The 32-year-old, who is also close a family friend of billionaire Clive Palmer, played down rumours he was considering running at the next federal election, but refused to rule out a future tilt.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs many Australians are, I am concerned where the country is heading. I think everyone with a stake in Australia should be,\u201d Mr Bjelke-Petersen said in a statement to The Australian. <\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, I am enjoying the private sector. However I think in life there comes a time to serve, which can be done in many ways and give back. That time may come in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs Rinehart has been great friends with my grandparents, which has continued with my parents and myself. She loves Australia, our history and cares for it deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n
A graduate of Kingaroy State High School, Mr Bjelke-Petersen would be a viable candidate for the seat of Maranoa, should he choose to run, which is currently held by former Nationals Leader David Littleproud on an ultra-safe 22.1 per cent margin. His father, John Bjelke-Petersen, was a candidate in Maranoa for the then-Palmer United Party at the 2013 federal election. <\/p>\n
One senior Liberal National Party source said Sam Bjelke-Petersen had previously been approached by Mr Palmer to run for his United Australia Party but had not been interested in public office. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like that could change,\u201d the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Australian. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bjelke-Petersen name carries a lot of weight in regional Queensland and I am sure One Nation would be keen to capitalise on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Joh \u2013 whose populist brand of conservative politics blazed the way for Senator Hanson \u2013 opened Queensland\u2019s coal and tourism industries to the world and drove interstate investment into the state with the abolition of death duties during his 19-year reign as the state\u2019s premier.<\/p>\n
At a speech to Labor\u2019s national conference on Friday night, outgoing Labor president Wayne Swan described Sir Joh as \u201cthe original Pauline Hanson\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sir Joh, a peanut farmer from Kingaroy, famously derailed John Howard\u2019s first bid to become prime minister with his ill fated 1987 \u201cJoh for PM\u201d campaign which ended the same year the royal commission that became the Fitzgerald Inquiry was announced. <\/p>\n
In her virtual address to an event for under 40s celebrating Sir Joh\u2019s legacy last month, Ms Rinehart said: \u201cIt (has been) years since we have had the benefit of Sir Joh in office but we have still much to learn from this successful businessman\u201d.<\/p>\n
Listing \u201ccrises\u201d she said were plaguing Australia, including housing availability, immigration and declining competitiveness, Ms Rinehart said that \u201crecognising something must be done, like Sir Joh did, is an important first step\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf this helps you think of people who would be the sort of candidates, like Sir Joh, who could understand and help fix these crises, fantastic.\u201d she told the attendees. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do share with Sam or even just help those who are bravely standing up on important issues.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lydia Lynch is The Australian\u2019s overnight homepage editor, based in London. She most recently covered state and federal politics for the paper in Queensland. She has won multiple Clarion Awards for her political coverage and was a Walkley Award finalist in 2023 for her work on the investigative podcast Shandee\u2019s Story. Before joining The Australian in 2021, Lydia worked for newspapers in Katherine, Mount Isa and Brisbane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Nation\u2019s biggest donor Gina Rinehart has enthusiastically endorsed the grandson of Queensland\u2019s longest serving premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63592,63595,63626,63640,47729,63579,45043,63642,63575,63622,63586,63608,63627,40457,63580,63644,63636,45483,38151,63606,63632,40365,63604,50028,40881,63620,37726,63616,46291,63617,63576,63609,63623,63573,51759,63614,63602,63610,62890,22,23,21,63635,63578,51912,63375,39588,63641,63582,63597,3216,63588,63629,58237,63574,9715,63646,1928,63593,63611,63581,63600,63612,63630,63571,38098,63643,63638,63634,6872,63639,63585,56783,63584,13285,63599,63572,63637,63647,156,36872,3430,63605,48072,63596,63631,63607,42087,60834,37013,63628,53430,36518,49354,7900,1955,63625,63645,57395,63603,3218,1926,7350,63615,149,63633,489,40857,212,21487,37019,44382,3299,63613,26884,63601,63577,38760,43806,45310,63589,63621,54725,41508,47751,43941,45500,63598,55205,37024,63587,38131,63570,63583,39137,56763,41244,52696,47306,63618,50867,59503,40613,37964,63594,36628,36698,37120,63591,63624,63590,53781,63619,31772],"class_list":["post-58743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-biggest-donor","tag-s-coal-and-tourism-industries","tag-s-first-bid","tag-s-grandson","tag-s-legacy","tag-s-longest","tag-s-national-conference","tag-s-political-circles","tag-s-premier-at","tag-crises","tag-63586","tag-40s","tag-a-candidate","tag-a-close-friend","tag-a-family-friend","tag-a-future-tilt","tag-a-good-candidate","tag-a-graduate","tag-a-lot","tag-a-luxury-italian-trip","tag-a-peanut-farmer","tag-a-person","tag-a-recent-event","tag-a-speech","tag-a-spokesman","tag-a-stake","tag-a-statement","tag-a-staunch-patriot","tag-a-time","tag-a-trump-rally","tag-a-viable-candidate","tag-a-young-person","tag-admirable-and-unquestionable-character","tag-an-outstanding-mp","tag-an-event","tag-an-important-first-step","tag-an-outstanding-member","tag-an-ultra-safe-22-1","tag-anonymity","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-austrlia","tag-billionaire-clive-palmer","tag-bjelke-petersen","tag-candidates","tag-cent-margin","tag-common-sense","tag-conservative-politics","tag-death-duties","tag-declining-competitiveness","tag-federal-parliament","tag-federal-run","tag-fine-principles","tag-forces","tag-former-nationals-leader-david-littleproud","tag-friday","tag-gentleman","tag-gina-rinehart","tag-great-friends","tag-her-billionaire-benefactor-ms-rinehart","tag-her-home-state","tag-her-virtual-address","tag-his-19-year-reign","tag-his-agricultural-background","tag-his-controversial-grandfather","tag-his-father","tag-his-fine-family","tag-his-united-australia-party","tag-housing-availability","tag-immigration","tag-important-issues","tag-interstate-investment","tag-joh","tag-john-bjelke-petersen","tag-john-howard","tag-just-the-gentleman","tag-just-the-sort","tag-kingaroy","tag-kingaroy-state-high-school","tag-labor","tag-last-month","tag-life","tag-loads","tag-many-australians","tag-many-ways","tag-maranoa","tag-mr-bjelke-petersen","tag-mr-palmer","tag-mrs-rinehart","tag-ms-rinehart","tag-my-grandparents","tag-my-parents","tag-night","tag-no-response","tag-office","tag-one-nation","tag-one-nation-talk","tag-one-senior-liberal-national-party-source","tag-our-history","tag-outgoing-labor-president-wayne-swan","tag-parliament","tag-pauline-hanson","tag-people","tag-pm-campaign","tag-politics","tag-premier-joh-bjelke-petersen","tag-prime-minister","tag-public-office","tag-queensland","tag-regional-queensland","tag-rinehart","tag-rumours","tag-sam","tag-sam-bjelke-petersen","tag-senator-hanson","tag-share","tag-sir-joh","tag-speculation","tag-talk","tag-that-time","tag-the-2013-federal-election","tag-the-2024-presidential-election","tag-the-32-year-old","tag-the-abolition","tag-the-attendees","tag-the-australian","tag-the-benefit","tag-the-bjelke-petersen-name","tag-the-condition","tag-the-country","tag-the-fitzgerald-inquiry","tag-the-future","tag-the-grandson","tag-the-iron-ore-magnate","tag-the-next-federal-election","tag-the-original-pauline-hanson","tag-the-person","tag-the-private-sector","tag-the-royal-commission","tag-the-same-year","tag-the-seat","tag-the-sort","tag-the-source","tag-the-state","tag-the-then-palmer-united-party","tag-the-us","tag-the-way","tag-the-world","tag-the-young-businessman","tag-these-crises","tag-this-successful-businessman","tag-weight","tag-whose-populist-brand","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\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<\/a>Lydia Lynch<\/a>Overnight Editor<\/p>\n