This paper deals with the ambiguous role played by one "heavy regulatory regime" and the complex relationships developed between this anti-corruption agency, the various governments in power after its creation and (only incidentally) with the modernisation of the police service in Queensland. The story of the modernisation of the Queensland police service is a remarkable one, involving as it does the disgrace and imprisonment of Police Commissioner Terry Lewis and - on unrelated corruption charges - several Ministers. This was linked to the disgrace of a Premier of one government linked to both events, whose party subsequently plunged to electoral defeat in 1989 after thirty years in office. More recently (February, 2001), Queensland has seen the resignation of a Deputy Premier and several Ministers of the opposing party after admitting electoral rorting associated with fraud and perjury. Apparently paradoxically, the party then went immediately to an election where it won a victory of unprecedented proportions. The common feature has been the impact of a judicial enquiry between 1987 and 1989 and the activities generated by the supervisory body created by that enquiry, the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC). This paper is in two parts: the first deals with the political context and administrative changes over the past decade; and the second focuses specifically on the operation of the Criminal Justice Commission within that context and its role in promoting modernisation of the police force
