Peter Beattie

Sarah's no pushover she certainly didn't kowtow to vice chancellors and chancellors who just wanted her to go away really but I think the thing about the New South Wales and I guess also the Victorian inquiry although that's less forensic it does demonstrate engagement with their universities and It's not unheard of.

Queensland years ago under Peter Beattie is definitely a very positive example of positive intervention.

The Smart State Initiative poured billions of dollars into research infrastructure and it really fundamentally changed that state's ability to produce world-class research and has actually world-class facilities there now.

Someone was telling me the other day that Beattie had the number plates of Queensland cars changed from the Sunshine State to the Smart State initiative and a lot of people at the time kind of thought it was a bit ironic.

But anyway, Queensland is now a medical research powerhouse as a result of that.

There was a certain amount of serendipity to it because an Irish-American philanthropist called Chuck Feeney, who was very generous and decided he was going to give away his vast fortune, he fell in love with Queensland, with Brisbane, playing a game of golf there once and... and hung around and poured in $350 million into research.

I think Peter Beattie was really smart.

He was a really good retail politician.

It actually happens in Queensland.

If you look what happened with Campbell Newman, he won power from, well, it was originally Peter Beattie's government, and then I can't remember.

When was this? Well, Peter Beattie was Premier of Queensland in the 90s, and I can't remember the lady that succeeded him, but then she sort of stepped out of politics because she contracted cancer.

But he then stood for the seat of, I think it was Ashby, in Queensland, and then won his seat and won the election.

And Campbell Newman was a one-term Premier, and then they tossed him out and put Labour back in.

I don't know, just because he's Geoffrey.

But Bob Carr, Carmen Lawrence, Peter Beattie, they don't loom as large in their state's political debates.

What is it about Victoria and Geoff Kennett and Dan Andrews? I don't know.

I don't understand it.

Only on the rarest of rare occasions does Labor make inroads there.

Peter Beattie sort of made some inroads there in regional Queensland, but ever since it's been, you know, it's been a tough slog for Labor there.

And the old adage, of course, Queensland is that regional Queensland wags the state dog.

And it's a bit like that with regional members wag a Brisbane government.

New Zealand Rugby and the Waikato-based chiefs are taking legal action against the Australia Rugby League Commission and the PNG chiefs.

Australia Rugby League Commission Commissioner Peter Beattie says they are not backing down from the fight to retain the name.

He says the name was chosen by the people of Papua New

Guinea.

Like we had the, um, I'm not too sure if it's the Australian treasurer or, but we had a lot of, a lot of Australian politicians over.

I just, just met, well, I just ran into, well, I didn't just run into, but Peter Beattie was down there and, um, you know, like, people that are very high up in the Australian government with this Jersey presentation.

So I don't think that's going to be an issue.

Well, that's the interesting element of this as well.