Rob Borbidge - Parliamentary and Ministerial Career

Parliamentary and Ministerial Career

In an attempt to broaden its electoral base and reduce the influence of its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, the Country Party renamed itself as the National Country Party in 1975 and the National Party in 1980. Also in the mid-1970s, it began contesting seats in urbanised areas such as the Gold Coast outside of its rural heartland. As a sign of this, in 1980 Borbidge contested and won the seat of Surfers Paradise from the sitting Liberal member, who had alleged corruption in property development by the Bjelke-Petersen government.

By the late 1980s after the scandal of the extreme corruption revealed by the Fitzgerald Inquiry had engulfed Bjelke-Petersen, who was replaced as Premier and National Party leader in 1987 by Mike Ahern. Borbidge, as a member of the new generation of Nationals untouched by political scandal, was promoted by Ahern to Cabinet as Minister for Small Business, Communications and Technology. He received the important portfolio of Tourism in 1989 and was briefly made Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Tourism by Ahern's successor Russell Cooper before he lost office at the hands of the Labor Party's Wayne Goss in the elections of 1989.