Fact check: Did Joh Bjelke-Petersen instigate the Fitzgerald inquiry?

Updated

The death of former Queensland Labor premier Wayne Goss prompted recollections of the preceding National Party government, led for nearly 20 years by the late Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

Federal Minister Barnaby Joyce said on ABC's RN Breakfast he accepted that Mr Goss had been responsible for implementing reforms recommended by the inquiry into police corruption headed by barrister Tony Fitzgerald QC.

But he said the role of Sir Joh, who was Queensland premier for 19 years, should also be acknowledged.

"But who brought about the Fitzgerald inquiry? Who called for it? Bjelke-Petersen," Mr Joyce said.

Was Joh Bjelke-Petersen responsible for instigating the Fitzgerald inquiry? ABC Fact Check investigates.

The claim: Barnaby Joyce says Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen brought about the Fitzgerald inquiry.

Barnaby Joyce says Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen brought about the Fitzgerald inquiry. The verdict: It was deputy premier and police minister Bill Gunn who announced that the Queensland government would hold an inquiry into police corruption. The formal statement of Tony Fitzgerald's appointment and the terms of reference was made by Mr Gunn as acting premier and the attorney-general Paul Clauson. The evidence on the public record points to Mr Gunn being the instigator of the inquiry.

What triggered the Fitzgerald inquiry?

A series of articles published in Brisbane's Courier-Mail by Philip Dickie in December 1986 and January 1987 reported that around 20 illegal brothels were operating in the Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane, apparently unchallenged by police.

In a program on ABC's Four Corners aired on May 11, 1987, journalist Chris Masters reported that police in Brisbane had been ignoring and even condoning illegal gambling, organised prostitution and drug trafficking. In 'The Moonlight State' it was alleged that police were being paid $100,000 a month by massage parlour and illegal casino operators.

The day after the Four Corners program, the then deputy premier and police minister Bill Gunn held a media conference to announce an independent judicial inquiry into the long-standing allegations that senior police were being paid to protect organised crime.

"We have to get rid of these allegations once and for all," Mr Gunn told reporters. "They have hung over the head of police ministers before me and they are not going to hang over my head."

The formal announcement of Mr Fitzgerald's appointment and the terms of reference was made by Mr Gunn - as acting premier - and the attorney-general Paul Clauson on May 26.

Joh Bjelke-Petersen's role

Sir Joh, who became premier in 1968, began a campaign to move to federal politics soon after he won a Queensland state election in November 1986.

According to the Fitzgerald inquiry report, during the first five months of 1987 when he was concentrating on his 'Joh for PM' campaign, he "left control of the government of Queensland" in the hands of his deputy, Mr Gunn.

The Australian newspaper reported the news of the inquiry on May 13, 1987, under the headline 'Joh orders judicial probe into corruption'. In contrast to the headline, the text of the article said the inquiry had been ordered by Mr Gunn and "the decision was taken during discussions yesterday morning" between Mr Gunn, Sir Joh and the police commissioner Terry Lewis.

The same day, Brisbane's Daily Sun newspaper quoted Sir Joh saying: "I have complete and utter confidence in our police commissioner and the police force, complete, absolutely."

On May 16, the Australian said Mr Gunn was the driving force behind the inquiry. "It wasn't a matter of coaxing Sir Joh to accept that the inquiry should be held, I just told him I was going to do it," Mr Gunn was quoted as saying.

It wasn't a matter of coaxing Sir Joh to accept that the inquiry should be held, I just told him I was going to do it. Bill Gunn, The Australian, May 16

An article in The Bulletin magazine by Paul Bongiorno on May 26 said that Mr Gunn had rung barrister Ian Callinan QC for advice after seeing the Four Corners program. He had also rung Sir Joh. "The premier agreed but left the details to Gunn," Bongiorno wrote. The premier's office, when asked why Sir Joh had agreed to the inquiry, told him: "The premier has nothing to hide."

The formal announcement on May 26 said the terms of reference for the inquiry had been approved by cabinet that day. Mr Gunn was acting premier. Sir Joh was reported to be in the United States.

Mr Gunn recalled Sir Joh's sentiments to ABC's Background Briefing 12 years later. In a program broadcast on Radio National on May 16, 1999, Mr Gunn was asked if he thought Sir Joh would have set up the Fitzgerald inquiry himself if he'd been in charge.

"No. No, I don't believe he would and I believe that if he could have stopped it, he would have," Mr Gunn replied.

Mr Clauson gave a similar recollection to Four Corners in 'Beyond Bethany', a program about Sir Joh's legacy aired in 2008.

"Joh of course was not happy," Mr Clauson said. "I can always remember he said 'You know, if you lift up a piece of tin, you'll find one of two things under it, Bill' - he was talking to Gunn and myself out at Roma [in southern Queensland] - 'and that would be a snake or a dead cat'."

Sir Joh abandoned his tilt for Canberra soon after Labor prime minister Bob Hawke announced on May 27, 1987, that there would be a federal election on July 11. He died in 2005.

The verdict

It was deputy premier and police minister Bill Gunn who announced that the Queensland government would hold an inquiry into police corruption. Contemporary press reports said he did so after consulting the premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

The formal statement of Tony Fitzgerald's appointment and the terms of reference was made by Mr Gunn as acting premier and the attorney-general Paul Clauson.

The evidence on the public record points to Mr Gunn being the instigator of the inquiry.

Mr Joyce's claim that Joh Bjelke-Petersen brought about the Fitzgerald inquiry is unfounded.

Sources

Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, corruption, law-crime-and-justice, police, crime, australia, brisbane-4000, qld

First posted