REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Tuesday, February 10, 1987

Prime Minister Bob Hawke refused to reveal the names of the multi-millionaires he said were backing moves by Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen to take over federal Parliament.

His office was tight-lipped after Mr Hawke accused “faceless Gold Coast millionaires’ of getting on the Joh bandwagon to ‘extend their empire by greed’.

Two Gold Coast developers, Arthur Earle and Ron McMaster, reacted angrily to Mr Hawke’s accusation that the Coast’s wealth belt and Sir Joh did not care about ‘the little people’.

Mike Gore, the Sanctuary Cove developer, and widely name as one of the brains trust behind Sir Joh’s federal move, was too busy to speak to the Bulletin and had to go to the doctor in the afternoon.

It was unlikely he would be back in his office of a couple of days, said one of his senior staff.

Arthur Earle, the Nerangbased developer and principal of one of the biggest real estate agencies, claimed he had always looked after the little people.

“I have worked very hard for the small man and for the last three or four years developed land at cost and built homes under cost to keep prices down, so I don’t understand what the Prime Minister means. What he says is ridiculous,” he said.

“While I openly support Sir Joh 100 per cent for what he is doing in Queensland, and always have, I’m not involved in his campaign.

“This (the campaign) may force Hawke to tighten up his government and have more equitable taxation.”

Sir Joh failed to gain a foothold in Canberra.