In the 1970s, a gripping arm wrestle was unfolding behind closed doors. Would corruption prevail, or could the anti-corruption forces reclaim the heart and soul of Queensland policing?
The fightback took shape in the early 1970s with the formation of the Whitrod-led CIU (Criminal Intelligence Unit). Their weapon of choice: the wiretap.
The years that followed would prove to be an incredible lost opportunity—what we might now call a sliding doors era. For a time, the anti-corruption forces had successfully neutralised key members of the infamous Rat Pack who were running the Vice Squad’s corruption rackets—either forcing them into retirement or banishing them to remote Queensland country outposts where they could do no harm.
Wiretapping had proven to be a valuable weapon. But despite having what seemed like unlosable, ironclad, open-and-shut cases—backed by wiretap evidence—several high-profile prosecutions were lost.
By 1976, the relationship between Commissioner Whitrod and Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen had completely broken down. The Premier was increasingly interfering in police affairs, demanding the use of the police force as a bulwark against critics and political opponents. Then came the tipping point: Joh recalled one of the rats from the wilderness of country QLD and appointed him Assistant Police Commissioner—directly under Whitrod.
It was intolerable. Whitrod resigned in protest. The end result? The Premier promoted head rat Terry Lewis one more rung to take on the newly vacated top policing job in the state—appointing Terry Lewis as the new Police Commissioner. Like a pied piper, Lewis played his tune—and the rats returned en masse.
The sliding doors moment wasn’t just missed; it was slammed shut. Political corruption was now entrenched at every level, fusing police, underworld, and cabinet interests to a scale never before achieved. Fortitude Valley became further entrenched as the vice capital of Queensland.
But as history would record, the corruption of this era would eventually come crashing down—almost by accident—a decade later. It wouldn’t fall in a single blow—but once the first domino tipped, the downfall of Vice City was unstoppable.
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