At the end of 1989, in the aftermath of my inquiry, Queenslanders decided they had had enough of the systemic corruption and repression of Bjelke-Petersen and some of his cronies and voted in a new government. Wayne Goss, Matt Foley and others were elected in a spirit of renewal and reform. The Electoral and Administrative Review Commission and the Criminal Justice Commission (after a slow start) did some sterling work, Glyn Davis and Peter Coaldrake set out to redesign and energise the public sector, there was an attempt to modernise the court system and revitalise a moribund judiciary by the establishment of a Court of Appeal and a Litigation Reform Commission and subsequently, when Matt Foley became attorney-general, the welcome, long overdue, appointment of female judges.

However, by the mid-1990s, Australia generally had wearied of change and moved to the right and Queensland, where a long period of conservative government had consolidated a predisposition to conservative thought, moved right with the rest of the country. The Pauline Hanson/One Nation phenomenon would soon emerge, again in Queensland, and a coalition of Nationals and so-called Liberals, including relics of the Bjelke-Petersen era, regained power in Queensland with the help of the Police Union.

The Connolly-Ryan inquiry was soon set up to discredit the reforms which had been introduced on my recommendation so that they could be dismantled with minimum community disquiet, but that exercise failed when the Supreme Court stopped the farce because of (Justice Peter) Connolly’s manifest bias.

It soon became apparent to Queenslanders that the Coalition was at that time still not fit to govern but it had succeeded in interrupting and damaging the reform process. By the end of the Coalition’s term in power in 1998, the political situation in Queensland was volatile, Wayne Goss had departed from politics, the Labor Party was led by Peter Beattie and much of the principled willingness to confront Queensland’s dark past had been lost and with it the momentum for reform. I had always known that I might have to leave Queensland to work elsewhere as a consequence of my inquiry, and in 1998 I accepted that that time had come, resigned and took up a position in NSW.

Labor regained power in Queensland in 1998 and has retained it ever since. Perhaps, on its assessment, that is all that matters. Perhaps, to it, the adverse consequences of its political tactics are just collateral damage.

Under Beattie, Labor decided that there were votes to be obtained from Bjelke-Petersen’s remaining adherents in glossing over repressive and corrupt misconduct. Tacitly at least, Queenslanders were encouraged to forget the repression and corruption which had occurred and the social upheaval which had been involved in eradicating those injustices. Younger Queenslanders know little of that era and are largely ignorant of the possibility that history might be repeated.

Ethics are always tested by incumbency. Secrecy was re-established by sham claims that voluminous documents were “Cabinet-in-confidence”. Access can now be purchased, patronage is dispensed, mates and supporters are appointed and retired politicians exploit their political connections to obtain “success fees” for deals between business and government.

Neither side of politics is interested in these issues except for short-term political advantage as each enjoys or plots impatiently for its turn at the privileges and opportunities which accompany power.

Unfortunately, cynical, short-sighted political attitudes adopted for the benefit of particular politicians and their parties commonly have adverse consequences for the general community. The current concerns about political and police misconduct are a predictable result of attitudes adopted in Queensland since the mid-1990s.

Despite their protestations of high standards of probity, which personally might well be correct, and irrespective of what they intend, political leaders who gloss over corruption risk being perceived by their colleagues and the electorate as regarding it of little importance. Even if incorrect, that is a disastrous perception. Greed, power and opportunity in combination provide an almost irresistible temptation for many which can only be countered by the near-certainty of exposure and severe punishment.

Even if we cannot rely on politicians to voluntarily curb their excesses or tell the truth, a well-informed community which is committed to doing so can influence the way it is governed, just as Queenslanders did in 1989. Matters are much better than they were but it is a mistake to take that for granted.

RUSSELL LANGFIELD, Kimberley
Wouldn’t Tony Fitzgerald QC have a ball in Tasmania?

AUSTRALIAN
QUEENSLAND’S pre-eminent corruption reformer Tony Fitzgerald QC broke two decades of silence to warn last night that the state was sliding back to its “dark past”, in a speech that savaged deals between so-called Labor mates, business and government. Read more here

TONY FITZGERALD, Edited version of his speech to a 260-strong audience in Brisbane gathered to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his corruption report. From: Here
EVERY generation has a duty to historical truth.