A must read book

[bob10]

Three crooked Kings, by Matthew Condon. Just finished reading it. From the back cover;

" It was the genius of the system...from day to day you didn't know who was on the take or not. You didn't know who you could trust. "

" Three crooked Kings is the shocking true story of Qld. & how a society was shaped by almost half a century of corruption. At its core is Terry Lewis, deposed & jailed former police commissioner. From his entry into the force in 1949, Lewis rose through the ranks, becoming part of the so-called rat pack with detectives Glen Hallahan & Tony Murphy under the guiding influence of Frank Bischof.
The next four decades make for a searing tale of cops & killings, bagmen & blackmail, & sin & sleaze that exposes a police underworld that operated from Qld. to NSW. . This gripping book examines the final pieces of the puzzle, unearths new evidence on cold cases, and explores the pivotal role that whistleblower Shirley Brifman, prostitute & brothel owner, played until her sudden death.
Based on extensive & unprecedented access to Terry Lewis & his personal papers, as well as hundreds of interviews with key players & conspirators, Three Crooked Kings is the first of two explosive books. "

It is an eye-opener a must read for modern Qld & NSW at the very least. Bob

[bobslandies]

Have a read of Ray Whitrod's experience while Police Commissioner in Queensland (after being Assistant Director of ASIO, Commissioner of the Commonwealth Police and Royal Papua & New Guinea Constabulary) and Lewis' rise to Commissioner:

Ray Whitrod - Interview Transcript tape 1 (http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/whitrod/interview1.html)

There's many revelations in the twelve transcripts, including that Ray was worried about being murdered and was armed at all times and that his own records all "went missing" after he resigned and was moving back to Canberra (That's in Transcript 10). Lots of reading if you have the time.

Bob

[Chucaro]

The sad part about reading books like this is that we never learn from the past and very often history repeat itself :(
Some of this histories are close to the Italian politics :D

[bob10]

Have a read of Ray Whitrod's experience while Police Commissioner in Queensland (after being Assistant Director of ASIO, Commissioner of the Commonwealth Police and Royal Papua & New Guinea Constabulary) and Lewis' rise to Commissioner:

Ray Whitrod - Interview Transcript tape 1 (http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/whitrod/interview1.html)

There's many revelations in the twelve transcripts, including that Ray was worried about being murdered and was armed at all times and that his own records all "went missing" after he resigned and was moving back to Canberra (That's in Transcript 10). Lots of reading if you have the time.

Bob

The last paragraph of the book reads: "The Premier needed a catalyst to set in train the removal of the Queensland Police Commissioner, And within months of meeting Lewis, Joh would be gifted not one but two scandals that would see Raymond Wells Whitrod resign, and, in fear of his life, flee Qld forever." No one comes out smelling like roses. The story continues in " All Fell Down " coming in late 2013, Bob

[digger]

Ray WHITROD started here in SA (he was brought up here and joined the job here as a juvenile recruit).

I met him a number of years ago ( like 20 odd !) and he was a gentlemen, very much a straight shooter and adament that what he had done had needed to be done and he'd do the same again if needed.

As I said a true gentlemen. He died 9 or 10 years ago.

[bob10]

Ray WHITROD started here in SA (he was brought up here and joined the job here as a juvenile recruit).

I met him a number of years ago ( like 20 odd !) and he was a gentlemen, very much a straight shooter and adament that what he had done had needed to be done and he'd do the same again if needed.

As I said a true gentlemen. He died 9 or 10 years ago.

Would you like me to send you the book? I think you would appreciate it, Bob

[mox]

Something that indicates how corruptable former Qld Police Commissioner Terry Lewis was before being exposed and deposed: Apparently then NSW Premier Nifty Nev wanted him as Police Commissioner in NSW!

[bob10]

Something that indicates how corruptable former Qld Police Commissioner Terry Lewis was before being exposed and deposed: Apparently then NSW Premier Nifty Nev wanted him as Police Commissioner in NSW!

I have a friend, who runs a Private Investigation firm in Brisbane. He worked for Customs, then was part of the Drug Squad in Melbourne, after that was part of the Drug Squad in Qld., working undercover. We have a group of friends, that get together with our families for Xmas drinks, just a catch up type of thing. A year or two back, at the local RSL, my family & I walked in, and there , sitting at the table, was Terry Lewis, and wife, Hazel. Lewis was just like some ones favourite Grandfather, quite, polite, a gentleman. I Don't know the relationship between Lewis & my friend, and I am never going to ask. Especially now I have read this book. Bob

[wrinklearthur]

Is there anything to be gained by someone from Tasmania, reading the book?
.

[digger]

Would you like me to send you the book? I think you would appreciate it, Bob

Thanks, I appreciate the offer but I mainly read more about war service (mainly accounts of Aussie service) or matters similar in nature, peacekeeping, infantry, air, naval etc its all good I quite like the personal accounts and styles (like the peter fitzgerald books)

I also like some others,
jason mccartneys inspirational story about his getting back to AFL level after the Bali Bombing

Sir Sidney Kidmans story - The cattle King.

rm williams, stuff like that.

Thanks anyway!

[bob10]

Is there anything to be gained by someone from Tasmania, reading the book?
.


I would say, yes. Bob

[wrinklearthur]

Thanks, I appreciate the offer but I mainly read more about war service (mainly accounts of Aussie service) or matters similar in nature, peacekeeping, infantry, air, naval etc its all good I quite like the personal accounts and styles (like the peter fitzgerald books)

I also like some others,
jason mccartneys inspirational story about his getting back to AFL level after the Bali Bombing

Sir Sidney Kidmans story - The cattle King. by Ion L Idriess, 'Jack'

rm williams, stuff like that.

Thanks anyway!

A couple of others by 'Jack'

Horrie the wog dog,

The Desert Column. This one has a vague reference to Ion meeting Matron Elizabeth Orr .

Biography - Elizabeth (Lizzie) Orr - Australian Dictionary of Biography (http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/orr-elizabeth-lizzie-13141)
.

[olbod]

Have you read : Back O' Cairns, by Ion Idriess. First published 1958 ?

Top stuff.

[Carnut1100]

Most of Idriess' stuff is great.......I'm slowly putting a complete collection together, got about a quarter of tthem now (he did over fifty!) including a few first editions and a few signed copies....but some of his books are worth $500+ a copy!!!
Gonna take a while...

[wrinklearthur]

This isn't my list and I have lost the reference to where I found it, please I apologise for not be able to reference this compilation.

1927 to 1945
Madman's Island (1927). Fiction version and Idriess's first book. Published by Cornstalk Publications. All other Idriess titles were published by Angus and Robertson.
Madman's Island (1938). Non-fiction version.
Lasseter's Last Ride (1931). An epic of Central Australian gold discovery.
Flynn of the Inland (1932). Tale of the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The Desert Column (1932). Diary of an AIF trooper in Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine.
Men of the Jungle (1932). Tin mining and prospecting in the Australian north.
Gold Dust and Ashes (1933). Story of the New Guinea goldfields.
Drums of Mer (1933). History and legends of the Torres Strait Islands.
The Yellow Joss (1934). Collection of short stories.
Man Tracks(1935). Tracking skills of Indigenous Australian of the Kimberley region.
The Cattle King (1936). The story of Sir Sidney Kidman.
Forty Fathoms Deep (1937). Pearl-diving community of Broome, Western Australia.
Over the Range (1937). Story of the Kimberleys.
Lightning Ridge (1940). Based on Idriess's opal prospecting experience at Lightning Ridge.
Headhunters of the Coral Sea (1940). Story of the Torres Strait Islands.
The Great Trek (1940). Tale of July 1864 expedition to walk from Rockhampton to Somerset Bay near the tip of Cape York Peninsula to establish a settlement, "Somerset".
Nemarluk: King of the Wilds (1941). An indigenous Australian "outlaw" jailed at Fannie Bay Gaol in Darwin.
The Great Boomerang (1941). A scheme for developing the Australian outback.
The Silent Service Action (1944). Stories of submarine warfare. Written with T.M. Jones.
Horrie the Wog-dog (1945). With the AIF in Egypt, Greece, Crete and Palestine.

[edit] 1945 to 1969
In Crocodile Land (1946). Travels across Queensland and the Northern Territory, fishing, hunting and trading.
Isles of Despair (1947). History and legends of the Torres Strait Islands.
The Opium Smugglers (1947). Chinese opium smuggling on Cape York.
Stone of Destiny (1948). Diamond mining and exploration in Australia. Later edition titled The Diamond - Stone of Destiny.
One Wet Season (1949). Experiences in northern Queensland.
The Wild White Man of Badu (1950). A Torres Strait Islands story.
Across the Nullarbor (1951). Story of Idriess's own drive across the Nullarbor from Perth to Melbourne in a Peugeot 203.
Outlaws of the Leopolds (1952). A story told from the aboriginal point of view, set in the King Leopold Ranges in Western Australia.
The Red Chief (1953). A story of Cumbo Gunnerah, Indigenous Australian life and military strategy in New South Wales before European settlement.
The Nor'-westers (1954). Story of pioneering in the Kimberley region.
The Vanished People (1955). Social anthropology.
The Silver City (1956). A history of Broken Hill.
Coral Sea Calling (1957). Tales of northern Australia.
Back o' Cairns (1958). Story of gold prospecting in the far north.
The Tin Scratchers (1959). Story of tin mining in the far north.
The Wild North (1960). Stories of the North of Australia.
Tracks of Destiny (1961). History and future possibilities for the development of northern Australia.
My Mate Dick (1962). Stories and anecdotes of prospecting in Queensland.
Our Living Stone Age (1963). A work of popular anthropology.
Our Stone Age Mystery (1964). Part-two to Our Living Stone Age.
Challenge of the North (1969). More ideas for developing Australia's north.

[edit] Other works
Idriess wrote a number other books and pamphlets as well as having several collections of his works published.

The Mining and Prospecting series
A series of four titles which were basically "how-to" works, the first being commissioned by the Australian government as a means of opening up of the "outback" during the depression years.

Prospecting for Gold (1931)
Cyaniding for Gold (1939)
Fortunes in Minerals (1941)
Opals and Sapphires (1967)
Pamphlets
Must Australia Fight? (1939). A political strategy - basically World War II propaganda.
Onward Australia (1945). More propaganda, covering post-war development, and Australia taking its role in the region and the world.
Collections
Gems from Ion Idriess (1949). A collection of extracts, published for schools.
Ion Idriess's Greatest Stories (1986). A recent, two-volume set of six of the most popular titles.
Volume I: Flynn of the Inland, The Cattle King and Lasseter's Last Ride;
Volume II: The Desert Column, Lightning Ridge and The Silver City.
The National Edition (1938, reissued 1941). A set of all of Idriess's works up to 1938 published as a uniform set of 12 hardback volumes.
The Australian Guerilla series
Written as a set of specialist military handbooks for the Australian Army for the World War II.

Australian Guerilla - Shoot to Kill (1942). Practical details on accurate shooting.
Australian Guerilla - Sniping (1942). Tactics for concealment and stalking, and how to identify an enemy's position by drawing fire.
Australian Guerilla - Guerilla Tactics (1943). Bomb making, booby-traps and mines.
Australian Guerilla - Trapping the Jap (1943). Particularly aimed at the expected Japanese military invasion of Australia.
Australian Guerilla - Lurking Death (1943). Stories of snipers in Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine
Australian Guerilla - The Scout (1943)

[wrinklearthur]

A great Australian, who really should have had more recognition.
.