Philip John Dickie OAM (born 1955) is an Australian journalist. [1] [2]
Dickie commenced his journalism career with the Australian National University student newspaper Woroni , serving as editor while studying forestry, politics, economics, sociology and linguistics in Canberra. [3] [4]
From 1982 until 1990, Dickie was a journalist with The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail in Brisbane, during which time he uncovered high levels of corruption in the Queensland Police Force and the Queensland Government which led to the Fitzgerald Inquiry. [1] [5] [6] For this work, Dickie won the Gold Walkley in 1987. [7]
On 12 January 1987, The Courier-Mail published a front page story, written by Dickie, about dozens of illegal brothels which were believed to be operating in South East Queensland which the Queensland Police Force intentionally ignored. This prompted former police officer Nigel Powell to write to Dickie about what he knew. A series of ten newspaper articles about police corruption relating to vice and organised crime followed. [8]
ABC Television's Four Corners subsequently broadcast a program by Chris Masters on 11 May 1987 entitled The Moonlight State about the same issue. [5]
Dickie's newspaper stories, combined with Masters' Four Corners exposé, prompted police minister Bill Gunn to announce a Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, which would be presided over by judge Tony Fitzgerald. [5] Dickie gave evidence during the inquiry. [8] [9] [10]
The inquiry's findings contributed to the collapse of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's long serving government and resulted in four government ministers (Leisha Harvey, Don Lane, Brian Austin and Geoff Muntz) and the Commissioner of the Queensland Police Force (Terry Lewis) being imprisoned. [5] [11]
For evidence he gave to the inquiry, Bjelke-Petersen was also trialled for perjury but due to a deadlocked jury, it was deemed to be a mistrial. [5] It was later discovered that the jury foreman was a Young Nationals member and was involved with the "Friends of Joh" movement. [5] There was no retrial as by that time Bjelke-Petersen was deemed to be too old. [5]
In 1988, Dickie authored the book The Road to Fitzgerald and Beyond and the revised 1989 edition The Road to Fitzgerald and Beyond. [1] [12] [13] [14]
From 1990 until 1994, Dickie was a special advisor and research officer at the Criminal Justice Commission, which was established following the Fitzgerald Inquiry. [1]
From 1998 until 2008, Dickie was a consultant and director at Melaleuca Media, a company that he and his wife owned. [1] [15] [16] In 2018, he became a partner and manager at Stylus Media and Design Sarl, a Swiss-based consultancy company. [1]
Dickie is also known for his involvement with the World Wide Fund for Nature. [1] [16] [17]
Dickie was awarded both the Gold Walkley for "Best Piece of Journalism Newspaper, Television or Print" and the Walkley Award for "Best Piece of Newspaper Reporting" at the 1987 Walkley Awards. [18]
In 2017, Dickie was named as a Queensland Great. [4]
He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for his service to print journalism. [1] [19]
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was a conservative 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 of his government.
The Joh for Canberra campaign, initially known as the Joh for PM campaign, was an attempt by Queensland National Party premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen to become Prime Minister of Australia. The campaign was announced in January 1987 and drew substantial support from Queensland businessmen and some conservative politicians. The campaign caused a split in the federal Coalition. It did not attract widespread support and collapsed in June 1987. The Australian Labor Party, led by Bob Hawke, went on to win the 1987 federal election with an increased majority, gaining its highest-ever number of seats. Bjelke-Petersen came under increasing scrutiny as the Fitzgerald Inquiry gained traction, and was forced out of politics altogether in December 1987.
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, and the jailing of three former ministers and the Police Commissioner Terry Lewis. It also contributed to the end of the National Party of Australia's 32-year run as the governing political party in Queensland.
Theo Russell Cooper is an Australian retired National Party politician. He was Premier of Queensland for a period of 73 days, from 25 September 1989 to 7 December 1989. His loss at the state election of 1989 ended 32 years of continuous National Party rule over Queensland.
Michael John Ahern was an Australian 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.
Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and was the wife of the longest-serving Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. She was styled as Lady Bjelke-Petersen upon her husband's knighthood, and was also known informally as Lady Flo.
Terence Murray Lewis was an Australian police officer who, as Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, 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. Lewis continued to protest his innocence and sued his former lawyers and pursued appeals. The last of his appeals failed in August 2005.
Sir Walter "Wally" Benjamin Campbell, was an Australian judge, administrator and governor. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Chancellor of the University of Queensland and the 21st Governor of Queensland from 1985 to 1992.
Russell James Hinze was an Australian politician who was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.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 1989 Queensland state election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 December 1989 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. This was the first election following the downfall of seven-term premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen at the end of 1987.
The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is an independent Queensland Government integrity agency 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.
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 did not 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.
Brian Douglas Austin is an Australian politician and Minister of Health and Minister for Finance and Minister Assisting the Premier and Treasurer and who represented the state seat of Wavell for the Liberal Party (1977–1983) and then for the National Party (1983–1986). In 1983, Austin switched to the National Party (along with Don Lane, who was the Transport Minister, after Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen lobbied several Liberals to cross the floor, thus enabling the National Party to form government with a very slim majority. Prior to their defection, the Nationals were one seat short of governing in their own right. At the 1986 Queensland state election, Austin became the first MP for the new Queensland electorate of Nicklin.
William Angus Manson Gunn AM was an Australian politician who represented the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Somerset from 1972 until 1992. A member of the National Party, he also served as a Minister and Deputy Premier in various Queensland administrations during the 1980s, and was instrumental in establishing the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
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.
The 1989 Merthyr state by-election was a by-election held on 13 May 1989 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Merthyr, based in the inner Brisbane suburb of New Farm.
A by-election was held in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of South Coast on 28 August 1988. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting National Party member Russ Hinze.
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.
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Name: Phil Dickie