Tony Fitzgerald Collection 1984 - 2009: treasure collection of the John Oxley Library

In May 1987 Tony Fitzgerald QC was appointed by acting Premier Bill Gunn to lead a Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, aka the Fitzgerald Inquiry following a series of articles published in The Courier-Mail and a Four Corners television report naming Queensland as ‘The Moonlight State.’

Over a two-year period which involved 238 public sitting days, testimony from 339 witnesses, the resignation of the Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen and the conviction of former Police Commissioner Terry Lewis and three former ministers, the inquiry conducted a comprehensive investigation of entrenched, systemic police corruption and abuse of political power in Queensland.

Fitzgerald’s report was handed to Queensland Premier Mike Ahern on 7 July 1989 at a widely publicised media event.  

The Tony Fitzgerald Collection is a significant collection of items donated by Tony Fitzgerald, primarily relating to the events associated with the Commission of Inquiry. The material largely consists of newspaper clippings, original newspaper and magazine articles, courtroom sketches, cartoons and Fitzgerald’s personal papers.

The collection also reflects political life in Queensland in the years leading up to and following the Inquiry.

Collection: 27051 Tony Fitzgerald Collection 1984-2009

Thirty years after the Inquiry The Honourable Margaret McMurdo AC delivered her insight into governance of Queensland delivered at the 5th Tony Fitzgerald Lecture, State Library of Queensland on 6 November, 2017. View the lecture online [1:13:37].

Read about other treasure collections held in the John Oxley Library

1. Margaret Lawrie Collection of Torres Strait Islands
2. Johnstone Gallery Archive
3. Archibald Meston Papers
4. Mary Watson diaries
5. Central Queensland Separation League Petition
6. (I’m) Stranded : No Time, The Saints
7. Real estate maps collection
8. Portrait of an Australian Artists' Book
9. John Watts Necklace
10. Stable collection 1917 - 1991
11. Tindale Genealogical Collection 1928-1960
12. Charles Seymour Papers 1880-1924
13. Bennett Family Films 1956 – 1988
14. Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM Children’s Art Archive 1990-2020
15. The Ron and Ngaire Gale Photographic Collection
16. Storylines Q150 digital stories