Joh: Last King of Queensland

A captivating and cautionary portrait of one of Australia’s most controversial politicians, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, whose career can be seen as a playbook for the Trump era.

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2025

1h 39m

Documentary

Overview

Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen reigned over Queensland for 19 tumultuous years (1968–1987). Hugely popular, he presided over enormous growth, but corruption raged under his tenure, as did electoral manipulation and often violent suppression of dissent. This film tells Joh’s story through rare archival footage and revelatory interviews, exploring a life shaped by a hard yakka, god-fearing upbringing on his family’s farm. Trump’s spectre is evoked in Joh’s famously mangled and meandering way of speaking – brilliantly dramatised by Richard Roxburgh – alongside his unyielding execution of power and the desperate denial of his final days in office.

Directed by Kriv Stenders