Robert Borbidge

Robert "Rob" Edward Borbidge (born August 12, 1954 in Ararat , Victoria , Australia ) is an Australian politician of the National Party of Australia and former Prime Minister of Queensland .

Life

Borbidge began his political career within the National Party at the age of 22 when he ran for the legislative assembly of the state of Victoria in the constituency of Ripon in 1976 , but lost to the constituency holder Tom Austin of the Liberal Party of Australia .

He then moved to Queensland and was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly on November 29, 1980, where he won the Surfers Paradise constituency against the previous liberal constituency owner Bruce Bishop.

On December 9, 1987, Prime Minister Mike Ahern appointed him Minister for Industry, Small Business, Communication and Technology in his cabinet and, after a government reshuffle, took over the office of Minister for Industry, Small Business, Communication and Tourism in January 1989. Most recently, on August 31, 1989, he was also Minister for Police, Emergency Services and the Prison System.

In the cabinet of Ahern's successor as Prime Minister, Russell Cooper , he was then from September 25 to December 7, 1989 Minister for Tourism, Environment, Conservation and Forestry. When Wayne Goss was then Prime Minister of the Australian Labor Party , he was first Deputy Leader of the opposition , before he became Leader of the Opposition on December 10, 1991 . In this function he became leader of the so-called "Queensland Coalition" on November 2, 1992, an electoral alliance between the National Party and the Liberal Party, and played a key role in the formation of a coalition between the two conservative parties. However, this coalition was defeated by the Labor Party in the 1992 and 1995 elections, most recently in July 1995 with 16 votes.

When Prime Minister Goss resigned in February 1996 after losing the parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly, Borbidge succeeded him on February 19, 1996 and formed a national-liberal coalition government.

On June 20, 1998, he was succeeded as Prime Minister by Peter Beattie of the Labor Party, which has since provided the Prime Minister of Queensland. Borbidge was then again opposition leader, but resigned this office after the election defeat against the Labor Party in 2001 as well as the office of chairman of the National Party in Queensland.

Web links and sources

• Biography (rulers.org)