He was "personally disappointed'' to lose the opportunity to stand as Labor's candidate in Queensland marginal seat south of Brisbane Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie. Credit:Glenn Hunt "When I started this campaign 12 months ago I said that my main concern was ensuring a Labor victory in Forde and to ensure a Labor Government was returned,'' he said in a statement issued through Queensland Labor headquarters. "I am standing aside as a candidate in the interest of ensuring a Labor victory.'' Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is flying to Brisbane on Thursday and is due to make the official announcement of Mr Beattie's candidacy after 2pm.

Former Queensland Labor president Andrew Dettmer said Mr Beattie was still a popular figure in the state and would give the seat a good shake-up. Dumped ALP Forde candidate Des Hardman, with Kevin Rudd. Credit:@Des_Hardman/Twitter ''Peter Beattie has always been a politician first and foremost,'' he said. ''Having a go at Forde, which is marginal, is great. There is no guarantee he’s going to win, which is a big call for anybody. It's a great opportunity for Labor to win that seat back.'' Mr Dettmer said he, like most in the country's political circles, was caught off guard by the surprise announcement.

''Peter doing that is what Peter does best, running but providing a little bit of surprise,'' he said. ''I don't think there's any doubt Peter Beattie resigned as a popular premier. I don't think there’s any doubt that it's something that will give this seat a very, very good shake.'' In Tasmania on Thursday morning, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he was not worried about the news of Mr Beattie's candidacy, but Mr Rudd would be. "[Mr Beattie is] another flim-flam man who hit people with record debt and deficit, who’s just going to add to the leadership intstability inside the Labor Party," Mr Abbott said.



"You might say to me, am I worried about Peter Beattie? Of course not. But I bet Kevin Rudd is, I bet Kevin Rudd is." The Coalition has already put out a media backgrounder entitled ''Peter Beattie's Record'' on his time as Queensland premier and negative quotes about Kevin Rudd.

Liberal National Party MP Bert van Manen currently holds Forde on a margin of 1.6 per cent. Mr van Manen was elected in 2010 after working in banking. Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne told Sky News on Thursday that Mr van Manen was not an "ego maniac" or a "narcissist". "He doesn't want to go into parliament for himself, he wants to go into parliament to support the people in Forde," Mr Pyne said. Victorian MP Richard Marles told Sky News on Thursday that ''every Labor person around the country will be greatly heartened'' by the news that Mr Beattie would run as a candidate in this election.

''He was a very popular figure as premier of Queensland,'' Mr Marles said. ''He was somebody who absolutely left at the very top of his game.'' The recruitment of Mr Beattie would be a ''boost to [Labor's] campaign right across the state of Queensland'' and across Australia, Mr Marles said. ''What it says is that Australia's leading Labor figures absolutely believe in the Rudd government,'' he said. Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer said Mr Beattie was ''one of the last great pretenders'' and a ''wrecker''. ''He's very big on talk, [he] wasn't very good on implementation . . . and I think that the QLD people did cast their judgment on his government,'' she said.

Greens MP Adam Bandt questioned the decision to recruit Mr Beattie. "Well, I hear a lot of talk about a ‘new way’ within the Labor Party and locals having more say - that doesn’t seem to have lasted very long, and the parachuting in of candidates seems to be happening all over the place,'' Mr Bandt told Fairfax Media's Breaking Politics program. "Whether this is someone setting themselves up for a future tilt at a leadership, who knows? But the so-called new Labor party doesn’t seem to have lasted for very long.'' In March 2012 during an interview with Jon Faine on ABC 774 in Melbourne, Mr Beattie said he was happily retired and his wife would "shoot" him if he returned to politics.



Mr Beattie was pressed on a rumour that he was on the reserve bench for Griffith if Kevin Rudd retired.



At the time, the former Queensland premier denied the rumours, saying: "One, Kevin Rudd's going no where . . . two, my wife would shoot me."



''I have to say I’m happily retired,'' he later said. ''I'm really happy not to be involved in [politics] on a day to day basis anymore.''

Mr Beattie, now 60, served as Queensland premier for nine years before handing over to Anna Bligh when he retired from Parliament six years ago. Ms Bligh went on to lose the 2012 Queensland election and she quit politics despite retaining her seat in the Liberal National Party's landslide victory. The former premier has also previously been a vocal critic of Mr Rudd's media and political maneuverings. In 2011, he said Mr Rudd was "very clever" when it came to manipulating the media and accused him of destabilising the Gillard government. Former Queensland Treasurer Terry Mackenroth says Mr Beattie is expected to boost Labor's chances of re-election.

''I think people still think Peter Beattie did a pretty good job as premier of Queensland,'' Mr Mackenroth told 612 ABC Brisbane. ''I'm certain when people decide who they're going to vote for, they'll look at the job he did and that will help him.'' Mr Dettmer said he felt for pre-selected candidate Mr Hardman. ''I think everyone's heart goes out to Des, he was working the seat pretty hard,'' he said. The marginal Queensland seat of Forde covers about 419 square kilometres south of Brisbane, reaching the outskirts of the Gold Coast City Council.

Loading Queensland Labor has declined to confirm the report at this stage. Peter Beattie: timeline November 18, 1952: Born in Sydney.

Early 1970s: Graduates with a law degree from the University of Queensland.

1974: Joins the Labor Party.

1981: Become state secretary of the Labor Party in Queensland.

1989: Elected to Queensland Parliament as MP for Brisbane Central.

1995: Elected Opposition leader when Wayne Goss stood down after Labor lost government Mundingburra by-election.

1998: Becomes Queensland premier when Labor formed a minority government with the support of independent MP, Peter Wellington. Later following a by-election the Labor Party achieved a majority in its own right.

1998 - 2007: Serves as Queensland premier.

September, 13 2007: Retires as premier and hands over to Anna Bligh.

2008: Appointed Queensland’s Trade Commissioner to North and South America, based in Los Angeles.

2010: Resigns from public life to take up a position with Clemson University in South Carolina.

2013: Announces he will run for Federal politics in the marginal Queensland seat of Forde.