Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the longest-serving Premier of Queensland. A conservative, he ruled from 1968 until 1987. Born in New Zealand in 1911, he entered politics in 1947 as the National Party MLA for Nanango. Bjelke-Petersen was an autocratic leader who relied on a police force rife with corruption to prop up his government. Dissenters faced brutalisation at the hands of police when they took to the streets to protest.