{"id":238761,"date":"2019-07-02T21:14:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T11:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=238761"},"modified":"2020-09-21T09:52:26","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T23:52:26","slug":"fitzgerald-inquiry-30-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/07\/02\/fitzgerald-inquiry-30-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitzgerald Inquiry: 30 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Police Inspector Barry Krosch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 2, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thirty years ago this week, Tony Fitzgerald, QC, handed down his game-changing findings from the “Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct”, ie. the Fitzgerald Report.<\/p>\n

The Fitzgerald Inquiry had multiple links to Kingaroy: Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was Premier at the time the Commission was called (although he was out of the country when that happened);\u00a0the senior police officer attached to the Inquiry, Detective Inspector James O\u2019Sullivan, was born in Kingaroy; his administrative assistant, Detective Sergeant Barry Krosch, was also Kingaroy-born and bred; and an alleged Kingaroy SP bookie, Hec Robertson, was among many people called to give evidence.<\/p>\n

So it’s fitting a retrospective looking back at those heady days should be held at Kingaroy Library on the exact anniversary of the publication of the historic report.<\/p>\n

Now-retired Barry Krosch will be joined by Griffith University Professor of History Mark Finnane at 10:00am on Wednesday (July 3).<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Barry will talk about the inquiry from a police perspective, Prof Finnane will examine its ramifications.<\/p>\n

Barry has recalled that July day back in 1989 when the report was released:<\/p>\n

“(I) drove into the city and met with Inspector O\u2019Sullivan.\u00a0The ‘special operation’ that day was to drive from the city to the Government Printer in South Brisbane,” he said.<\/p>\n

There, accompanied by Senior Constable Michael Cook, he collected the much-anticipated Fitzgerald Report which had been printed under armed guard.<\/p>\n

Barry’s diary entries record that he armed himself with a Remington pump action shotgun as well as his Smith & Wesson .38 revolver.<\/p>\n

“There was a threat of some sort to the reports.\u00a0It was suggested that they would be hijacked by some forces of evil.\u00a0If that did happen, the offenders would have had a problem on their hands \u2013 a Remington pump action is a force to be reckoned with!” he said.<\/p>\n

However, the reports were collected from South Brisbane and driven to the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, where they were distributed to the assembled national media\u00a0without incident.<\/p>\n