The Joh Tapes offer insight into Queensland’s history

ALMOST 12 months ago The Courier-Mail exclusively reported on a series of 30-year-old “lost” video interviews with former Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Now, they’ve been digitised online and are accessible to all, writes Matthew Condon.

ALMOST 12 months ago The Courier-Mail exclusively reported on a series of 30-year-old “lost” video interviews with former Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

The tapes, recorded by Brisbane celebrity agent and promoter, Richard Lancaster, were made in October 1988, after the premier had been deposed and the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police and political corruption was in full flight.

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The Joh Tapes Part 1: The story behind the lost Joh Tapes

In the interviews, Bjelke-Petersen railed against the treachery of his former National Party colleagues, denied any knowledge of corruption, and lambasted the media in a precursor to “fake news”.

The interviews never made it on to television and were forgotten.

Queensland has never had a great track record for learning from history, nor being transparent with its public documents.

But we can be grateful that the State Library of Queensland has now fully digitised these fascinating interviews and made them accessible to all.

Former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

They can be viewed online for the first time on the library’s website.

According to the library, donations from the public, through the Queensland Library Foundation’s Reel Rescue program, helped pay for the seven tapes to be digitised.

There is also the full story behind the making of the tapes and an additional oral history from Lancaster.

The tapes will now sit alongside the library’s formidable collections from Tony Fitzgerald and journalist Phil Dickie.

State librarian and CEO Vicki McDonald said the tapes were a “fascinating part of the Queensland story” that can now be accessed by everyone.

“The Joh tapes provide incredible insights into the Queensland’s longest serving premier (1968-87) at the end of his career,” McDonald said.

“Producers Richard Lancaster and Barry Martin donated the tapes to State Library of Queensland as they felt they belonged to all Queenslanders.”

This unique historical record would not have existed if it hadn’t been for Lancaster, now 82 and retired in Redcliffe.

“I decided we had to get a message out there to highlight some of the attributes this guy had,” Lancaster said. “He was a very good leader. I thought it would be a good idea to film six 30-minute interviews with Joh, focusing on the leadership style of the man.

“Joh thought it was a great idea.”

Richard Landcaster and Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

Lancaster said watching the old tapes was like seeing Bjelke-Petersen rise “from the grave”.

“He was a dynamic presence. He was an innovator,” Lancaster said.

“He was self-confident. He was often blatantly one-eyed. He was at times dictatorial and autocratic, and sometimes exhibited poor judgment as well. But he was a very clever bugger. He was not a hick, he was a smart operator.”

Lancaster said yesterday he felt “truly honoured” to have contributed to this significant piece of history.

“We don’t seem to understand how important history is for us and our country,” he said. “I didn’t appreciate it at the time when I made the tapes. We didn’t appreciate the enormity of what we were doing. We do now with the passage of time.

“But I think the tapes will give people the opportunity to see Bjelke-Petersen as he was and to review what they think of him. He was an enigma.”

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