Russell Cooper
|
The Hon Russell Cooper AM |
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|---|---|
| 33rd Premier of Queensland | |
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In office 25 September 1989 – 7 December 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Mike Ahern |
| Succeeded by | Wayne Goss |
| Constituency | Roma |
| 40th Treasurer of Queensland | |
|
In office 25 September 1989 – 7 December 1989 |
|
| Preceded by | Mike Ahern |
| Succeeded by | Keith De Lacy |
| Constituency | Roma |
| Member of the Queensland Parliament for Roma |
|
|
In office 22 October 1983 – 19 September 1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Ken Tomkins |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Member of the Queensland Parliament for Crows Nest |
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In office 19 September 1992 – 17 February 2001 |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
4 February 1941 Brisbane, Queensland |
| Political party | National Party of Australia |
| Occupation | Cattle breeder |
Theo Russell Cooper AM (born 4 February 1941 in Brisbane) is a former Australian National Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland for a period of 73 days, from 25 September 1989 to 7 December 1989. His loss at the state election of 1989 ended 32 years of continuous National Party rule over Queensland.
Cooper, a cattle breeder, followed the customary path to politics in the National Party, becoming involved in the Bendemere Shire Council before being elected for the seat of Roma in 1983. At various times, Cooper was Chairman of the National Party's Wallumbilla/Yuleba branch and Vice-President of the National Party's Roma Electorate Council. At the time of Cooper's election to the seat of Roma, Queensland was under the reign of long-serving Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
By the late 1980s, the once impregnable Bjelke-Petersen government had begun to falter amid the failure of Bjelke-Petersen's ill-fated foray into national politics, and the establishment of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption, which implicated a great many senior governmental and police figures in widespread official corruption. In December 1987, the National Party replaced Bjelke-Petersen as leader and Premier with Mike Ahern. Ahern appointed Cooper to cabinet as part of an influx of younger National parliamentarians who had not been associated with the previous Cabinet. Cooper was given the difficult portfolio of Corrective Services.
Ahern was a very different leader from Bjelke-Petersen. His moderation and focus on consensus leadership was to many Nationals a rude shock after the legendary strong-willed approach of his predecessor. An embittered Bjelke-Petersen worked publicly to undermine and destabilise the National Party leadership, and still held the allegiance of many Nationals supporters.
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