Lloyds Auctions alerted that Premier Sir Joh and Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen’s estate may not be allowed to leave Australian soil.
In a last-minute development Lloyds Auctions received contact from the Australian Government over the weekend to state that items from the Bjelke-Petersen Auction could be Australian Protected Objects.
Aimed towards preserving and keeping important history within Australia, Mr Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions commended the government’s stance in protecting Australian history for its future. “The items in this auction tell many important stories about Australia’s History and in particularly Queensland’s growth and how it came to be the state it is today, so we applaud the government for reaching out to protect it’s history.”
With the estate to go up for auction this Tuesday night featuring over 800 items with no reserve there have been thousands of bids already with interest from all over the country including New Zealand where Sir Joh was born.
In a final clean-up of the estate over the weekend Sir Joh’s iconic original Stetson Swagger hat was uncovered and added to the auction along with Lady Flo’s black leather Gucci bag and White Gold Mikimoto Pearl earrings.
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the longest-serving Premier of Queensland for 19 years and is considered by many to be the architect of modern Queensland. His sweeping reforms led to Queensland becoming an economic powerhouse. Joh was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984.
Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen served as a Queensland Senator for 12 years, and was loved by all parties. She was an ardent voice for her Queensland constituents and advocated strongly for local issues.
“We have come to the end of the era of Joh and Flo’s partnership in which they achieved so much for both
Queensland and Australia during their political careers,”
