Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Just as the Hanlon Labor government stomped down on political protest and left-wing activists like Fred Paterson, the Bjelke-Petersen government was likewise determined to use the powers of the state to shut down dissidents and silence political opposition. The government employed the services of the Special Branch for these purposes. The Special Branch was a secretive arm of Queensland Police that operated from the 1940s to the 1980s.[4] Early internal reports from the 1940s show the Special Branch was tasked with launching “investigations into subversive organisations and their subsidiary bodies”, and communism was a key concern.