Who is peter beattie

During his youth, he was a scout, a keen sportsman,school captain and dux of Atherton State High School. It was there that he met Heather, the childhood sweetheart to whom he is still happily married.

Peter and Heather have three children. He first became politically active in his University days after being crash tackled by the police at an anti-Springbok rally in Active in the Queensland Labor Reform process, he became State Secretary in following Federal intervention in the Queensland Branch, a position he held until It is an understatement to describe Beattie as a self-publicist, and he was often criticised while State Secretary for getting greater publicity than the party leader.

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Headline from Brisbane's Daily Standard, Aug 25, In mid, three hundred scientists arrived in…. John Oxley Library. Peter Beattie: the inside story. Peter Beattie in conversation with interviewer Peter Shooter. The Beattie Family c. The first Beattie ministry, Photograph courtesy Queensland State Archives collection.

Queensland Labor Party 3. Labor Party in Queensland 4. Premier of Queensland 3. Queensland politics Queensland Premier 2. Peter Beattie 1. Peter Shooter 1. Oral Histories Digital stories Add new comment.

Your name Your name Your name. About text formats. Please confirm you are a real person. The ALP suffered major swings against it and both seats were lost to the Liberal Party, the first serious electoral setback for Beattie since becoming Premier. A Newspoll in late showed support for Labor in Queensland down six percentage points to 50 per cent, an all-time low since Beattie became Premier.

Following the retirement of the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr in , Beattie became the longest-serving state Premier among his contemporaries. Despite this, Beattie went on to win the September election convincingly, with a slight swing towards the ALP in terms of its primary vote, and two party preferred result.

Coalition Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg stepped down. Before the election Liberal Leader Bob Quinn was forced by his party colleagues to step down a fortnight before polling day. The campaign of Quinn's replacement Dr Bruce Flegg was characterized by inexperience and indecisiveness and lacked an organised, professional approach.

Premier Beattie therefore was never challenged by the opposition and was able to secure a fourth consecutive term in office. This result puts Beattie in the realm of iconic political figures. Retirement Beattie announced on 10 September his decision to retire from politics.

His resignation as Premier officially took effect on 13 September At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving state premier in the country. The Labor caucus elected Anna Bligh as its leader on 12 September. In , Anna Bligh led her party to a state election victory, thereby becoming the first Australian female to be popularly elected as a state premier.

He officially stood down as the Member for Brisbane Central on 14 September Beattie then served as Queensland's Trade Commissioner to North and South America based in Los Angeles, a position he was appointed to by Anna Bligh in March after previously stating that he would not accept a federal or state government role.

In late May Beattie announced that he was retiring early from his position as Queensland's Los Angeles-based trade and investment commissioner. In June it was announced that he had accepted a position with Clemson University in South Carolina.

Federal politics Beattie with Kevin Rudd, the then-Prime Minister of Australia, during his unsuccessful campaign for the Division of Forde at the federal election.

Beattie's popularity often led to speculation that he would enter national politics, particularly after federal Labor's defeat at the federal election. But Beattie resisted such suggestions, saying that he loved Queensland too much to leave, and anyway Canberra was "too cold". On announcing his retirement he again ruled out a move to federal politics, saying that he would, politically speaking, disappear. However, in August , Beattie announced his intention to run in the federal election in the Queensland federal seat of Forde.

Beattie's candidacy in Forde is not the first time that he has made a run for Federal Parliament. His first attempt was for the safe Liberal seat of Ryan at the election in which he was easily defeated by Liberal John Moore. Other matters In May Beattie released his autobiography "Making A Difference", in which he described his upbringing, political life and his views on key issues, including health, education and social reform.

The book is part memoir, part manifesto.