Mike Ahern (Australian politician)
Leader of the National Party in Queensland | |
---|---|
In office 26 November 1987 – 25 September 1989 | |
Deputy | Bill Gunn |
Preceded by | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
Succeeded by | Russell Cooper |
Minister for Environment and Health of Queensland | |
In office 1 December 1986 – 25 November 1987 | |
Premier | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
Preceded by | Brian Austin |
Succeeded by | Kev Lingard |
Minister for Industry, Small Business and Technology of Queensland | |
In office 7 November 1983 – 1 December 1986 | |
Premier | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
Preceded by | Bill Gunn |
Succeeded by | Peter McKechnie (Industry and Technology) Queensland Legislative Assembly for Landsborough |
In office 16 March 1968 – 16 May 1990 | |
Preceded by | Frank Nicklin |
Succeeded by | Joan Sheldon |
Personal details | |
Born | National Party | 2 June 1942
Spouse |
Andrea Meyer (m. 1971) |
Grazier | |
Michael John Ahern
Early life
In common with most National Party politicians, Ahern had a rural background. His father, Jack Ahern, was active in the Country Party (now known as the National Party), in Landsborough and was campaign manager for Premier Sir Frank Nicklin. From 1964 to 1967 Jack Ahern was president of the Country Party. Michael Ahern was born in Maleny, Queensland and was educated at Conondale State School and Downlands College (Toowoomba).[1]
Ahern went on to study agricultural science at the University of Queensland,[2] afterwards became active in the Young Country Party.[3] He was state president of the Young Country Party in 1967 and national president in 1968, as well as junior vice-president of the Country Party. He took Nicklin as a political mentor. When Nicklin retired in 1968, Ahern nominated to succeed him in his Landsborough electorate, located in the Sunshine Coast. He handily won election to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in the ensuing by-election, being the youngest Country member of Parliament by nearly twenty years.[citation needed]
Parliamentary career
When
Despite this, Ahern was chosen as National Party
Ahern once again found himself at odds with Bjelke-Petersen in his role as chair of the Select Committee on Education. The
After being passed over twice for a Cabinet post in the 1970s, Ahern nominated for the vacancy in the Deputy Leadership of the National Party in 1980—a post that de facto carried automatic Cabinet rank. Bjelke-Petersen was not willing to have Ahern as his deputy and potential rival, but could no longer justify keeping him out of the ministry. Sir Joh decided to placate Ahern by offering the portfolio of Minister for Mines while successfully running his own preferred candidate, Vic Sullivan, for Deputy Leader. Other portfolios held by Ahern over the course of his ministerial career were Minister for Primary Industries, Minister for Industry, Small Business and Technology, and Minister for Health and Environment. Ahern was significantly younger than most of his Cabinet colleagues, and was one of few members of cabinet with tertiary qualifications.
By the late 1980s the standing of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (he was knighted in 1984) as premier had begun to be compromised by the failure of the disastrous "
Shortly afterwards, Sir Joh threw his support behind a proposal to have the
Sir Joh refused to call a party meeting to allow his opponents to request a leadership spill, so the management committee of the National Party called one for 26 November. Sir Joh boycotted this meeting, at which the spill motion was carried by a margin of 38–9. With Sir Joh not even in the room, Ahern won a three-way contest for the leadership, with Bill Gunn as deputy leader.
Ahern immediately wrote to the governor, seeking to be commissioned as the new premier.[4] This normally would have been a pro forma request since the Nationals had a majority in their own right (as they had since 1983). However, despite not even having nominated for the leadership, Sir Joh insisted he was still premier. While it seemed that Campbell was bound by convention to appoint Ahern, he refused to terminate Bjelke-Petersen's commission until Sir Joh was defeated in the legislature.[5] The situation where Queensland had a "Premier who is not leader" and the National Party a "Leader who is not Premier"[6] only ended after four days when Bjelke-Petersen retired and finally handed the post to Ahern on 1 December. Ahern also held 8 other ministries including Attorney-General on a temporary basis until he could establish his ministry.[7]
Premier
As premier, Ahern faced a National Party that was increasingly riven between Bjelke-Petersen supporters and opponents, and a Fitzgerald Inquiry that was steadily provoking new revelations of official corruption at the very highest level during Bjelke-Petersen's tenure. Police commissioner
Ahern tried to change the image of what had been one of the most unshakably conservative state governments in Australia. He announced plans to reform the public service and the parliament, and sought to take a more consultative approach to governing. However, he resisted calls to abolish the "
The publication of the results of the Fitzgerald Inquiry in 1989 were seriously damaging to the Nationals, and all but negated Ahern's efforts to rehabilitate the government's image and distance the party from his now-detested predecessor. A Newspoll released after the inquiry came out showed that the Ahern government had only 22 percent support—the lowest ever recorded at the time for a state government in Australia.[8] The damage was magnified by the fact that the Nationals faced a statutory general election that year, and polls showed Labor having its best chance in years of winning government. Indeed, if the result of the Newspoll had been repeated in an election, the Nationals would have been defeated in a landslide. Although Ahern was not implicated in any form of corruption, hardline Bjelke-Petersen supporters blamed him for his alleged weakness and vacillation in allowing the crisis to engulf the National Party. On 25 September 1989, Police Minister Russell Cooper, a National Party traditionalist, successfully challenged Ahern for the leadership. The Nationals lost the election just two months later, ending 32 years of continuous National Party government. Ahern resigned from Parliament six months after the election and proceeded to a successful business career.
Later life
After retiring from politics, Ahern undertook board roles with predominately technology companies. He served as chairman of Intrapower Ltd,[9] Family Care Medical Services Ltd,[10] McIntosh Financial Planning,[11] Indue Group of Companies[11] and NeuMedix Health Group. He also served as a director of Brisbane Markets Limited.[11][12]
Ahern was a
In the
In 2010, Ahern was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards.[16]
Death
Ahern died from cancer in
References
- ^ "Ahern, Michael John". Parliament of Queensland. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- ^ "The Honourable Michael Ahern AO". alumni.uq.edu.au. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Meacham, Savannah (11 August 2023). "Former Queensland premier Mike Ahern dies aged 81". Nine News. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Michael J. Ahern, "Letter from Parliamentary Leader of the State Parliamentary National Party Mike Ahern to His Excellency Governor Walter Campbell on 26 November 1987," in Walter Campbell, Johannes Bjelke Petersen & Michael J. Ahern, Copies of correspondence relating to the change-over from the Bjelke-Petersen government to the Ahern government in late 1987. (Brisbane: Queensland Government, 1988).
- ^ "Memorandum from the Solicitor General, 26 November 1987," Section 7, in Walter Campbell, Johannes Bjelke Petersen & Michael J. Ahern, Copies of correspondence relating to the change-over from the Bjelke-Petersen government to the Ahern government in late 1987 (Brisbane: Queensland Government, 1988).
- ^ Peter Bowers and Greg Roberts, 'Ahern leads, but Joh rules', Sydney Morning Herald, 27 November 1987. Cited in Barlow & Corkery (2007), p.23
- )
- ^ Salusinszky, Imre (29 October 2010). "Kristina Keneally leading the most unpopular Labor government in history". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
- ^ Board-of-Directors, Intrapower Limited[dead link]
- ^ Board of Directors, Family Care Friendly Society
- ^ a b c d e f Order of Australia, Media notes, Australia Day 2007 Honours List, Governor General of Australia
- ^ Board of Directors, Brisbane Markets Limited[permanent dead link]
- ^ Chairman, Australian Liver Foundation
- ^ AHERN, Mike - Centenary Medal Archived 28 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, 1 January 2001, It's an Honour
- ^ AHERN, Michael John - Officer of the Order of Australia Archived 7 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine (AO), 26 January 2007, It's an Honour
- ^ "2010 Queensland Greats recipients – Mike Ahern AO". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ McKechnie and staff, Kirrin (11 August 2023). "Mike Ahern, former Queensland premier, dead at 81". ABC News. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- Reynolds, Paul L. "Michael John Ahern: The Conservative Reformer". In Murphy D, Joyce R, Cribb M, and Wear, R (Ed.), The Premiers of Queensland pp. 337–356. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3173-8.
- Mike Ahern AO – Monument, Monuments Australia
- Trusted Cloud – Board of Directors – Mike Ahern AO[permanent dead link]