REMEMBER WHEN

Friday, September 6, 2002

THE year was 2002 and if you were the Queensland Labor Party, things could not have been going better, with the Beattie government enjoying a record majority in parliament.

The same, too, could be said for the federal Coalition, with the Howard government midway into its third term in power and enjoying a confident lead on the Simon Crean-led Labor opposition.

It came as no surprise then that both parties eyed off the Gold Coast as being a place where their fortunes could be won or lost.

With 18 months to run before the 2004 local government elections, the Bulletin revealed that both Labor and the Liberal parties were after seats on the Gold Coast City Council.

The move by the Liberals was prompted by the “controversial antics” of some councillors.

It was also known that Labor was keen to run an informal team in the wake of the success of the Beattie government’s “magnificent seven” who seized a majority of Gold Coast state seats at the 2001 poll.

If the team had run, it was expected they would formalise their alliance following the election.

The Liberals took the plan to the party’s state conference with a motion put up by McPherson federal electorate chairwoman Jann Stuckey, who would be elected to state parliament in 2004.

“There is a concern at the lack of discipline,” she said.

A party ticket did not run until the failed Liberal Party team in 2008.

Party links to council politics was again investigated in 2017.