Bjelke-Petersen family

Bjelke-Petersen is the name of an Australian family of both Danish and Swedish descent. The common ancestors of the Australian family is Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen, a Danish farmer and master-builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine (maiden name Hansen). They came to Australia with their children in 1891. Born plain Petersen, Georg hyphenated his name some time in the 1860s.

Politics

The Bjelke-Petersens have had an impact on politics in Queensland, at both state and Commonwealth levels, for 60 years.

• Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was a farmer and later Premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987; He was the member for Nanango from 1946 to 1950 and for Barambah from 1950 to 1987. He was Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen's grandson.

• Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Joh Belke-Petersen's wife, represented Queensland in the Australian Senate between 1981 and 1993 serving as Deputy Leader of the National Party of Australia in the Senate between 1985 and 1990;

• John Bjelke-Petersen, Joh Bjelke-Petersen's son, was preselected on 3 November 2005 as the candidate in the seat of Nanango at the 2006 state election for the National Party. He lost the election to the current member, Dorothy Pratt.

Other pursuits

• Hans Bjelke-Petersen (1872-1964) founded the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture in 1892 - as of 2005, there were 180 associated clubs throughout Australia. He was Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen's son.

• Marie Bjelke Petersen (1874-1969) was an Australian novelist. Note the lack of hyphen in her version of this name. She was Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen's daughter.