Florence Bjelke-Petersen
Florence, Lady Bjelke-Petersen | |
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Senator for Queensland | |
In office 12 March 1981 – 30 June 1993 | |
Preceded by | Glen Sheil |
Personal details | |
Born | Florence Isabel Gilmour 11 August 1920 Brisbane, Queensland |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | National Party of Australia |
Spouse | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
Children | 4 |
Florence, Lady Bjelke-Petersen (born Florence Isabel Gilmour; 11 August 1920) is an Australian retired politician and writer. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and is the widow of the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.[1]
Biography
Florence Isabel Gilmour was born in Brisbane and was employed as private secretary to the Queensland Commissioner for Main Roads when she met Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, who was then a Country Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.[2][dead link] They were married on 31 May 1952.[3]
Bjelke-Petersen was preoccupied with home duties until well after Joh Bjelke-Petersen became Premier in 1968. In the 1970s, however, she assumed an increasingly public role, as part of the Queensland National Party's increasing promotion of a Bjelke-Petersen "personality cult". Her homely sayings and her recipes for pumpkin scones were quoted in the media.[citation needed]
At the 1980 federal election, Joh Bjelke-Petersen arranged against the wishes of Party President Sir Robert Sparkes for his wife to be placed in the Number 1 position on the National Party's Queensland Senate ticket, ensuring her election. Her term was due to commence on 1 July 1981, but on 6 February 1981, Queensland Senator Glen Sheil resigned, creating a casual vacancy.[4] She was appointed on 12 March 1981 for the remainder of Sheil's term, and then continued into her own term. It was speculated that her husband, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, intended entering federal politics, and that at some point Florence would resign from the Senate to allow Joh to be appointed to the vacancy. But Joh Bjelke-Petersen's federal aspirations ended with the failed "Joh for Canberra" campaign in 1987.[citation needed]
When Joh Bjelke-Petersen was knighted in 1984, Flo Bjelke-Petersen became Lady Bjelke-Petersen, and was officially known as "Senator Lady Bjelke-Petersen". She was frequently, but incorrectly, referred to as "Lady Florence" or "Lady Flo". (This usage suggests she is the daughter of a peer rather than the wife of a knight.) Although the name "Lady Flo" is incorrect, it has been almost universally used in the media and among the general public.
She was re-elected at the 1983 and 1987 elections (both double dissolutions), and her term expired on 30 June 1993.[5][dead link]
In Canberra Lady Bjelke-Petersen was well liked by politicians of all parties, even those who loathed her husband. Her speeches were usually about local Queensland issues and seldom political in content.[citation needed]
Miscellaneous
She has published a cookbook which included her recipe for her trademark pumpkin scones.[6]
References
- ^ ABC Radio interview transcript
- ^ Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen, Senate Biography
- ^ "Joh and Flo Bjelke-Petersen on their wedding day, 1952". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ Australian Biography interview with Flo
- ^ Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen's biodata
- ^ The Life and Times of Joh Bjelke-Petersen Archived 12 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, abc.net.au; accessed 24 March 2016.
External links
- 1920 births
- Living people
- People from Brisbane
- Australian monarchists
- Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland
- National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
- Women members of the Australian Senate
- People from Kingaroy
- Spouses of Australian politicians
- Delegates to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- Members of the Australian Senate