Was Sir Joh ‘God’, as David Littleproud says, or a template for Trump?

The most controversial premier in Queensland history was “God”, National Party leader David Littleproud says in a new documentary featuring some of Australia’s most prominent public figures.

Bob Katter claims Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen “couldn’t string three coherent words together”, a former Brisbane mayor insists the state’s longest-serving premier was not corrupt, and multiple commentators suggest he “set the template” for Donald Trump.

Due for release this Sunday on Stan, Joh: Last King of Queensland follows the Kingaroy peanut farmer’s rise to premier and would-be prime minister – before his spectacular downfall in the wake of the Fitzgerald inquiry.

Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s legacy is re-examined in Stan documentary Joh: Last King of Queensland. Present Nationals leader David Littleproud (right) sings the controversial former premier’s praises.Credit: Nine and Stan

“I think Joh was a force of nature … he was God,” Littleproud says.

“He’s the father of modern-day Queensland because he had the courage of his conviction. He had the strength and determination to stand up and to be different.”

In reference to a perjury trial that ended with a hung jury, Littleproud added: “Joh was never convicted of any crime. He walked away with nothing. He walked away, after years of public service making Queensland great, an innocent man that left a legacy. And that is the story.”

Bjelke-Petersen was born in 1911, and served as premier for a record 19 years, from 1968 to 1987.

His political conservatism dominated Queensland for almost two decades. Loved by some and accused of an authoritarian bent by others, his government unravelled after the revelation of widespread corruption in government and the police.

When his party finally turned on him, Bjelke-Petersen barricaded himself in his office. By some accounts, he tried to contact the Queen and convince her to intervene on his behalf.

“He wasn’t Rudolph Valentino in the looks department,” now-federal MP Bob Katter says. “He couldn’t string three coherent words together, but he was an innovator.”

“I was struck by his humility, and it wasn’t bunged on. He just thought it was naturally his job to go and boil the billy and make tea for people.

“What happened to Joh is, he was stabbed in the back.”

The Stan documentary re-examines the legacy of Bjelke-Petersen as a disgraced leader.

It covers everything from his early life in Kingaroy, to the infamous 1971 Springboks tour and associated police brutality during his declaration of a state of emergency, his role in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam, Indigenous protests in Queensland, the rise of Brisbane punk and radio station 4ZZZ, the “Joh for PM” campaign, the ABC’s Moonlight State expose, and the Fitzgerald inquiry.

Richard Roxburgh portrays Bjelke-Petersen in the documentary.Credit: Stan

Sallyanne Atkinson, the Liberal mayor of Brisbane through part of his tenure, is one of several who comes to the defence of a man charged with – but not convicted of – perjury.

“I will go to my deathbed not believing that Joh was corrupt,” she says.

“I base that on the fact that I never saw any evidence of corruption or greed or looking for wealth.

“I think what he did do, which was a sort of country way, was a few favours for mates.”

Behind the scenes of Joh: Last King of Queensland, former PM John Howard discusses Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Credit: Stan

The Bjelke-Petersen children, former PM John Howard, election analyst Antony Green, musicians Ed Kuepper of the Saints and Lindy Morrison of the Go-Betweens, journalist Chris Masters, and former MP David Byrne are among others adding their voices.

Woven into the narrative of the documentary are monologues to the audience, in a convincing performance by Richard Roxburgh as the premier.

Several commentators draw parallels between Bjelke-Petersen’s leadership and the rise of US President Trump decades later.

“We look at Joh and think [he’s] once in a generation … then we look at Trump and we go ‘hang on’,” investigative reporter at The Australian, Mathew Condon, says.

“Some bells start to ring in terms of what we’ve gone through.

“I mean the template was already here with a peanut farmer at the bottom of the world, and now we see it play out on a world stage. There are eerie and uncanny parallels.”

Joh: Last King of Queensland is available on Stan from June 22, 2025. This masthead watched an early edit of the documentary that might differ from the final cut. Stan’s parent company Nine Entertainment Co is the owner of this masthead.

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