The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry was established in response to a series of articles on high-level police corruption in The Courier-Mail by reporter Phil Dickie, followed by a Four Corners report, aired on 11 May 1987, entitled "The Moonlight State" with reporter Chris Masters. With Queensland's Premier of 18 years, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, out of the state, his deputy Bill Gunn ordered a commission of inquiry. The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. ... The Honourable Justice Gerald Edward (Tony) Fitzgerald A.C., Q.C. (born 26 November 1941) is the former President of the Queensland Court of Appeal [1] who is eminently renowned for his role of presiding over the Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption in the State of Queensland, Australia. ... Cherie Booth QC wearing her ceremonial robes (including full-bottomed wig) as Queens Counsel at the Bar of England and Wales. ... The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. ... Four Corners is Australias longest-running and most respected investigative journalism/current affairs television program. ... May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chris Masters Entrance Chris Mordetsky, with the stage name of Chris Masters, and nicknamed The Masterpiece was born on January 8, 1983 in Santa Monica, California. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  4,070,400 (3rd)  - Density  2. ... Sir Johannes Joh Bjelke-Petersen KCMG, (13 January 1911 – 23 April 2005), New Zealand-born Australian politician, was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of the state of Queensland. ... An agency is a department of a local or national government responsible for the oversight and administration of a specific function, such as a customs agency or a space agency. ...

The allegations aired in the media were not new; they had surfaced from time to time and some news organisations had been forced to pay damages to aggrieved people who alleged their reputations had been damaged. While the terms of the inquiry were initially narrow, restricted only to the specific allegations raised against specific persons named in the media over a period of just five years, Fitzgerald used his moral authority to lever the inquiry into a position of being able to inquire into any relevant matter. The references in this article would be clearer with a different style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... An allegation is a statement of a fact by a party in a pleading, which he or she claims they will prove. ...

This enabled him to set a new precedent for Royal Commissions in Australia generally, using innovative methods such as indemnities from prosecution for key witnesses to secure vital evidence. The inquiry was initially expected to last about six weeks; it instead spent almost two years conducting a comprehensive investigation of long-term, systemic political corruption and abuse of power in Queensland. In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ...

On August 28, a Licensing Branch sergeant, Harry Burgess implicated Jack Herbert, assistant commissioner Graeme Parker. Parker confessed and implicated Lewis on September 16.^[1] Harry Burgess was Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1928 to 1932. ...

The inquiry would eventually outlive the Bjelke-Petersen government. Evidence revealed by the investigation (including testimony from Bjelke-Petersen himself) caused significant political damage and an internal power struggle within the National Party, resulting in Bjelke-Petersen resigning as Premier after his unsuccessful attempt to have the Governor sack all of his ministers after they deposed him as party leader. The National Party of Australia is an Australian conservative political party, which claims to represent rural voters. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ...

Jack Reginald Herbert had been the bagman, collecting bribes for police commissioner Terry Lewis from 1980. Lewis himself had been a bagman for former commissioner Frank Bischof^[2] . (Sir) Terence Murray Terry Lewis (born 29th February 1928) is a former Queensland police commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. ...

Based on the inquiry's final report, [1] a number of high-profile politicians were charged with crimes; notably Queensland Police Commissioner (Sir) Terry Lewis was charged with corruption, and Bjelke-Petersen himself was charged with perjury for evidence given to the inquiry. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... (Sir) Terence Murray Terry Lewis (born 29th February 1928) is a former Queensland police commissioner who was convicted and jailed for corruption as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ...

Lewis was convicted (and subsequently stripped of his knighthood), while the Bjelke-Petersen trial resulted in a hung jury amidst allegations that the jury foreman (later revealed to be the leader of the youth wing of Bjelke-Petersen's National Party) had misrepresented the state of deliberations to the judge. Bjelke-Petersen's trial was later the subject of a TV movie, "Joh's Jury" [2]. A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... A hung jury is a jury whose required majority cannot reach or agree upon a unanimous verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is deadlocked with irreconcilable differences of opinion. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian conservative political party, which claims to represent rural voters. ...

References

• Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, "Fitzgerald Inquiry report", Government Printer, Brisbane, 1989.

The Fitzgerald inquiry changed the face of Queensland politics.

Further reading

Jack Herbert with Tom Gilling, The Bagman: Final Confessions of Jack Herbert, ABC Books 2004, ISBN 0-7333-1412-0

Evan Whitton, "The Hillbilly Dictator"

Phil Dickie, "The Road to Fitzgerald" University of Queensland Press 1988