Joh for PM | |
---|---|
Basis | Joh for Canberra campaign |
Premiere | 7 July 2017: Brisbane Powerhouse |
Joh for PM is an Australian musical comedy written by Stephen Carleton with music and lyrics by Paul Hodge.
The show is a satire about Queensland's longest-serving premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Set at a fundraiser in 1987, Joh for PM follows the life and politics of the former premier, framed on his doomed campaign to become Prime Minister. It covers Bjelke-Petersen's rise and fall, supported by wife Flo and her pumpkin scones. [1]
The original production starred Colin Lane, Chloe Dallimore, Kurt Phelan, Barbara Lowing, Stephen Hirst and Simon Burvill-Homes. It played at the Brisbane Powerhouse from 7 to 16 July 2017 and Cairns' Centre for Contemporary Arts from 4 to 19 August 2017. [2] It was presented by JUTE Theatre Company and Brisbane Powerhouse in association with the Queensland Music Festival.
The musical was generally well received. The Guardian described it as "campy, glorious fun". [3] The Courier-Mail noted that "it doesn't get any more Queensland than this, right down to the pineapple emblems displayed on the groin areas of various costumes". [4]
Joh for PM was nominated for a 2017 Matilda Award for Best Musical or Cabaret.
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during which time the state underwent considerable economic development. He has become one of the most well-known and controversial figures of 20th-century Australian politics because of his uncompromising conservatism, political longevity, and the institutional corruption of his government.
Wayne Keith Goss was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over thirty two years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solicitor, and after leaving politics he served as Chairman of the Queensland Art Gallery and Chairman of Deloitte Australia.
The Joh for Canberra campaign, initially known as the Joh for PM campaign, was an attempt by Queensland National Party premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen to become Prime Minister of Australia. The campaign was announced in January 1987 and drew substantial support from Queensland businessmen and some conservative politicians. The campaign caused a split in the federal Coalition. It did not attract widespread support and collapsed in June 1987. The Australian Labor Party, led by Bob Hawke, went on to win the 1987 federal election with an increased majority, gaining its highest-ever number of seats. Bjelke-Petersen came under increasing scrutiny as the Fitzgerald Inquiry gained traction, and was forced out of politics altogether in December 1987.
The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the resignation of Queensland's premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the calling of two by-elections, and the jailing of three former ministers and the Police Commissioner Terry Lewis. It also contributed to the end of the National Party of Australia's 32-year run as the governing political party in Queensland.
Michael John Ahern was an Australian National Party politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1987 to September 1989. After a long career in the government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern became his successor amid the controversy caused by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into official corruption. Ahern's consensus style and political moderation contrasted strongly with Bjelke-Petersen's leadership, but he could not escape the division and strife caused by his predecessor's downfall.
Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and was the wife of the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. She was styled as Lady Bjelke-Petersen upon her husband's knighthood, and was also known informally as Lady Flo.
Sir Walter "Wally" Benjamin Campbell, was an Australian judge, administrator and governor. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Chancellor of the University of Queensland and the 21st Governor of Queensland from 1985 to 1992.
The following lists events that happened during 1987 in Australia.
Vincent Patrick Lester is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1974 to 2004, representing in succession the electorates of Belyando, Peak Downs and then Keppel. He served as a minister in several National Party governments throughout his career, having first been promoted in 1983 as part of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's cabinet.
Donald Frederick Lane was a Minister of Transport in the Bjelke-Petersen state of Queensland's coalition government. A former policeman in the Special Branch, in 1971 he was elected as the Liberal member for Merthyr, an electorate which included the Fortitude Valley where a lot of the then illegal brothels and casinos were located. During his time with the Police, he had gotten to know Jack Herbert the Chief Organiser of The Joke, and the "Rat Pack" of Terry Lewis, Tony Murphy and Glenn Hallahan well. Following the 1983 Queensland state election he switched to the National Party, providing it with an outright majority, and was rewarded with a ministry. He went on to lead the National Party’s submission to the Electoral Commission to more effectively gerrymander and malapportion seats to increase National Party control. It was revealed in the Fitzgerald Inquiry, that Lane had significant unexplained income, and was alleged by Jack Herbert to have taken bribes. Lane didn’t admit to taking bribes, instead he admitted to abusing Ministerial expenses and claimed a lot of other Ministers had done the same. In the end Lane and three other Bjelke-Petersen ministers were tried in the District Court and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for falsifying their expense accounts.
Brian Douglas Austin is an Australian politician and Minister of Health and Minister for Finance and Minister Assisting the Premier and Treasurer and who represented the state seat of Wavell for the Liberal Party (1977–1983) and then for the National Party (1983–1986). In 1983, Austin switched to the National Party (along with Don Lane, who was the Transport Minister, after Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen lobbied several Liberals to cross the floor, thus enabling the National Party to form government with a very slim majority. Prior to their defection, the Nationals were one seat short of governing in their own right. At the 1986 Queensland state election, Austin became the first MP for the new Queensland electorate of Nicklin.
William Angus Manson Gunn AM was an Australian politician who represented the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Somerset from 1972 until 1992. A member of the National Party, he also served as a Minister and Deputy Premier in various Queensland administrations during the 1980s, and was instrumental in establishing the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
Milan Brych is a Czech-born cancer therapist. He was removed from the New Zealand Medical Register in 1977 and in 1980 he was convicted of practising medicine without a licence in California.
The Cane Toad Times was a satirical humour magazine based in Brisbane, Queensland. It was first published in the late 1970s, then revived under the same name by a new team from 1983 to 1990.
Eva Bacon, born Eva Goldner, was a socialist and feminist based in Brisbane, Australia, who was most active between the 1950s and the 1980s. Raised in Austria and a member of several leftist political organisations in her youth, Eva Goldner escaped Nazi occupied Austria in 1939, eventually migrating to Australia. Goldner remained involved in local and international politics and joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), marrying fellow member Ted Bacon in 1944. Throughout her career Bacon was an active member of the CPA, and the Union of Australian Women (UAW), where she was heavily involved in International Women's Day campaigns, including attending the 1975 UN World Conference on Women in Mexico celebrating International Women's Year. Bacon was also an active member of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She was passionate about childcare issues, and through her political work clashed particularly with conservative Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
Colin Charles Lamont was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1974 until 1977, representing the electorate of South Brisbane.
James Braidwood Edwards was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Sir Sydney Schubert was an Australian public servant best known for the work he did in Queensland during the 1970s and 1980s as Co-ordinator General of the Premier's Department, and for his positions as chancellor of Bond University and chief executive of Daikyo Australia.
The National Party of Australia – Queensland (NPA-Q), commonly known as Queensland Nationals, or the National Party of Queensland, was the Queensland-state branch of the National Party of Australia (NPA) until 2008. Prior to 1974, it was known as the Country Party. The party was disestablished in 2008.
The Queensland Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008.