No grant for Joh memorial centre
23.06.2008
LOCALS in Joh Bjelke-Petersen's home town of Kingaroy have failed to convince the Queensland Government to grant them $9 million to build a $20 million cultural centre to honour the former premier.
The South Burnett Regional Council applied in August 2006 for the funds ``to create a lasting tribute to this Queensland era and icon by providing a community facility which will be a perpetual tribute to Sir Joh, who is regarded as Kingaroy's favourite son''.
Bjelke-Petersen, who died in April 2005, was the Nationals premier of Queensland for two decades between 1968 and 1987.
Locals who wrote to the council's Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen Memorial Cultural Centre sub-committee last month claimed the wider public in Queensland and Australia were opposed to the funding request and to the concept of a memorial to the controversial figure.
``The most popular suggestion resulting from a recent online survey conducted by the Brisbane Courier-Mail was to build a Bjelke-Petersen memorial urinal,'' their letter said.
The letter pointed out that several members of the committee were prominent Nationals acolytes and questioned their possible conflict of interest.
It said another member of the committee promoting the idea was Kingaroy State High school principal David Ballin, who in April was reprimanded by Queensland Education for making false declarations regarding a grant to his school.
An investigation found Mr Ballin ``falsely declared and submitted false documentation to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund in relation to a grant of $21,038'' in regard to the installation of a cold room in the school tuckshop.
Documents obtained by The Weekend Australian show that on January 25 Mr Ballin wrote to his department head admitting ``facilitating the submission of the acquittal documentation to the GCBF when the cold room project was not complete''.
``I apologise for my actions and for the great difficulty and extra workload that my actions have caused, and give my assurance that in future I will work to see it does not happen again,''the letter says.
When contacted by The Australian, Mr Ballin said he could not comment on the issue.
The grant application for the Sir Joh memorial said he was ``the most effective Australian state premier, particularly in the post-war period''.
``During his years as Member and Premier, Sir Joh made a significant contribution to Queensland, arguably the most significant contribution since Separation,'' the grant application says.
``This will be an iconic project that will benefit future generations of Queenslanders and the tentative title of the project is `The Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen Memorial Cultural Centre'.
``The concept in broad terms is: a high class 500-seat performing arts centre, incorporating conference and catering facilities (theatre and breakout rooms); as it is sited adjacent to the Kingaroy State high school, it will house the performance components of the school's arts and music departments; a lasting memorial/museum to the late Sir Joh, the major repository of Bjelke-Petersen memorabilia in Queensland; and it will be a regional tourist attraction,'' the aplication says.
The centre would feature interactive displays, it adds.
