Part 1 of 3
‘All we leave behind is the memories’(1): Demolitions and political protests in the era of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
I was born in Penrith, west of Sydney, in 1982. In 1990, my family moved to Bundaberg to start a new life. Although I was only eight years old, it didn’t take me long to realise that many of country Queensland’s inhabitants were right-wing National or Liberal supporters. I vividly remember Dad’s argument on the front lawn with Toby, the neighbour from across the street. Toby thought that John Hewson and his proposed GST were a great idea. He was trying to convince my father, who was unemployed due to low job availability in a country town and was looking after a wife and two kids, that the GST would somehow be of benefit to our family. Toby had one of those ‘I fish and I vote’ stickers slapped on the rear end of his station wagon.
I had heard the name ‘Joh’ muttered by locals on several occasions — usually coupled with adoration for the man. I had very little idea of who he was, and I certainly wasn’t aware that in the same year as my birth, he had been involved with the demolition of Cloudland Ballroom, some four hours away in Brisbane. Once I had moved to Brisbane and, perhaps more significantly, begun to associate with the arts community, my eyes became fully open when it came to Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and his ‘midnight demolitions’.
Johannes Bjelke-Petersen became the ‘accidental’ Premier of Queensland when Jack Pizzey, then Premier and leader of the Country Party, dropped dead of a heart attack in 1968, aged 57. Also 57, Bjelke-Petersen had been described as ‘a representative of the younger generation of Country Party Ministers’, and was elected unopposed as their leader. He was also Queensland’s Police Minister.(2)
Image: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Not only did Bjelke-Petersen’s ‘quest for autonomy’(4) apply to public protests and street marches, it also carried over into business. In 1985, with regards to the striking South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB) employees, the Premier proved ‘how little input cabinet had in the decision-making process’(5) when he declared that ‘you have to override the people for their own good’.(6) The SEQEB dispute began when the government introduced contract labour; the Electrical Trades Union responded with mass strikes, which resulted in blackouts affecting all of Brisbane and much of south-east Queensland. A State of Emergency was once again declared, and eventually Bjelke-Petersen approved the sacking of 900 workers and stripped them of their superannuation entitlements. The sacked workers were subsequently replaced with non-union workers who were required to sign no-strike clauses.(7)
Despite the constant allegations of corruption, Bjelke-Petersen was re-elected seven times as Queensland’s Premier. The corruption of the government was repeatedly denied, and instead the public were told about the state’s booming economy.(8) Around the same time that Bjelke-Petersen set his sights on the Prime Ministership, the Fitzgerald Inquiry was launched. The inquiry was in response to a series of news articles about high-level police corruption. A number of politicians were charged, and Bjelke-Petersen eventually resigned on 1 December 1987 after unsuccessfully attempting to sack his ministers when they voted to dismiss him.(9) He was charged with perjury, and his trial resulted in a hung jury. (It was later revealed that the jury foreman was the leader of the Queensland National Party’s youth wing.)
Of course, Sir Joh was most notoriously known for authorising the demolition of some sixty city buildings during his time as Premier. These were not just any old buildings — most of them were significant buildings of Brisbane’s heritage.(10) As a result, Brisbane soon became known as ‘the demolition capital of Australia’.(11)
Of all the buildings demolished between the mid 1970s and late 1980s, two stick in the minds of people more than the others — the Bellevue Hotel and Cloudland Ballroom. The Bellevue was located on the corner of George and Alice Streets in the city centre, and was the temporary home for out-of-town parliamentarians.(12) Until just after World War Two, it had been regarded as one of the most prestigious hotels.(13) In 1973 the government had planned to redevelop the block for state office use, but pressure from the National Trust and members of the public resulted in a temporary reprieve. (Although, in 1974 it was deliberately transformed into an eyesore when the government ordered that its decorative verandas be removed.)(14)
Image: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Then, early one April morning in 1979, Joh sent the Deen Brothers in with police protection to bring the Bellevue Hotel down. The public had gotten wind of the plan, and as a result 700 people turned up to protest.(15) In the words of Terry Gygar, a Liberal Party member at the time:
A large crowd had gathered around the building. There was a cordon of police. They had thrown up a barbed…a mesh wire fence around it. And then the Deen Bros arrived, rolling through like an armoured division, straight through the crowd. People were knocked sideways. Police were dragging people out of the way. Parking meters were knocked over. Traffic signs were bent and twisted on the road. It looked like Stalingrad.(16)
Image: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Those in the coalition who were opposed to the demolition, like Terry Gygar, were treated by Joh and his close Country Party colleagues as disloyal and radical.(17) According to local artist Lachlan Hurse in an interview:
Continue to Part 2.…much of the opposition to the demolition of the Bellevue came from people who supported Bjelke-Petersen (particularly members of the Liberal Party) or who had stood on the periphery of the street march movement and hadn’t necessarily offered much support to those who were actively defying the government…They had distanced themselves from the radical opposition, and now were crying about how bad Bjelke-Petersen was, but still hanging on his coat tails.(18)
Endnotes
1. Deen Brothers demolition company motto, quoted in J Carniel, ‘Cloudland, Stronzoland,
3. Whitton, ‘The Jewel in the crown’, in The Hillbilly Dictator, Crows Nest, 1989, p.22.
4. R Wear, ‘Introduction’, in Johannes Bjelke-Petersen: The Lord’s Premier, St Lucia Brisbane
5. Wear, ‘The Premier and cabinet’, in Johannes Bjelke-Petersen , St Lucia Brisbane
6. The Joh Tapes on Leadership, Brisbane, 1988 (videorecording), quoted in Wear, ‘The Premier and cabinet’, p.139.
7. Wear, ‘The Premier and cabinet’, p.140.8. Wear, ‘Introduction’, p.xv.
9. Whitton, ‘Decline and fall’, in The Hillbilly Dictator, Crows Nest, 1989, p.138.
10. R Fisher, ‘“Nocturnal demolitions”: The long march towards heritage legislation in Queensland
11. P Spearritt, Demolishing Brisbane, Brisbane 19 April 2007 , <www.brisinst.org.au/resources/spearritt_peter_demolish.html>.
12. ibid.
13. Fisher, ‘“Nocturnal demolitions”’, p.55.
14. ibid, p.56.15. Spearritt, Demolishing Brisbane
16. T Gygar, quoted in ‘Bellevue Hotel’ (Rewind program transcript), Sydney, 2004, viewed 19 April 2007 , <http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rewind/txt/s1218262.htm>.
17. Spearritt, Demolishing Brisbane
18. L Hurse, interview conducted by email, 
