Bjelke Petersen is dead eom

[Esra Star]

[chicagojoe]

1. Who's dat? n/t

[Esra Star]

2. A demagogue who was the dictator of Queensland Oz

for twenty three long years.

[Fridays Child]

3. Bjelkemander

The Bjelkemander was the term given to the zonal system of electorates in the Australian State of Queensland, used by State Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen to consolidate his hold on executive power in the 1970s and 80s. Under this system, electorates were allocated to zones such as rural or metropolitan and electoral boundaries drawn so that rural electorates had about half as many voters as metropolitan, a system greatly favouring political parties deriving their support from rural areas.

[Esra Star]

5. Yes, that had democracy written all over it ..

Combined with the fact that we have no house of review,
meant there were'nt going to be too many questions about the
brown paper bags.
The only good thing about him is that he was good fodder for Gerry Connolly.

[Matilda]

4. Wish I could think of something nice to say about him.

But I can't, sorry, not a single thing.

[anakie]

6. I agree with you

nothing nice to be said about him and his era in Queensland and aren't all the tributes - especially up here in Qld - sickening. And Beattie is the worst.

[Djinn]

7. really?

I've got no desire to say anything nice about the old facist, nothing at all - didn't when he was alive and now that he's dead I'm more than happy to "piss on his grave" the idea that scumbags and shitheads suddenly don't deserve acrimony just because their heart has stopped beating is very puzzling to me.

Rot Bjelke you piece of shit


Letter to BJ

Can you hear me Bjelke-Petersen
from your leather padded chair?
There's a tide outside your door
steadily rising
It's a simple case of freedom
and a lot of us who care
And if demonstrations aren't enough
I hope you've said your prayers
Oh well it seems this time you've gone too far
next you'll call the troopers in
And you can put my dossier
in the glossy pages of the bulletin

Oh you think the battle's over
Well the war has just begun
Your legislation's just a piece of tissue
Oh Won't you listen to the beat
of ten thousand marching feet?
Taking to the street

[Violet_Crumble]

8. The only slightly good thing I have to say about him is...

..that he was the inspiration for a Redgum song...

He was a prick...

Violet...

[Djinn]

9. My dad would like you VC!

personally I'm not big on redgum (lyrics yes warbling folksy singing not so much) but was forced to listen to them endlessly as a child because the old man was such a fan. Maybe it was more influential than I realised at the time...

"when the class war rages on the factory floor, if you don't fight you lose"

"band keeps playing american songs from 1973, getting wise to the officers lies that we've even got a country"

"if that's being commo, it's commo where we stand"

" It's probably too painful for us to understand
But two hundred years ago we overran their land"

" It's not because your rich but 'cause
Your not prepared to think
The higher daddy rises, the more his workers sink"

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Nah, I'm not much of a Redgum fan...

You would not believe how much I detest I Was Only 19 and I've Been To Bali Too. Apart from 'If You Don't Fight You Lose' I think everything else is like listening to someone running their fingernails down a blackboard - Basically as unlistenable as a silverchair cd. About as folksy as I've ever gotten is listening to Weddings, Parties, Anything and the Go-Betweens, and, uh, Something For Kate...

Violet...

[SweetLeftFoot]

11. The Weddos

When I get homesick for Melbourne, all I have to do is put on "Under The Clocks" and I'm back there for three and a half minutes.

[Catamount]

12. About time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry if this offends anyone!