Wayne Goss 30th anniversary: Letter emerges warning of disunity

As the 30th anniversary looms of the election of the Goss government in Queensland, a letter has emerged the leader wrote to his party as it faced the end of its term.

Former Queensland premier, the late Wayne Goss

LATE former premier Wayne Goss rued how ill-discipline and disunity had infected his government in its final months before being turfed out of office in 1996.

The legendary Labor premier’s lament has been revealed in a private letter he wrote to MPs on his final day leading the Queensland Labor Party.

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The emergence of Mr Goss’s letter coincides with the 30th anniversary on Monday of his historic 1989 election victory, which saw Labor ushered into office for the first time in 32 years.

Following three decades of Nationals rule, it began three decades of dominance by Labor, which has been interrupted only twice.

Senior Labor figures from the era will gather today at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to commemorate the victory and the legacy of Mr Goss, who died in 2014.

With Labor poised to elect a new leader after the Borbidge government had seized power, Mr Goss implored Labor MPs not to be “dragged kicking and screaming from government”, saying it was unity and discipline that got Labor elected.

“If we are honest we will acknowledge that that unity and discipline has started to fray over the last six months and must be regained,” he wrote.

The outgoing premier’s comment will draw comparisons with the current Palaszczuk Government, which has struggled with internal fissions throughout 2019.

Writing in The Courier-Mail today, Goss government backbencher Robert Schwarten lauded the former premier for staying loyal to the party after his defeat.

“(He) never once did anything other than support the team as it inched towards a return to the Treasury benches,” he said.

David Hamill, who held the transport and education portfolios, writes how electoral reform remains the admin­istra­tion’s most enduring legacy.