The Cane Toad Times

[2][3][4] The two versions shared personnel and featured roughly the same counter-cultural philosophy, irreverent journalism, strident opinion and fondness for satire, cartoons and popular culture.

[5] Key writers in the original collective included John Jiggens, David Richards, Gerard Lee, Mirtek Pasciezny, Bing Di Mucci, Craig Munro, Bill Thorpe, Sue McLeod, Janice Knopke and Landon Watts.

[1] Funds were raised by selling advertisements to local businesses in the counter-cultural scene and benefits featuring Brisbane bands including Razar, The Go-Betweens and The Riptides.

[1] While the core work of the magazine was a sustained satirical attack on Bjelke-Petersen and his police enforcers, it also celebrated seemingly mundane but often surprisingly exotic aspects of Queensland popular culture: giant roadside attractions, local speedway heroes, banana worship.

[7] In 1983, while working at the University of Queensland student newspaper Semper Floreat, Matt Mawson and Damien Ledwich teamed with Anne Jones to resurrect The Cane Toad Times.

After getting the blessing of the few remaining members of the previous collective, the trio started to build a new group of contributors, many of whom were also involved in radio 4ZZZ and student politics, notably, Stephen Stockwell, Mark Bracken, Andrew Fraser, Ian Cook and David Pyle.

A number of top-class illustrators also joined including Michael Barnett, Debbi Brown, Judy Dunn, Lisa Smith and Sasha Middleton.

The display and pieces were designed by Professor Paul Cleveland, Director Queensland College of Art, and staff and students of QCA Liveworm studio.

Wayne Goss, who would have been the leader of the opposition at the time, was photographed running, because he was a keen runner, wearing a Tony Fitzgerald Fan Club T-shirt.

"[11][12][13] Geoffrey Adams, Bev Aisbett, Steve Aiken, Claire Allen, David Anthony, Peter Applegarth, Willy Bach, Sunil Badami, Max Bannah, David Barbagallo, Michael Barnett, Harry Brazier, Deb Beattie, Julia Bell, Winifred Belmont, James Bennett, Julie Bennett, Phil Berry, Tony Biggs, Jenni Bird, Peter Bisson, Roberta Blake, Danielle Bond, Mark Bracken, Harry Brazier, Brisbane Devotee, Barbara Brooks, Debbi Brown, Alan Burke, Rowan Callick, Gaynor Cardew, John Carey, Brian Cavanagh, Richard Chantrill, Gail Chillman, Clifford Clawback, Maria Cleary, Phillipa Cleary, Dale Cleashaw, Paul Cliff, Blair Coffey, Tony Collins, J Conlan, Gerry Connolly, Ian Cook, Kaz Cooke, Mark Cornwall, Bradley Cox, John Craig, Mark Creyton, Jayne Crook, Phil Cullen, Ian Cunningham, Alison Davis, Anna Maria Dell'Otto, Bing De Mucci, Rhana Devenport, Kath Duncan, Judy Dunn, Russell Edwards, Arnum Endean, Malcolm Enright, Ray Evans, Peter Fischmann, Donal Fitzpatrick, Valerie Foley, Jo Forsyth, Andrew Fraser, Martin Fripp, Michael Golledge, Sandra Golledge, Julie Goodall, Arthur Gorrie, Lance Grahame, Ian Gray, Peter Greenwood, Jo Greenwood, Nell Griffith, Andrew Griffith, Tim Gruchy, Nick Gruen, Richard Hagan, John Haigh, Philippa Hall, Helen Hambling, Steven Hamilton, Rell Hannah, Warren Hardy, Sally Hart, Jane Harty, Ronnie Hay, Neil Hayden, Connie Healy, Noela Hills, Ross Hinckley, Donald Holt, Judy Horacek, Nick Hughes, Louise Inglis, Glen Ingram, Lisa Jack, John Jiggens, Patrick Jewel, Anne Jones, Barbara Jones, Bill Jones, Randall Kamp, Chris Kelly, Fleur Kingham, Bill Kingswell, Anthony Kitchener, Shane Kneipp, Janice Knopke, Basil Krivoroutchko, Kus, Johnny La Rue, Russell Laedwig, Russell Lake, Lou Larder, John Lavery, Buffy Lavery, Nerissa Lea, Sean Leahy, Damien Ledwich, Gerard Lee, Jane Leonard, Glen Lewis, Naomi Lewis, Mark Lewis, Michael Long, Kandy-Mae Loughton, Ralf Loveday, Tim Low, Spina Macris, Anna Macrossin, Diedre Mahoney, Alex Manfrin, Flark March, Matthew Martin, Bill Mawson, Matt Mawson, Peter Mcallister, Jan McCallum, Gary McFeat, Sally McKenzie, Neil McKinnon, Ross McLeod, Sue McLeod, Andrew McMillan, Ian Mactinosh, Kevin Meade, Sean Mee, Seamus Mee, Lisa Meldrum, Peter Merrill, Ashleigh Merrit, Sasha Middleton, Angus Miller, John Mitchell, Beth Mohle, Jill Mohle, David Monaghan, Alison Muir, Craig Munro, Terry Murphy, Kevin Nemeth, Andy Nehl, Royce Nicholas, David Nichols, Sandra Nolan, Liam O'Dayell, Errol O'Neil, Beverley Parrish, Mirtek Pasciezny, Phyllis Patterson, Dan Pearce, Denis Peel, Sally Perfect, Gwyn Perkins, Brian Peterson, Kathleen Philips, Gary Phillips, Rose Pilbeam, Bob Piddington, Hans Post, Chris Prentice, Alex Prior, Rowan Pryor, David Pyle, Ken Queasey, Jean-Michel Raynaud, Milton Reach, Anthony Reilly, Albert Ricardo, Dave Richards, Caroline Risdale, Ian Roberts, Luke Roberts, David Robertson, Darryl Robson, Mark Ross, Lillian Rosser, Gabrielle Ryan, Leonard Ryzman, Peter Schofield, Paul Scott, Nik Scott, Jeremy Scriven, Will Self, John Shakespeare, Michael Sharkey, Steve Sharp, Justin Shaw, Shane Simpson, Damien Simpson, Anne Sinclair, Peter Skinner, Damien Smith, Lisa Smith, Greg Snook, John Stanwell, Herling Stayden, Ian Stevenson, Kate Stewart, Simon Stocks, Stephen Stockwell, Michael Southwell, Dr Strabismus, Howard Stringer, Will Stubbs, Harley Stumm, Rick Tanaka, Lenore Taylor, Stephen Taylor, Max Term, Robert Thompson, Bill Thorpe, Ted Trumpet, David Tyrer, Cecelia Van Heumen, Kevin Vellnagel, Warwick Vere, Cornelius Vleeskens, Natalia Von Helm, Alan Ward, Landon Watts, Michael Whelan, Robert Whyte, Liz Willis, Fiona Winning, Geoff Wood, Lindy Woodward, Julie Woodward, Robbie Wyatt, Chuck Zampieri [14] Raymond Evans in A History of Queensland places The Cane Toad Times in the broad context of Queensland radicalism, flying the 'freak flag' with radio station 4ZZZ and the Popular Theatre Troupe at a time when Brisbane boasted radical incidents of international significance, such as the first stirrings of second-wave feminist activism as early as 1965 and the first global punk anthem, I'm Stranded by The Saints in 1976.

The magazine, distributed nationally, dealt with popular culture issues including cane toads, Big Things, Bubbles Bathhouse and Queensland corruption.

Joh Bjelke-Petersen believed he was chosen by God to lead Queensland, claiming his 15 years living alone in a converted cow-bail, clearing 40 hectares of brigalow a day, gave him a better education than an Oxford degree.

The battle was between Joh and his cohorts on one side — and on the other a rag-tag alliance of civil liberties lawyers, marxists, students, academics, unionists, musicians, actors and women.

Joh presided over an apparently conservative establishment yet below the surface was a deeply corrupt police force in bed with politicians, prostitution racketeers, SP betting, drug laundering, illegal casinos and payoffs.

The Cane Toad Times 1983–1990 was a mixture of hard-hitting journalism, rants, cartoon strips, parodies, lists, short stories, quizzes and bold graphic design.

Among The Cane Toad Times editors, it was Damien Ledwich who was most insistent on the need to seize the mainstream publishing tools of mass production and wide circulation.