Former Queensland premier Mike Ahern, whose short reign followed Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and grappled with the fallout from the tumultuous Fitzgerald inquiry, has died aged 81.

Mr Ahern died peacefully surrounded by family on Friday morning at home on the Sunshine Coast after a battle with cancer, his family said in a statement.

The Aherns have been offered a state funeral as the former premier is remembered as a man of integrity and a giant of Queensland politics.

Mr Ahern was premier from December 1987 to September 1989 after a prominent stint under Mr Bjelke-Petersen, who resigned after damning revelations in the Fitzgerald probe into police and official corruption.

His family said “he took over the reins as premier at Queensland’s most troubled time” and implemented the Fitzgerald report “lock, stock and barrel”.

“Despite it inevitably cutting short his political career he was always satisfied he had made the state a better place for all,” his family said.

Mr Ahern’s rise in 1987 came after Mr Bjelke-Petersen seized control of politics in Queensland for much of 1987, serving as premier and treasurer.

Almost all the levers of power rested in his office and he reserved access to department briefings to his inner circle of trusted ministers.

Tensions boiled over in November when he effectively stopped speaking to most of his executive team and wrote to governor Walter Campbell, requesting he sack a quarter of his ministers, which the governor refused.

The premier was eventually successful getting three ministers sacked, including Mr Ahern.

Victory would be short-lived

Mr Ahern took leadership of the National Party days later and Mr Bjelke-Petersen resigned from politics on December 1.

As the new leader, Mr Ahern famously declared he would implement the findings of the Fitzgerald findings “lock, stock and barrel”.

However, publication of the landmark report in 1989 seriously damaged the Nationals and, falling in popularity and facing internal discontent, Mr Ahern lost the leadership to Russell Cooper that year.

But it was not enough to save the Nationals, whose three-decade reign ended at the polls two months later as Wayne Goss led Labor back from the wilderness.

Both sides of Queensland politics remembered Mr Ahern as a respected and admired leader.

“I always had the greatest respect for Mike Ahern, regardless of our political differences,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“He was always ready with a smile and a conversation and was a genuinely agreeable, down-to-earth character.”

The premier sent her government’s condolences to Mr Ahern’s family as well as an offer of a state funeral.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton paid tribute to Mr Ahern’s “discernment, pragmatism and moderation” as he steadied the ship after the Bjelke-Petersen years.

“As a man of integrity, Mike as premier instituted reforms which delivered greater political and public service transparency and accountability and, in the process, helped revive public confidence in Queensland’s institutions,” he said.

Queensland Liberal National leader David Crisafulli said the state had lost a political giant who always put people ahead of politics.

“Mike Ahern let the sun shine in on government in Queensland more than three decades ago,” he posted on social media.

‘Decisions still resonate’

“The decisions he made back then still resonate with Queenslanders today.”

Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud said “the National Party family has lost one of its greatest”.

Mr Littleproud, whose father Brian was a backbencher in the Bjelke-Petersen years and later a minister, said he still wore the tie and cufflinks gifted to him by the former premier.

“Mike Ahern and my father are two of the greatest influences on me and my pursuit of politics,” he said.

“It’s difficult to describe all that Mike Ahern achieved and stood for, but integrity is what Mike Ahern embodied in all that he did during his time in public office.”

Mr Ahern is survived by his wife Andrea and his five children Louise, Claire, John, Christine and Sharon.

-AAP