64 Guardian, 21 April 2014.

  65 New Matilda, 24 April 2014.

  66 Canberra Times, 4 August 1990.

  67 Tribune, 29 March 1978.

  68 Canberra Times, 9 July 1976.

  69 Canberra Times, 23 December 1976.

  70 Canberra Times, 16 March 1979.

  71 Canberra Times, 18 May 1983.

  72 E Whitton, ‘Can of Worms II: Punters’, 1987, .

  73 Wood 1997, p. 52.

  74 Michael Pascoe, ‘Remember failings of Wran’s NSW before curtailing the ICAC’, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April 2014.

  75 For example, High Court judge Michael Kirby.

  76 R Tiffen, ‘Was Neville Wran corrupt?’, Inside Story, 31 August 2021.

  77 Brisbane Times, 6 March 2009; Canberra Times, 15 September 1987.

  78 M Willacy, W Harley & A Blucher, ‘Moonlight State: The honest cop who helped blow the whistle on Australia’s most corrupt police force’, ABC News, 12 June 2017, .

  79 Willacy, Harley & Blucher 2017.

  80 G Berthin, ‘Fighting corruption is the key to countering authoritarianism and protecting human rights’, Freedom House, 11 January 2023, .

  81 R FitzGerald, A History of Queensland from 1915 to the Early 1980s, Queensland University Press, St Lucia, 1984.

  82 C Procter, ‘The Police’, in A Patience (ed.), The Bjelke-Petersen Premiership 1986– 1983: Issues in Public Policy, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1985.

  83 GE Fitzgerald, Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1989.

  84 T Koch, ‘Rat-pack leader takes the evidence to the grave’, The Tony Koch Story, 2010, .

  85 M Condon & M Dulaney, ‘For 30 years crooked cops extorted and intimidated these sex workers. Until the women fought back’, ABC News,12 June 2022.

  86 Bleakley 2023.

  87 Condon & Delaney 2022.

  88 M Condon & M McKenna, ‘Terrance Murray (Terry) Lewis (1928–2023)’, Obituaries Australia, 2023, .

  89 J Herbert, The Bagman, ABC Books, Sydney, 2004.

  90 Australian Financial Review, 6 September 1988.

  91 Willacy, Harley & Blucher 2017.

  92 Herbert 2004.

  93 M Condon, Jacks and Jokers, Queensland University Press, St Lucia, 2014.

  94 H Lunn, Joh: The Life and Adventures of Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, Queensland University Press, St Lucia, 1978; E Whitton, Hillbilly Dictator: Australia’s Police State, ABC Books, Sydney, 1993.

  95 Whitton 1993.

  96 Journalist Matthew Condon described the premier’s corruption in his book All Fall Down (University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 2015). In 1991 Bjelke-Petersen was put on trial for corruption but the jury couldn’t reach a verdict after a ‘hold out’ juror – later identified as a National Party member – tenaciously supported his innocence.

  97 G Davis & J Wanna, ‘Blushing policemen catching sovereigns’, Canberra Times, 20 August 1988.

  98 A Stewart, ‘Prostitution escapes inquiry’s eye’, Canberra Times, 3 June 1987.

  99 FitzGerald 1989.

  100 Canberra Times, 3 February 1988.

  101 ‘People: Russell Hinze’, Bytes Daily, 14 May 2011.

  102 FitzGerald 1989.

  103 Canberra Times, 4 November 1987.

  104 Canberra Times, 4 November 1987.

  105 Canberra Times, 29 October 1987.

  106 M Condon, ‘Bellino brothers’ vice grip on Brisbane’, Australian, 12 March 2023.

  107 Canberra Times, 4 October 1988.

  108 Condon 2023.

  109 Condon 2023.

  110 Canberra Times, 10 March 1988.

  111 Canberra Times, 11 May 1988.

  112 Condon 2023.

  113 Bleakley 2023.

  114 P Bailey, ‘Gold Coast roulette: A game of chance for Joh and Jupiters’, Canberra Times, 8 September 1985.

  115 Bailey 1985.

  116 Canberra Times, 21 October 1981.

  117 Canberra Times, 9 May 1991.

  118 Tribune, 10 March 1982.

  119 Canberra Times, 15 June 1991.

  120 Canberra Times, 6 March 1982.

  121 Bailey 1985.

  122 Bailey 1985.

  4: Money, mateship and power

  1 B Bottom & A Reid, ‘The police in crisis’, Bulletin, 19 June 1979.

  2 Canberra Times, 11 May 1983.

  3 Cited in R Allsop, ‘Wowserism may be different but it’s not dead’, IPA Review, 1 August 2009.

  4 Age, 12 June 2004.

  5 Canberra Times, 1 April 1975.

  6 Canberra Times, 19 March 1981.

  7 Bulletin, 13 March 1980.

  8 Australian Institute for Gambling Research, Australian Gambling Comparative History and Analysis: Project Report, Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority, Melbourne, 1999, p. 175.

  9 Canberra Times, 20 November 1983.

  10 Canberra Times, 25 March 1993.

  11 Age, 3 June 2015.

  12 Sun-Herald, 10 September 2001.

  13 Sun-Herald, 10 September 2001.

  14 Age, 7 May 2007.

  15 Doughney 2002.

  16 Age, 3 June 2015.

  17 Age, 12 September 2004.

  18 Interview with Tim Costello, December 2024.

  19 T Costello & E Campbell, ‘Making money’, Alternative Law Journal, vol. 22, 1997.

  20 T Parkinson, Jeff: The Rise and Fall of a Political Phenomenon, Viking, Melbourne, 2000.

  21 P Ellingsen, ‘Deconstructing Jeff’, Age, 4 September 1999.

  22 Ellingsen 1999.

  23 Canberra Times, 27 October 1982.

  24 Parkinson 2000.

  25 Canberra Times, 27 October 1982.

  26 Ellingsen 1999.

  27 S Green, ‘Regrets? Only a few’, Age, 29 September 2012.

  28 T Boreham, ‘Titan of industry strode the Australian business landscape’, Age, 8 August 2024.

  29 C Lucas, ‘The troubled birth of Crown Casino: We were warned’, Age, 10 August 2019.

  30 L Wood, ‘Williams wakes from his casino dream’, Age, 19 December 1998.

  31 Wood 1998.

  32 S Carney, ‘What makes Ron run?’, The Age, 11 March 2006.

  33 ABC News, 30 January 2018.

  34 ABC News, 30 January 2018.

  35 M Maiden, ‘Who shapes Melbourne?’, Age, 26 October 1998.

  36 Carney 2006.

  37 M Smith, ‘Kennett seems to have all bases covered’, Canberra Times, 2 July 1994.

  38 Casino Control Act 1991 No. 47 of 1991.

  39 Interview with Tim Costello, November 2024.

  40 Costello 2019.

  41 Interview with Tim Costello, November 2024.

  42 K Childs, ‘Meanwhile at the Crown of thorns’, Canberra Times, 21 October 1995.

  43 S Mayne, ‘Casino secrets revealed’, Crikey, 4 November 2014.

  44 S Mayne, ‘Mayne: How Crown prince Packer conquered Melbourne’, Crikey, 4 November 2014.

  45 Age, 10 April 2000.

  46 Age, 11 April 2000.

  47 Age, 11 April 2000.

  48 Senate Select Committee on the Victorian Casino Inquiry, Compelling Evidence, Commonwealth of Australia, 1996.

  49 E Hannan, ‘After the casino, change is on the way’, The Age 16 December 1998.

  50 Canberra Times, 21 October 1995.

  51 Costello 2019.

  52 Costello 2019, p. 189.

  53 Australian Institute for Gambling Research 1999.

  54 ABC News (America), 10 February 2009.

  55 Interview with Stephen Mayne, August 2024.

  56 ND Schull, Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2012, p. 37.

  57 P Robinson, S Hewitt & I Munro, ‘Casino: Inside the biggest game in town’, Sunday Age, 6 April 1997.

  58 D Silkstone, ‘Ten years of Crown’, Age, 30 June 2004.

  59 M Forbes & R Meyer, ‘Lloyd’s dream: An icon or a house of cards?’, Sunday Age, 28 December 1997.

  60 Robinson, Hewitt & Munro 1997.

  61 Silkstone 2004.

  62 Wood 1998.

  63 T Costello & E Campbell, ‘Making money: The Victorian Government is reigning over a breathtaking shift in values symbolised by the Crown Casino’, Alternative Law Journal, vol. 22, no. 6, 1997, pp. 265–67.

  64 Forbes & Meyer 1997.

  65 R Streeton, ‘Crown’s private world’, Australian Financial Review, 12 May 1997.

  66 Streeton 1997.

  67 News.com.au, 1 November 2016.

  68 Age, 1 May 1997.

  69 Age, 8 May 1997.

  70 T Costello, ‘How Crown Casino became too big to fail’ (podcast), 7am, 9 November 2021.

  71 Robinson, Hewitt & Munro 1997.

  72 Costello & Campbell 1997.

  73 Costello & Campbell 1997.

  74 Age, 2 May 1997.

  75 D Forman, ‘The race for the gambling dollar’, Australian Financial Review, 20 August 1993.

  76 Crown Resorts, Responsible Gambling Code of Conduct (Version 6), 2019.

  77 Anonymous, Submission 0005.0012.0011 to the Finkelstein Inquiry, 2021.

  78 Anonymous, Submission 0007.0009.0041 to the Finkelstein Inquiry, 2021.

  79 Anonymous, Submission 0005.0006.0002 to the Finkelstein Inquiry, 2021.

  80 Several submissions to the Finkelstein Inquiry provided evidence of this practice.

  81 Wood 1998.

  82 Canberra Times, 10 September 1994.

  83 R Millar & C Houston, ‘So has the bet paid off?’, Age, 5 May 2007.

  84 S Koven & T Lyons, ‘Is gambling a good economic development bet?’, International City/County Management Association, 4 August 2010; S Hoon Lim & L Zhang, ‘Does casino development have a positive effect on economic growth?’, Growth and Change, vol. 28, no. 4, 2017, pp. 409–34.

  85 Millar & Houston 2007.

  86 Age, 27 December 1997.

  87 Markham & Young 2014.

  88 Age, 4 April 1997.

  89 Age, 27 April 2007.

  90 Millar & Houston 2007.

  91 Age, 27 April 2007.

  92 Age, 14 January 1997.

  93 Age, 14 January 1997.

  94 Australian Financial Review, 7 June 1994.

  95 Herald Sun, 3 February 2001.

  96 Millar & Houston 1997.

  97 ABC News, 17 November 2022.

  98 Age, 4 April 1997.

  99 L Clark et al., ‘Pathological choice: The neuroscience of gambling and gambling addiction’, The Journal of Neuroscience, 6 November 2013.

  100 Costello & Campbell 1997.

  101 Age, 30 June 2004.

  102 Guardian, 27 March 2021.

  103 Age, 11 October 1996.

  104 Age, 11 July 1997.

  105 Costello & Campbell 1997.

  106 Age, 20 May 1997.

  107 Koven & Lyons 2010.

  108 N Dowling, C Hawker, S Merkouris & D Hodkins, ‘Addressing gambling harm to affected others: A scoping review’, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, 2021.

  109 Schull 2012.

  110 A Blaszczynski, R Ladouceur & H Shaffer, ‘A science-based framework for responsible gambling: The Reno Model’, Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, 2004, pp. 301–17.

  111 L Hancock & G Smith, ‘Critiquing the Reno Model I–IV (2004–2015): The distorted reality of responsible gambling’, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, vol. 15, 2017, pp. 1151–76.

  112 Financial Counselling Australia, Submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Online Gambling and Its Impacts on Those Experiencing Gambling Harm, 2022, p. 21.

  113 Hills 1997.

  114 Age, 14 January 1997.

  5: Crown umplugged

  1 Daily Mail, 15 January 2019.

  2 Herald Sun, 4 August 2003.

  3 News.com.au, 12 July 2014.

  4 News.com.au, 24 June 2013.

  5 Lateline, ABC TV, 9 June 2004.

  6 G Hughes, ‘Melbourne’s Crown of shady thorns’, Age, 29 June 2004.

  7 Age, 22 November 2004.

  8 Age, 29 June 2004.

  9 Hills 1997.

  10 Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 2000.

  11 G Bearup & K McClymont, ‘Uncle Six: From refugee to high roller’, Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 1997.

  12 ABC News, 13 May 2023.

  13 Age, 5 May 2007.

  14 Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 2000.

  15 I’ve based the following account of Tong’s career on Keith Moor’s excellent three-part series published in the Herald Sun (‘Glamour couple’ and ‘Crown paid heroin king’, 26 July 2001, and ‘Inside the world of the high roller’, 27 July 2001), and on David Penberthy’s article in the Daily Telegraph (‘Magnet for the Mr Biggs’, 30 July 2001).

  16 These examples are taken from S Lillywhite, Submission by Transparency International Australia to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into the Adequacy and Efficacy of Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Regime, 2021.

  17 P Williams, ‘How Lloyd won his Crown back’, Australian Financial Review, 8 July 1999.

  18 B Power, ‘High odds in battle to lure big punters’, Australian Financial Review, 7 October 2002.

  19 C McCall, ‘Amphetamine dependence in Australia’, The Lancet, 1 February 2020.

  20 Daily Telegraph, 14 June 2003.

  21 Daily Telegraph, 17 May 2006.

  22 Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April 2004.

  23 A Shand, Big Shots: Carl Williams and the Gangland Murders, Penguin, Melbourne, 2014.

  24 Shand 2014.

  25 M Buttler & A Dowsley, ‘Inner workings of Tony Mokbel’s drug cartel revealed’, Herald Sun, 17 April 2022.

  26 M Hedge, ‘Mokbel, a poor kid made bad’, AAP News, 6 July 2012.

  27 Australian Financial Review, 12 June 2004.

  28 Interview with Tim Costello, January 2025.

  29 Sunday Age, 13 June 2004.

  30 L Mannix, ‘Melbourne’s five most notorious underworld executions’, Age, 15 March 2016.

  31 The World Today, ABC Radio, 9 September 2004.

  32 Age, 15 August 2020.

  33 Lillywhite 2021.

  34 Age, 29 July 2004.

  35 Hughes 2004.

  36 I Freckelton, ‘Pathological gambling and civil actions for unconscionability: Lessons from the Kakavas litigation’, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, vol. 20, no. 4, 2012, pp. 479–91.

  37 Freckelton 2013.

  38 L Hancock, Submission to the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence, Melbourne, 2022.

  39 World Casino News, 18 May 2015.

  40 The World Today, ABC Radio, 26 March 2008.

  41 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 May 2013.

  42 D Fogarty, ‘Zero sum game’, Cairns Post, 23 May 2009.

  43 K Lahey, ‘Reputations on the gambling table’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 October 2009.

  44 P Barry, ‘The biggest loser’, The Monthly, February 2010.

  45 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2013.

  46 Lahey 2009.

  47 Fogarty 2009.

  48 Age, 20 June 2009.

  49 Barry 2010.

  50 Barry 2010.

  51 Freckelton 2012.

  52 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 2013.

  53 Freckelton 2012.

  54 Crikey, 23 February 2013.

  55 Interview with Tim Costello, February 2025.

  56 Lahey 2009.

  57 Age, 24 July 1999.

  58 Interview with Tim Costello, February 2025.

  59 Lahey 2009.

  60 L Hancock, ‘How “responsible” is Crown Casino? What Crown employees say’, Alfred Deakin Research Institute, Working Paper No. 14, 2010.

  61 L Hancock, Regulatory Failure: The Case of Crown Casino, Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, 2011, p. 126.

  62 Trevor Callaway & Associates, Submission to the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence, 2021.

  63 Hancock 2012.

  64 F Markham & M Young, ‘What are the odds new casinos lead to social harm?’, Conversation, 15 October 2013.

  6: The rise of the pokies super-rich

  1 Daily Telegraph, 11 September 2004.

  2 Australian Financial Review, 8 May 2003.

  3 Courier-Mail, 12 April 2002.

  4 W Jolly, ‘How much do Australians lose to gambling each year?’, Jacaranda Finance, 6 December 2023.

  5 Interview with Charles Livingstone, December 2024.

  6 R Benson, ‘Effects of gambling on the brain’, Algamus Recovery Services, n.d., .

  7 J Doughney, ‘The poker machine state in Australia: A consideration of the ethical and policy issues’, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, vol. 4, 2006, pp. 351–68.

  8 Interview with Charles Livingstone, December 2024.

  9 Australian Financial Review, 20 June 1998.

  10 B Browne & L Minshull, ‘Pokies pub test’, discussion paper, Australia Institute, 2017.

  11 Browne & Minshull 2017.

  12 Age, 16 November 2006.

  13 Productivity Commission, Gambling: Productivity Commission Inquiry Report, Commonwealth of Australia, 2010.

  14 Daily Telegraph, 23 March 2002.

  15 Cited in K Lee, ‘For over 50 years a family little known in Sydney has controlled legal gambling in Tasmania’, Pigsfly Newspaper, 18 November 2018.

  16 S Glaetzer, ‘Game changer’, Mercury, 14 November 2015.

  17 Cited in M West, ‘Democracy gamed: How Tasmania was sold a pokies family from interstate’, Michael West Media, 4 March 2019.

  18 ABC News, 11 September 2021.

  19 Boyce 2017.

  20 Boyce 2017.

  21 Boyce 2017.

  22 West 2019.

  23 Australian Financial Review, 18 May 2006.

  24 Lee 2018.

  25 ANC News, 11 September 2021.

  26 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 2018.

  27 Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 2018.

  28 Australian Financial Review, 29 March 2000.

  29 Mitchell 2008.

  30 Daily Telegraph, 23 March 2002.

  31 Daily Telegraph, 11 September 2004.