QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Politics and policing shine

Gwen: “In fact, up to this time, Judy has been the longest serving female member of Queensland’s Parliament – 22 years!” “After 22 years,” agreed Judy, “I thought it was time to retire from politics. It was still great to represent my constituents but I was beginning to find attending the endless community meetings very tiring. Now I am studying for my Master of Business Administration, so it will be interesting to see where that leads.” From Sunday school teacher, to school teacher, to mother, to career politician – Judy Spence has encompassed all these in her remarkable life. It was as a Sunday school teacher between the ages of 13 and 16 at St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Holland Park that Judy first realised her talent for teaching. So when she completed her schooling at Yeronga High, she attended the Teachers Training College at Mount Gravatt. “I was the first person in the family to graduate in tertiary studies – a diploma of education for teaching and later a degree in Asian studies in 1985,” she said. After meeting and later marrying Heinz Beierer in 1979, Judy was assigned a job as a History and English teacher at Woodridge High School, which Judy thinks was then one of the toughest schools in Queensland. “This was where I saw what real disadvantage was like for the first time in my life,” says Judy. In 1985, she joined the Labor Party. “The experiences I had with working class schools and people’s struggles and the inspiration gained from Gough Whitlam’s winds of change in the 1970s all contributed to my interest in Labor.” In 1989 she was approached to stand as the token ALP candidate in the conservative seat of Mount Gravatt – and won. After backbench time, she was appointed shadow minister for consumer affairs and women in 1996. When Peter Beattie regained government in 1998, Judy Spence was awarded a suite of ministerial positions – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Policy, Women’s Policy and Fair Trading - and after 2001 had Families and Disability Services added and Women’s Policy and Fair Trading subtracted. In 2004 she became Police Minister – a portfolio which she held almost until her retirement from politics in 2012. Judy concludes: “One of the things I would like to do once I have finished my MBA is to learn German. Now that I have the time, Heinz and I would like to return to search out our German heritage. Speaking the language will be a great advantage.”

Frank Bischof encouraged community support and co-operation with police activities, especially for his interest in the welfare of children, particularly through the expansion of youth clubs. Foundation chairman of the Queensland Police Citizens Youth Welfare Association, in 1959 he was named Queensland’s first ‘Father of the Year’ and often conducted counselling sessions for young lawbreakers on Saturday mornings in his office, in 1963 arranging for the formation of the Juvenile Aid Bureau. Although his later efforts were accompanied by political criticism, and accusations of police corruption, Frank Bischof has left a lasting legacy of the Police-Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) throughout Queensland. Judy again: “My father was a policeman as well, but this had no direct bearing on my appointment as Queensland’s Minister for Police. The Premier, Peter Beattie, allocated the portfolio to me, which I held for two terms. I enjoyed it and in fact I am the longest serving Police Minister in Queensland’s history.”

Another Bischof descendant is well-known actor Geoffrey Rush. Geoffrey’s mother Merle Bischof (Gwen’s uncle Albert’s daughter) married Roy Rush. Geoffrey began with Queensland Theatre Company and fame arrived when he appeared in the film Shine .

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