Sir Joh’s test

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 12

Sir Joh’s test

Is Australia ripe for a consolidation of the vote of the conservatives behind Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen? Most liberal-minded Australians and a great many sophisticated conservatives fervently hope not. Sir Joh, however, has not only confounded pundits before but revelled in his victories. Far from hiding his political ambitions, Sir Joh has proclaimed fairly widely that he intends taking his own form of politics from Queensland to the capital of the Commonwealth and sees little to stand in the way of his becoming Prime Minister. Although the Federal Opposition already has a leader in Mr Howard, the Federal National Party a leader in Mr Sinclair, and the two parties are in a coalition, this has not deterred Sir Joh. He believes that Mr Sinclair should simply step aside for him and that if the Liberal Party is not prepared to be the junior party in a coalition led by the National Party with Sir Joh at its head then the time has come for the coalition to be ended. As a Queensland politician, Sir Joh has been outstandingly successful. The question about his political ambitions hangs on whether he could export the style of politics he practises in Queensland to the whole of Australia. That is why the Northern Territory election at the week-end was so important. The Northern Territory has several features in common with Queensland. It is mainly rural, it has a large number of Aboriginals living in reserves, and it is a very long way from Canberra. There was very considerable resentment in the Northern Territory when the Labour Government gave Ayers Rock to the Aboriginal people. The result of the election, however, gives little reason to back

the view that Australia as a whole would accept Sir Joh. Even in the Northern Territory Sir Joh’s rebel Country-Liberal Party coalition could pick up only 17 per cent of the vote and win two seats. When the distribution of preference votes is made a few more votes may be found. (The National Party and the Country Party are the same political organisation but called differently in various areas.)

After launching a campaign only a few weeks ago, it may reasonably be argued that Sir Joh’s rebels did very well to get as many votes as they did. After all, the New Zealand Party picked up 12.9 per cent of the votes in the 1984 election after a few months campaigning. But the situation is not analogous. Mr Bob Jones, the leader of the New Zealand Party, was not a political figure in New Zealand. Sir Joh has been around in Australian politics for as long as most people can remember. Mr Jones launched a new party; Sir Joh’s brand of politics and the party he was associated with are known very well to most Australians. The election was not contested by a new party but was more a struggle for leadership within a political organisation. Sir Joh was appealing to the people of the Northern Territory to back him in his efforts to oust Mr Sinclair. He was not a candidate himself in the election. In a way it was almost like an internal party organisation vote. The Northern Territorians stayed solidly with the traditional coalition. Sir Joh is not one to be put off easily, but if he could not get more substantial backing in the Northern Territory, his chances of backing in the big states of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia are not strong.