The Lucas Inquiry, chaired by Justice G. A. G. Lucas, began in 1976 and was constituted to look into police corruption in Queensland, but the Inquiry was seriously flawed, reliant as it was, on its star witness Jack Herbert, The Bagman who confessed at the later Fitzgerald Inquiry to organised corruption for almost his entire career within the Police Force and afterwards. It was prompted by the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, along with the Queensland Law Society, who demanded an inquiry into police corruption. [1] Justice Lucas took evidence from Jack Herbert and listened to tapes made by Senior Constable Frank Davey, a friend of the corrupt Bagman, Herbert, but didn’t interview the honest cops who were the subject of the allegations. [2]
The Lucas Inquiry emanated from the "Southport Betting Case," a trial where a number of corrupt high-ranking police officers were alleged to have collaborated with two bookmakers to clear them of prosecution. [3] Originally Jock Rutherford a Magistrate known to be hard on Bookmakers was scheduled to hear the case, but at the last minute the date was changed meaning Magistrate Leo McConnell would hear the case instead. [4] In November 1974 two suspected "starting price" bookmakers, Brian Leonard George Sieber and Stanley Derwent Saunders, were charged and arrested "with possession of instruments of betting" and it was alleged these two men and many other bookmakers operating in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast were chief sources of "corrupt payments to police" in the Licensing Branch, a subsection of the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU). The CIU was a police department "formed to collect, record and disseminate intelligence on organized crime and corruption, and to apprehend and prosecute those involved." [3]
In 1974, to clean up the Licensing Branch, a new Inspector was appointed in Arthur Pitts, who laid seventeen charges against SP bookmakers in three months. Prior to Pitts appointment there had been only three prosecutions in the past four years. As a result of the crackdown, Sergeant Reginald Neal Freier asked former Licensing Branch sergeant, Jack Herbert to approach Pitts with a bribe, to reinstate ‘The Joke’ which had ended when Herbert had left the police force. Herbert did so along with Freier and a bookmaker, Paddy McIntyre. However anticipating such an approach, Pitts had his house wired, with Detective Basil ‘The Hound’ Hicks present, hiding in another room. In the aftermath of the event, Des Sturgess reported having drinks with Terry Lewis and Tony Murphy, who were furious with Herbert being set up. [5] Following the Herbert sting, Pitts was scheduled to go on a raid with three of his team: Sergeant Con Horgan, Senior Constable Ollie Boyce and Constable Frank Davey, but Ollie Boyce did not even show up, and so Mick Cacciola subbed in for him. The ensuing raid saw them arrest Saunders and Sieber. [6] After the raid, with only 8 months in charge of the Licensing Squad, Pitts was transferred to the Gold Coast. [4]
In the middle of the trial Frank Davey alleged that Pitts had forged warrants and tried to ‘brick’ the bookmakers (falsify evidence against them). He then revealed he had been given a micro cassette tape recorder by Jack Herbert, and had taped four separate conversations with officers to ‘prove’ his allegations. After giving the evidence, Davey jumped in a car with Herbert. It seemed that the Bagman, Jack Herbert had master minded a defeat against the Licensing Branch in the Southport case to set a precedent in his own case. Davey had met with Herbert in his home, and told showed him the warrant which was largely blank, and they plotted to have Davey wear a tape recorder when talking to Pitts and others. Herbert wrote to a friend in San Diego and got him to send the miniature tape recorder over for Davey to wear. [7] Mick Cacciola later got a sworn statement from another officer, where Ollie Boyce admitted he was told to be late. [8]
In 1975, the results of the trial found neither men guilty and the loss was devastating to the campaign against both corruption and the integrity of the CIU. "The Criminal Intelligence Unit had failed to secure a prosecution in a seemingly iron-clad case-one where money was actually paid over, the vital conversations had been taped and most of the activities had been observed by members of the CIU." [3] To make matters worse, Herbert and his co-accused also later were acquitted at a jury trial.
The two cases were a body blow to then Commissioner Whitrod’s credibility, and were used by corrupt cops to undermine him. Whitrod punshied Arthur Pitts by transferring him yet again from Southport to running the property office at police headquarters, the ultimate insult for such a renowned crusader.
The negative press prompted an investigation into police behaviour, resulting in the Lucas Inquiry. Terry O'Gorman said at the National Convention on Civil Liberties, held in 1976, “the conclusions on the Southport Case cast serious doubt on the reliability and integrity of inspectors in the Queensland Police Force." [9]
Jack Herbert would later testify to the Fitzgerald Inquiry that Detective Sergeant Reginald Neal Freier was corrupt and Constable Frank Davey had conspired with him to set up Arthur Pitts. Herbert also testified that both Tony Murphy and Terry Lewis came to see him before his trial, both anxious to find out whether they would be mentioned. [10]
The aims of the inquiry were to:
The Lucas report resulted in findings of significant police misconduct and corruption, assault and proof of police "planting evidence, forging warrants and fabricating confessions." [1] One of the reports recommendations were that police interviews be recorded to reduce verballing. O'Gorman, although praising the recommended introduction of tape recordings during police interviews, was highly critical of the report as there were no police charged with misconduct and many were even promoted. [12] He said "the inquiry has made the comment that here we have these officers who have not only not been proceeded against but a number of the principal offenders have been promoted. What sort of a police force do we have if the upper echelons of the police force are led to believe that mis-deeds will be rewarded by subsequent promotion.” [9]
For the Bagman, Jack Reginald Herbert, he would die in 2004, after admitting to his guilt at the Fitzgerald Inquiry, he gained immunity from prosecution and lived with Police protection for many years. While Herbert admitted both his role and Davey’s role in the scheme, Davey submitted a statutory declaration to the Inquiry denying he had ever committed perjury, and with just his word and Herbert’s, he was never charged with anything. Mick Cacciola had to bring before Inspector Graham Williams and Superintendent John Huey, a number of ex-Licensing Branch cops believed to be corrupt but hadn’t been brought to account during the Fitzgerald Inquiry (eg. due to insufficient evidence, or just not specifically mentioned by Herbert), to ensure that they were at least transferred to roles they could be closely managed, which included Ollie Boyce. [13]
For the honest cops who tried to combat corruption, Arthur Pitts died in 2005, aged 86 years of age. Con Horgan died on 31 May 2000, after becoming a recluse, and when he was dying he told his wife that no police were allowed to attend his funeral. Alex Jeppesen, who was not on the raid, succeeded Pitts as the Inspector in charge of the Licensing Branch. It took a while for Terry Lewis to remove him from the force, and Jeppesen even managed to gain an audience with Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and the then Police Minister Ron Camm, where he played them taped conversations with informants on police corruption. Terry Lewis found out about the meeting and transferred him from Licensing to Mobile Patrols, then forced him out of the Force, as medically unfit in 1979, after his house was raided and pet corgi shot dead. Jeppesen died on 1 October 2008 [14]
For the bookmakers, Stanley Derwent Saunders died in 2014, aged 92 Years. Friends described him as a icon of the underworld (strange description for someone meant to have been innocent). [15] In 1986, Saunders sued Pitts, Horgan and Jeppesen, and at that time Brian Leonard George Sieber was already dead.
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during which time the state underwent considerable economic development. He has become one of the most well-known and controversial figures of 20th-century Australian politics because of his uncompromising conservatism, political longevity, and the institutional corruption that became synonymous with his later leadership.
The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the resignation of Queensland's premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the calling of two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and the Police Commissioner. It also contributed to the end of the National Party of Australia's 32-year run as the governing political party in Queensland.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of 'Firmness with Courtesy' was changed to 'With Honour We Serve'. The headquarters of the Queensland Police Service is located at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Michael John Ahern is a former Queensland National Party politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1987 to September 1989. After a long career in the government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern became his successor amid the controversy caused by the Fitzgerald Inquiry into official corruption. Ahern's consensus style and political moderation contrasted strongly with Bjelke-Petersen's leadership, but he could not escape the division and strife caused by his predecessor's downfall.
Terence Murray Lewis, GM is a former Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service who was convicted and jailed for corruption and forgery as a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. He was stripped of his knighthood and two other awards in consequence.
Russell James Hinze was a politician in Queensland, Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. He presided over an era of controversy that included the setting up of the Racing Development Fund, ministerial re-zonings and the licensing of Jupiters Casino. His career in public life spanned almost four decades, first in local government in the 1950s and 1960s, and then in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1966 to 1988. After his exit from Parliament he was charged with eight counts of corruption, but died before going to trial.
The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is an independent Queensland Government entity created to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime and to continuously improve the integrity of, and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in, the Queensland public sector. Formerly the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) 2002–2014. The CCC also has a witness protection function. The commission was established on 1 January 2002, when the former Criminal Justice Commission and the Queensland Crime Commission were merged into a single entity under the name Crime and Misconduct Commission.
Quentin Dempster is an Australian journalist and author.
Donald Frederick Lane was a Minister of Transport in the Bjelke-Petersen state of Queensland's coalition government. A former policeman in the Special Branch, in 1971 he was elected as the Liberal member for Merthyr, an electorate which included the Fortitude Valley where a lot of the then illegal brothels and casinos were located. During his time with the Police, he had gotten to know Jack Herbert the Chief Organiser of The Joke, and the "Rat Pack" of Terry Lewis, Tony Murphy and Glenn Hallahan well. Following the 1983 Queensland state election he switched to the National Party, providing it with an outright majority, and was rewarded with a ministry. He went on to lead the National Party’s submission to the Electoral Commission to more effectively gerrymander and malapportion seats to increase National Party control. It was revealed in the Fitzgerald Inquiry, that Lane had significant unexplained income, and was alleged by Jack Herbert to have taken bribes. Lane didn’t admit to taking bribes, instead he admitted to abusing Ministerial expenses and claimed a lot of other Ministers had done the same. In the end Lane and three other Bjelke-Petersen ministers were tried in the District Court and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for falsifying their expense accounts.
Francis Erich Bischof, was the Queensland Police Commissioner in Australia from January 1958 until his resignation, on 13 February 1969, amidst allegations of corruption.
Raymond Wells Whitrod, was an Australian police officer and criminologist. He was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime. He was known as a man of high professional standards, with a commitment to justice, equity and integrity. He became best known for his term as Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, resigning in protest in 1976 at the corruption then endemic in Queensland, and in particular over the appointment by the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, of Terry Lewis as Assistant Commissioner.
Terry O'Gorman is a lawyer in Queensland, Australia and leading civil libertarian. In 1979, O'Gorman was elected President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties ('QCCL') and served as president until 1985. He again held presidency from 1990 to 1994. He is currently the Vice President of the QCCL.
The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is a voluntary organisation in Australia concerned with the protection of individual rights and civil liberties. It was founded in 1966 in order "to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queensland citizens." The QCCL is regularly asked by the Government to make submissions to committees, which is how bills are made in Parliament. These submissions cover issues such as closed circuit television, abortion law reform, sentencing issues in our court system and changes to legislation already in place, which are called amendments.
Domenico Cacciola is a decorated police officer who joined the Queensland Police in 1966. He became an undercover detective in the 1970s. In 1977 he received the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct, and the National Medal (Australia) in 1991. After retiring in 2001, he wrote his memoir with the assistance of his brother Carmelo Cacciola and journalist Ben Robertson. In 2009 the University of Queensland Press published his autobiography The Second Father, which detailed how he resisted underworld crime and the corruption which was rampant within the Queensland Police until the Fitzgerald Inquiry. His second book, Who's Who in the Zoo, is an insiders story of crime and corruption in the police force, when he was a CIB and Special Branch detective.
The Cane Toad Times was a satirical humour magazine based in Brisbane, Queensland. It was first published in the late 1970s, then revived under the same name by a new team from 1983–1990.
Pig City: Brisbane's Historical Soundtrack was a one-day music festival held as part of the Queensland Music Festival in 2007. The idea for the concert came from Queensland Music Festival Artistic Director for 2007 Paul Grabowsky, who was inspired after reading Andrew Stafford's book Pig City: From The Saints To Savage Garden. The festival was held on 14 July at The University of Queensland. It ran from midday to 10 pm.
Thomas Guy Newbery was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.
Shirley Margaret Brifman was an Australian prostitute and brothel madam who was known as a whistleblower on police corruption. She died at the age of 36 in suspicious circumstances, in what was ruled a suicide.
Philip John Dickie is an Australian journalist.
