Ginger Group (Queensland)
The Ginger group, in
Background
After the
From 1949, an electoral malapportionment meant that regional areas held significantly more political power in the Legislative Assembly than their populations would have suggested. This arrangement initially benefited the Labor Party, whose power base was historically in the provincial cities. However, the Labor government imploded in 1957, allowing the Country-Liberal Coalition to win power. The new Country Party premier, Frank Nicklin, immediately tweaked the electoral system to favour his own party. The Liberals, whose base was concentrated in and around the state capital, Brisbane, were left at a severe disadvantage as before.[1][2]
The Country-Liberal coalition was harmonious at first, as both were determined to drive Labor out of office in favour of a conservative government, and subsequently to keep Labor out of power. The first indications of trouble came in 1963, when the Liberals insisted on the introduction of
Growth
The first overt opposition to the Country Party's dominance from within the Liberal party came from John Murray, the member for Clayfield, in 1964. Murray publicly criticised the land policy of the government, as well as the Country Party's dominance of government business in the legislature, which often disadvantaged the Liberals just as much as the nominal Labor opposition. At around the same time, the Liberals had begun establishing local branches in Country party held seats, particularly on the Gold Coast, a development that some in the Country Party found provocative.[3]
Further discontent became evident following the 1968 by-election in the seat of
Rebellion and takeover
As time wore on, and the period of Country Party dominance continued, some figures within the Liberal Party became more and more outspoken in their opposition to government policy. Discontent arose from differences of opinion on policies (including on then-premier
The Ginger Group were not happy with this approach, however, and continued to make public their opposition to many government policies. In 1982, they were sufficiently emboldened that Angus Innes, a leading member of the group and the member for Sherwood challenged Edwards for the leadership of the Liberal party. Bjelke-Petersen publicly stated that he would not work in a coalition with Innes leading the Liberal Party, and that he would form a minority government if necessary. Edwards was able to defeat the challenge, but the close margin (12-10)[5] showed that the Ginger Group was gaining increasing power and influence within the Liberal Party.[4]
At this point, although the Ginger Group was never a formal faction within the party, the following MLAs were widely perceived to be a part of the group:[4]
- Angus Innes, member for Sherwood
- Terry White, member for Redcliffe
- Guelfi Scassola, member for Mt Gravatt
- Ian Prentice, member for Toowong
- Terry Gygar, member for Stafford
- Rosemary Kyburz, member for Salisbury
- Rob Akers, member for Pine Rivers
- Bill Hewitt, member for Greenslopes
- John Greenwood, member for Ashgrove.
All nine represented electoral districts either in or near Brisbane. White and Hewitt were ministers,[6] and the group was supported from outside parliament by John Herron, then the state president of the Liberal Party.[7] Most of them were also members of the progressive, or "small-l liberal," wing of the party, although Greenwood, a former minister, belonged to the conservative wing of the party.
1983 election
Matters came to a head in 1983 when the Ginger Group
In the subsequent 1983 election, Bjelke-Petersen called for right-leaning Liberal voters to support the Nationals, suggesting that under White, the Liberals might throw their support to Labor. The election was an unmitigated disaster for the Liberals, who suffered a 14-seat loss. Significantly, from the Ginger Group, only White and Innes survived, with the media and supporters blaming them for the debacle. Two of the surviving members defected to the Nationals soon after the election, leaving the Liberals with only six members out of 89. The two defectors gave Bjelke-Petersen's Nationals an outright majority, allowing him to form government in his own right.[9]
White resigned as leader soon afterwards,[9] although Innes later managed to become leader of the Liberal Party in time for the 1989 election, which saw Labor win power for the first time since 1957.[10]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-203-41872-7.
- ISBN 978-0-7022-1957-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7022-3294-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7022-3304-3.
- ^ Whitton, Evan (1989). "19". The Hillbilly Dictator. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ "Queensland Parliament Members Register" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Coalition ends with a bang". The Age. 19 August 1983. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-521-53205-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7022-3742-3.
- ^ Goss, Wayne. "Parliamentary Committees in Queensland" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved 14 February 2010.