Power of the ‘ minister for everything’ revealed
THE figure of the legendary Russ Hinze – the- one time “Minister For Everything’’ – still loomed large in state politics in 1987 as the former cane cutter with the voluminous belly rode rough shod over local councils to get developments under way.
In one of his more stunning achievements, Hinze overrode 4000 objections lodged by the Mulgrave Shire Council as well as local government and Supreme Court processes to rezone land at Trinity Beach, north of Cairns, for a tourism development.
Mr Hinze, perhaps the most colourful of all politicians to serve in pre- Fitzgerald Queensland, stirred his tea with his finger, entered beer belly competitions and never grasped the notion of a conflict of interest when, as racing minister, he owned a large racing stable.
Dr Tracey Arklay, Susan Horton and Jennifer Menzies of the Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith University, who examined every Cabinet document from the 1987, said the then minister for local government, main roads and racing used his powers to rezone land and usage on multiple occasions.
“This was done to overcome opposition from local councils or community concerns, and many of the decisions directly benefited developers and members of the ‘ white shoe’ brigade,’’ they found, after trawling through thousands of 1987 Cabinet Documents.
The Sanctuary Cove Resort Act, for example, was changed to add in 210ha of adjoining land for 500 more residential developments and an 18- hole golf course. Griffith University researchers suggested the most striking demographic feature of the state was the differences between the politicians and the people they represented.
“Of the 18 members of the 1987 Cabinet, half were farmers or graziers, while 78.9 per cent of Queenslanders identified in the 1986 census lived in the cities,’’ the researchers report.
While Lawrence Springborg, who retired in this year’s election is a farmer, it was the LNP’s Howard Hobbs who retired in 2015 who was the last full- time grazier to serve in the state parliament.
The exodus from religion was also under way in 1987 with a 40 per cent increase in marriages being conducted by civil celebrants since the 1970s.
Tertiary education, once a rarity, was rapidly becoming commonplace.
“This generation’s aspirations were in stark contrast to the Premier, who had stated he had learned more living alone in a cow bail for 15 years than if he had taken a degree at Oxford,’’ researchers said.