind the establishment of the Bjelke-Petersen Foundation in 1979 to raise $2.5 million for the National Party. Letters to developers and businessmen said a donation would be "in the protection of your commercial future as well as your basic democratic lifestyle."
Knighted for services to "commerce and finance", Sir Edward was forced to resign as chairman of the TAB in 1985 following allegations of betting irregularities.
Case 6: Mr Hinze had a financial interest in Maralinga Pty Ltd, the company operating a gravel pit on the Coomera River. The Albert Shire Council rezoned the land from rural to extractive, a move approved by Mr Hinze as minister.
The Labor Opposition told Parliament that, in order to facilitate the removal of the sand and gravel, a new road was proposed, requiring redirection of the Tamborine-Oxenford road.
In December 1983, the Main Roads Department, which is responsible to Mr Hinze, approved redirection of the Tamborine-Oxenford road. Mr Hinze said the new road gave better access to locals.
Case 7: With Australians still talking this week about the $25 million that developer Mr Mike Gore said was available to the Joh-for-Canberra push, Mr Bruce Judge's Ariadne Australia bought a majority holding in Mr Gore's luxury Sanctuary Cove development for just over $1 million.
The State Government passed the Sanctuary Cove Resort Act in 1985, giving residential title to waters in the area and providing for private thoroughfares rather than public roads.
This was despite previous Government policy that any further development of Crown Land on South Stradbroke Island would be only for public requirements.
Sir Leslie Thiess, who had lost out in the Tarong power station deal, but had won the Townsville casino, was to build the Hyatt Regency at Sanctuary Cove.
Mr Gore, a former used car salesman and boat builder, and his partners were forced to slow development because of skyrocketing costs. They were looking for help when Mr Judge stepped in.
The Government would have been embarrassed if the project had collapsed. After all, Mr Hinze had opened the golf course. And, even if he had completely missed his tee shot at the first hole, the hole was named after him.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald