<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The iron rule of one of Australia's most divisive political leaders came to a crashing end on December 1, 1987, when Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen quit as Queensland premier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His announcement brought to a close his 19-year grip on power in the Sunshine State.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bjelke-Petersen governed Queensland as the leader of the Country Party, now known as the National Party.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/north-st-marys-fire-sydney/4cbcf0c6-97a4-4917-bb96-5e4bc96ddf66"><strong><span>Massive industrial fire in Sydney's west could burn for days</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While his government provided economic stability, enabling mining and agriculture to flourish, the premier also had a questionable record on human rights and allowed corruption to flourish.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The issue of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s highlighted the conservative nature of Bjelke-Petersen.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As cases in Queensland ballooned, his view on the issue hardened.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/today-in-history-december-1-what-happened-on-this-day-joh-bjelke-petersen/8a809b3d-8b5f-4c7c-a0e5-e090069cec87" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ultra-Christian Bjelke-Petersen was convinced the disease was a punishment from God.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In September 1987, police, likely acting on orders of the premier, raided the University of Queensland and Griffith University to tear down condom vending machines.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But it was a decision to further his political career beyond state politics that eventually brought down Bjelke-Petersen.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Early in 1987, he surveyed the federal political landscape and decided to run for Canberra, believing his popularity in Queensland would help him unseat then-prime minister Bob Hawke.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the move put him on a collision course with the then-leader of the federal Coalition, John Howard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With the opposition riven by bickering, Hawke easily won at the federal election in July, 1987.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Bjelke-Petersen's self-styled assault on Canberra proved a distraction for the premier and his government.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/new-international-flights-come-to-brisbane/cmilgohv8000l0hmkjrztohy7"><strong><span>New international flights come to Brisbane</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the crucial nail in the coffin for his premiership came in the ABC's Four Corners documentary "The Moonlight State", a broadcast outlining widespread organised crime and police corruption in Queensland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With Bjelke-Petersen holidaying in the US, the government took the controversial decision to act before he returned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>State parliament approved the appointment of Tony Fitzgerald QC as commissioner of an inquiry into "Allegations Relating to the Queensland Police Force".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The "Fitzgerald Inquiry" took two years to complete but resulted in the jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After Bjelke-Petersen resigned as premier, he was replaced by Mike Ahern who introduced a more transparent and open government.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It brought the curtain down on an era like no other in Queensland's politics.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><em><span>D</span></em></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a 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