Former Queensland Premier Wayne Goss, who I’ve just heard about today has died after a long battle with some kind of disease. Mr Goss served as Premier of Queensland from December 1989 until February 1996, a period I was alive during, but as I lived in NSW, I was not aware that he existed, let alone that he was a politician of any kind.

Mr Goss is often seen as the end of the “Bjelke-Petersen era”, referring to Joh Bjelke-Petersen, a Queensland Premier I have heard of, as he is often referred to in a negative context when people who know about this stuff discuss politics. Notably, his Chief of Staff was Kevin Rudd, another politician who I have heard of thanks to his appearances on Sunrise and Rove.

Mr Goss passed a number of initiatives while in power and some were probably popular and others probably not, as politicians very rarely achieve universal popularity. It’s a good bet that he will be referred to as a beloved family man and the people he left behind will be saddened by his death. Most of all Mr Goss dedicated his life to serving the people and we can only hope, judging by this obituary, that that is its own reward.

Author: Matthew Farthing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattJFarthing

Categories: News, Politics, State