Underbelly II probes Griffith drugs war

[grace]

Underbelly II probes Griffith drugs war

Darren Devlyn and Erica Thompson

October 11, 2008 12:00am

herald.sun.com.au

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...025-662,00.html

 

CHANNEL 9 is assembling a top-notch cast for its Underbelly prequel.

 

It is believed Peter O'Brien, of Neighbours, The Flying Doctors and hit mini-series Day of the Roses, has agreed to play late Sydney underworld figure and racing identity George Freeman.

 

Matthew Newton, who declined a role in the original Underbelly, is tipped to play drug lord Terry "Mr Asia" Clark.

 

The show's producer is locked in negotiation with several potential cast members in the lead-up to the filming next week of the series, which tells the tale of organised crime groups that stemmed from Griffith's drug trade in the 1970s and '80s.

 

Others actors in contention for key roles are Andrew McFarlane as anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay and Roy Billing as marijuana magnate Robert Trimbole.

 

Billing is best known for his roles in The Dish and Rabbit-Proof Fence.

 

Newton's representative, Jillian Bowen, refused to comment on Underbelly yesterday.

 

The Stupid, Stupid Man star got rave reviews for his directorial debut with Three Blind Mice at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada last month.

 

Underbelly 2 shifts gear from the first series, which was about Melbourne's bloody gangland murders.

 

The new series, set to screen in 2009, steps back in time to follow the NSW criminal groups.

 

"It's exciting," a source close to the production says.

 

"The series is complex but will show how two crime worlds collided. There's the old, traditional way of organised crime, SP bookies and illegal gambling. Then there's the introduction of the drug scene."

 

Clark was the ruthless head of the notorious Mr Asia heroin syndicate who in the mid-70s expressed amusement when Australian politicians refused to consider the legalisation of heroin or cannabis.

 

He told his criminal associates that as long as drugs were illegal, he and his murderous gang could make a fortune.

 

CHANNEL 7 will next year broadcast a Sunday night current affairs program, called Sunday Night, to go up against Nine's ratings powerhouse 60 Minutes.

 

"Boring (title) I know, but it's going to be fantastic," Seven chief David Leckie said.

[entheofarm]

Cool,

 

I wouldn't want to be playing Donald Mackay

 

"The series is complex but will show how two crime worlds collided. There's the old, traditional way of organised crime, SP bookies and illegal gambling. Then there's the introduction of the drug scene."

 

Actually there were 3 crime worlds that collided in this story

[blackheartedprofit]

i wonder who is going to play "Mr X" Kerry Packer, ?

[420Gemmy]

Watched an episode of this the other day and it's AWESOME

[shroomyshroom]

It is a great series

 

even if they get quite a few of the facts wrong

[Teucer]

It's great!

 

But I wish they'd focus on the pot. Mr Asia was responsible for the importation of Thai Landrace Sativa sticks. He is a hero in my books!

[freddie]

It's great!

 

But I wish they'd focus on the pot. Mr Asia was responsible for the importation of Thai Landrace Sativa sticks. He is a hero in my books!

I'm no fan of big crime but god I miss the Thai sticks.

 

The series doesn't look '70s enough for me.

[entheofarm]

Dr John has some interesting views on Don

 

wonder what he thinks of the series thus far

 

http://drjiggens.com/the_banker_and_the_killer_kop.html

[Guest niall]

Plug for JJ - go buy his book on the events around Underbelly 2:

 

 

The Sydney Connection

(NIMM: 2004) $20 + postage

 

The Sydney Connection reveals the darkest secret of the NSW police force: several former NSW detectives were involved at the highest level of the global drug trade, transshipping heroin and marijuana from CIA-allied Asian drug armies to the U.S. Mafia in San Francisco.

Jiggens gives the name “The Sydney Connection” to the coalition of police, politicians, business and criminal interests that pioneered the modern illicit drugs industry in Australia and reveals its early connections with the US illegal drugs market.

The role of Sydney Connection was pioneered by John Wesley Egan and the Corset Gang in the 1960s and was developed in the 1970s by Murray Riley and Fred Krahe, with the assistance of the Nugan Hand bank. Protected by association with prominent politicians, corrupt police and powerful businessmen, they were prepared to murder to guard their secret. The murder of Donald Mackay in Griffith in 1977 was inspired by this conspiracy.

 

Although the Mackay murder sparked the biggest manhunt in Australian history, the NSW police were unable to solve the crime. In 1986, a small-time criminal named Jimmy Bazley was framed for the Mackay murder. Bazley protested his innocence and claimed: “The dogs have been barking for years that a NSW policeman killed Donald Mackay. That policeman was Fred Krahe.”

 

”John Jiggens' research is in the best traditions of such writers as Evan Whitton and Tony Reeves. His main achievement here has been to show the interrelationship between the Australian and US criminal networks dealing with drugs, a relationship which has its parallels with the political and military relationships we have developed with that country since the days of the Vietnam War.” Drew Hutton

 

"25 years later John's "Sydney Connection" makes sense of so many of those disconnected stories of my youth. This book joins the dots on the scandals and crimes we read about and lived through..." - Lee Rhiannon MLC (NSW Greens)

[mull]

Quite a while back, downloaded a thesis called:Marijuana Australiana The History of an Underground World

 

Its very long but quite a good read on aus drug war history. Covers some very interesting times.

 

Problem is, can't find the link to it as my server has icmag censored. The pdf is 2mb but can't seem to up it to this page either.

 

Have a look for it online, is worth the read.