Angus Innes
|
Angus Innes MBE |
|
|---|---|
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Sherwood |
|
|
In office 25 November 1978 – 13 May 1990 |
|
| Preceded by | John Herbert |
| Succeeded by | David Dunworth |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Angus Mackenzie Innes 22 May 1939 United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Dunworth |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland |
| Occupation | Barrister |
John Angus Mackenzie Innes MBE (born 22 May 1939) was a Queensland politician and leader of the state Liberal Party.
Innes was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in 1978 representing the Brisbane-area seat of Sherwood at a by-election to fill a vacancy created by the death of John Herbert. Campaigning heavily on opposition to the controversial street march legislation of then-premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Innes easily won the seat, relegating the ruling National Party to a distant fourth place.
Progressive by nature, Innes had little time for the conservative social policies of the National-dominated government, even though under the coalition agreement between the Nationals and the Liberals, he was nominally a government backbencher. Innes became associated with a faction within the parliamentary Liberal Party dubbed by the media as the "ginger group", who frequently criticised government policy. The Liberal leader at the time, Llew Edwards was more supportive of National party policy, and urged the unruly Liberal backbenchers to be "good coalitionists".
Innes did not agree with Edwards' assessment, and went as far as challenging him for the leadership of the party from the backbench. While Edwards survived, it was only by twelve votes to ten, making the growing power of the Ginger Group faction plain for all to see. The group eventually took power a year later when Terry White became Liberal leader and Innes replaced Sam Doumany as deputy leader. This arrangement did not last long, however. When Bjelke-Petersen refused to appoint White as deputy premier, he and Innes pulled the Liberals out of the Coalition and led them to the crossbenches. In the ensuing 1983 election, Bjelke-Petersen convinced many right-leaning Liberal voters that White and Innes might join forces with Labor. As a result, the Liberals were reduced to a rump of only eight members. White and Innes were the only members of the "ginger group" to retain their seats. Two more defected to the Nationals, and Innes was deposed as deputy leader soon afterward.
...
Wikipedia