Joh For Canberra - Joh For PM

Joh For PM

Bjelke-Petersen made his intention to run for prime minister explicit on January 1, 1987, generating a flurry of media activity. It was speculated that Bjelke-Petersen would run for a federal seat in Queensland, with Wide Bay and Fairfax being singled out as possibilities. The campaign identified thirteen marginal Labor seats and eight marginal Liberal seats that it believed were viable targets for Bjelke-Petersen and the The Nationals. Despite generating a great deal of media coverage, the campaign drew criticism from the outset. The leader of the Liberal Party, John Howard, said that Bjelke-Petersen was "strong on incentive but short on reality". Melbourne's Arena magazine described Bjelke-Petersen as a "populist leader...without institutional backing" who would inevitably be defeated by the established federal parties of Labor, the Nationals and the Liberals. Bob Hawke could barely contain his "delight" at the conservative infighting and welcomed a potential challenge by Bjelke-Petersen. A peculiar irony of Bjelke-Petersen's run for federal office was that his appeal had always rested on his claim to represent Queensland's interests in the face of a hostile federal political system. The pro-Queensland and anti-Commonwealth "Canberra bashing" line pursued by Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the most consistent aspect of his tenure as Queensland premier. Despite the challenges he faced, Bjelke-Petersen remained outspoken about his chances of becoming prime minister declaring that nobody else in Australian politics possessed "my experience in politics, my policies for Australia, and my determination to make them work". Although he was outwardly confident, Bjelke-Petersen had few political allies in his campaign, even on the conservative side of politics. The most significant political figure to openly back Bjelke-Petersen's campaign was Tasmanian premier Robert Gray, who enjoyed a strong personal rapport with Bjelke-Petersen. Key Liberal Party figures like Andrew Peacock also sympathised with Bjelke-Petersen's run for office, but failed to sever their ties with the federal Coalition. Joseph Siracusa, who served as Bjelke-Petersen's national security advisor in the campaign, later claimed that Andrew Peacock and fellow Liberal powerbroker Ian MacLachlan played "important behind the scenes roles in the affair". Siracusa recalled a conversation with prominent Queensland National Party minister Russell Hinze, in which Hinze claimed that Andrew Peacock had secretly backed the "Joh for PM" campaign in order to destabilise John Howard's leadership of the Liberal Party. According to Siracusa, Bjelke-Petersen had intended on a partnership whereby Bjelke-Petersen would become prime minister with Peacock as his deputy, though the fine details and practical considerations of this plan were never considered. Brisbane's Courier Mail threw its support behind the campaign and insisted that a Bjelke-Petersen victory was possible, while acknowledging that any such victory would depend on the ability of Bjelke-Petersen to carry at least twenty of Queensland twenty-four seats in the House of Representatives. Bjelke-Petersen held a rally in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on January 31, 1987, predicting that the Coalition could not win government in the upcoming election and establishing himself as the "folksy alternative" to John Howard and the Liberal Party. A Newspoll recorded from 6–8 February 1987 found that that 60% of voters believed a Bjelke-Petersen and Peacock ticket would be best placed to win the upcoming federal election, against only 22% in favour of Howard and Sinclair.