Aussie AHC: PM Joh Bjelke-Pietersen

Basically, have the 'Joh for Canberra' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joh_for_Canberra) movement succeed sometime in the 1980s or later. I personally have no idea how this could be made possible, but hopefully one of the other Aussies (especially the Queenslanders) will be able to think of something :p

Basically, what would Australia look like under the rule of Sir Joh? What legislation would he be able to pass? What effect would this have on the Liberal/National coalition?
Cheers.
 

sprite

Donor
Monthly Donor
Unfortunately Joh was a very Queensland only phenomenon and even then he was kept in power because of a gerrymander.
 
Pretty much ABS I'm afraid. Its only possible unless you completely change the Australian political landscape or the man himself (eg he and his parents don't settle at Kingaroy, but in either Sydney or Melbourne).
 
The only interesting potential the Joh For PM push had was to create more chaos than it did IOTL. It wasn't going to throw up anything remotely constructive for the Rightleaning side of politics.

And no, even as it was, this weird push was not a major reason for Hawke winning the 1987 election.
Pretty much ABS I'm afraid. Its only possible unless you completely change the Australian political landscape or the man himself (eg he and his parents don't settle at Kingaroy, but in either Sydney or Melbourne).

I doubt this is even possible; their religious subculture makes the whole family very unworldy, IMO.

Now, Black Jack McEwen, I think he would function pretty well in just about any political environment from young adulthood onwards.
 

Archibald

Banned
If that ever happens, then... AUSTRALIA IN SPACE !!!
Megalomaniac Joh really wanted a spaceport in Cape York or Darwin, although it would have been "loaned" to foreign space powers (from the Soviet Union to Israel, including China...)
There was obviously (and unfortunately) no interest for a space program on behalf of the Australian government (even if Woomera and Blue Streak two decades before, that was mostly forgottten)
The project was started circa 1985 and even after Joh demise the idea dragged on until 2004 or so.
 
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