Richard Roxburgh in Joh: Last King of Queensland

A revelatory but cautionary portrait of one of Australia’s most controversial politicians, the Stan Original Revealed – Joh: Last King of Queensland will premiere June 22, only on Stan.

A feature-length documentary about divisive leader, conservative icon and former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Joh: Last King of Queensland is a timely examination of progress, power, corruption, and Joh’s complex legacy.

By November 1987, Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen had led the Sunshine State for 19 tumultuous years. Hugely popular, he presided over enormous growth – but corruption raged under his tenure, as did electoral manipulation and often violent suppression of dissent. He ran Australia’s fastest growing state with an iron fist, until a seminal work of investigative journalism prompted a Royal Commission and unravelled a vast web of corruption.

Director Kriv Stenders said: “I grew up in Queensland, under the shadow of Joh and vividly remember the spell he cast, as well as the passionate dissent he inspired. In making this film I came to realise that although Joh is a man of the past, his ghost still very much haunts and resounds in our present.”

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Actor Richard Roxburgh brings Joh Bjelke-Petersen to life in the documentary, which premieres at the 2025 Sydney Film Festival this month and is a finalist for the Documentary Australia Award.

Acclaimed director and Queenslander Kriv Stenders (The Correspondent), alongside The Australian writer/investigative journalist Matthew Condon, tell 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 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.

Revealed – Joh: Last King of Queensland is a WildBear Entertainment production. Major production investment from Screen Australia and financed with support from Screen NSW and Screen Queensland. International sales by WildBear International and developed with assistance from Screen Queensland. Stan executive producers are Cailah Scobie and Alicia Brown.

New documentary Revealed – Joh: Last King of Queensland premieres June 22, only on Stan.

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