Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge and celebrate this week the election of Wayne Goss and the Queensland Labor government in 1989, 30 years ago. This ended 32 years of the draconian-like reign of the dreaded National Party. Wayne Goss overcame almost insurmountable odds with an electoral system that was stacked against him after years of gerrymandering by a corrupt government, only to achieve a comfortable electoral win of more than 50 per cent of the vote.

He went on to rid the state of the unfair gerrymander, establish the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission to redraw electoral boundaries more fairly, implement the Fitzgerald inquiry reforms, establish the CMC, save Fraser Island, appoint the first women judges and the first women directors-general, and leave us the Gallery of Modern Art. There can be absolutely no doubting the legacy and impact that Wayne Goss and the Labor government had on our great state of Queensland.

My community is proud to share a deep connection with Wayne Goss and the Goss family, who lived in Azalea Street in Inala. Wayne was the eldest of six children to Allan and Norma Goss, and in 1954 the family moved to Inala, where Wayne attended Inala Primary School and, later, Inala State High School. He was a true son of Inala.

Wayne Goss was still a true working-class hero who brought important reforms to Queensland that will continue long into the future. We thank Wayne for his service. We miss you and will forever remember everything you've done to make Queensland a better, fairer place.