Rob Borbidge discusses the 1998 election and reasons for his government's fall from power. He cites the rise of One Nation as an important factor and delves into the debate around gun control and its impact on the fortunes of the National Party.
Russell Cooper describes his work in the corrections portfolio as his greatest achievements. He also notes that gun laws and police powers laws were challenges at the time.
Russell Cooper reflects on the possible regrets from his time in politics. He notes that he could have resigned from the police ministry before implementing the gun laws. He also notes that possibly he shouldn't have challenged Mike Ahern. And he notes the handling of the Memorandum of Understanding issue.
Russell Cooper describes the time of the Borbidge Government. He tells of his experience of the Port Arthur massacre and gun laws in Queensland. He goes on to note how this led to the One Nation phenomena.
Russell Cooper describes the support he received from Premier Mike Ahern while he was Minister for Corrective Services. He describes some of the difficult experiences in his relationship with Ahern, in particular the lack of strength of Ahern as a leader which motivated him to challenge. He describes the support he received when he challenged for leadership.
Ruth Matchett outlines the role of Minister Yvonne Chapman (1986-87) in establishing the Domestic Violence Taskforce, followed up by Minister Peter McKechnie (1987-89). The taskforce recommendations were adopted by the coalition government under Russell Cooper as premier. She describes the challenge of preparing the recommendations so that they would be accepted by the government. Discusses how the removal of firearms from perpetrators of domestic violence was dropped from the recommendations so as not to create public debate on gun laws and so jeopardise all the other recommendations.
