Mildura and Shepparton

Most recently completed articles are up. The two towns in rural Victoria have always been of particular interest to me. Mildura boasts a long history with the ‘ndrangheta, being an early center and focus of investigation. The history it shares with the Medici family is one of the most fascinating case studies to be found in the country’s ‘ndrangheta experience. As for Shepparton, its evolution towards becoming the personal stomping grounds of Vincent Paul Latorre makes for a different dynamic than the usual. They are expected to be updated as more is completed. Enjoy.

Sweet. I’m good.

A frustrating few days but I seem to have gotten a handle on the issues. This project is expanding exponentially, although I kinda sorta knew it would. The subject matter lends itself towards it. I had a rough plan, but I figured things would start to take on a life of its own, and the writing gets almost guided in a sense. As in it naturally leads where it does.

I’ve come to accept too, that I am never going get everything as perfect as I’d like. Especially since there is always new information coming to light. I can update as I go, I realize this. Some of the later articles definitely need some tweaking, but for now? To quote James Cagney, “Top o’ the world, Ma!”

Technical Difficulties

Frustratingly unable to make posts for a period, luckily seems to be sorted. I am looking at some wider structure for the blog to thrive, such as the Profile and Chart sections that will sooner or later grace this site. In the former, I hope to write on specific figures, event and dynamics evident in the IOC groups; the latter article relevant charts that identify figures if they allow it.

At this point, I’ll be pressing on! Hope to tackle some Brisbane and WA before tracking Melbourne and the Benvenuto years.

Dr. Anna Sergi

This woman is a personal hero of mine. Born and raised in Calabria, Dr, Sergi holds a PhD, in Sociology, and as a world renowned criminologist, has written extensively on the ‘ndrangheta as well as lecturing on the subject at conferences around the globe. To be honest, she was part of the reason I got back into this after leaving it well alone since 2012.

Her paper,  The Evolution of the ‘Ndrangheta in Australia, is one of the most comprehensive and well written pieces on the subject that I’ve so far discovered.

She is also a part of a research project for the University of Cambridge, specifically Austraalian ‘ndrangheta (Hey, recognize the mugshot? Also, check the bibliography sources *cough cough*)

Part Five, Finally

My section on the Riverina district mafia is finally completed! The Griffith Mafia is perhaps the most recognised locale in Australia, and the murder of Donald Mackay represents a watershed moment in the history of the ‘ndrangheta in Australia. There’s still more to come, so I hope you enjoy.

Fighting the good fight

In tine, I will be adding a page that will pay my respects to the number of writers, researchers, journalists and investigators that have made major contributions to the subject matter this blog deals in. In the meantime, I wanted to make a special mention.

Nick McKenzie is an investigative journalist employed by Fairfax Media who’s work appears across a range of media. For some years now, he has been a major force in ensuring that the Australian arm of the ‘ndrangheta remains in the news. In 2007, he was actually contacted by Pasquale Barbaro himself, in the midst of the investigation into what would become known as a record bust for ecstasy. This article details the conversations, and makes a good jump off point for some of his work.

In particular, check out the Four Corners documentary he was involved with, its fantastic.

My Research

As a researcher, I pride myself on being thorough, with an eye to the greatest level of accuracy I can achieve. Also, being unaffiliated with any academic or corporate body, I will always strive towards the best I information I can provide.

Having said that, its frustrating at times. As I pore through Commonwealth files, literature or other media, it seems like every day I am learning something new about topics, people or events I thought I had a handle one. Of course, this is to be expected. I mean, the mafia don’t exactly put out a press release every year. When studying a secret society such as the ‘ndrangheta, one must accept an element of confusion and incomplete data. It’s possible to extrapolate and work by inference to a degree, but I have tried to abstain from guesswork. And so it is what is, I suppose. Definitely not what it’s not (my wife hates that saying).

Anyway, with my pedantic nature, new discoveries relating to older articles compel me to go back and update the relevant text.  And as my wife frequently points out, this makes for slow progress in newer articles. And so, I have to accept that at some point, I just have to get on with things. There’s always been a view towards a book at some point. I can always include new info in that.

“There’s no mafia in Australia!”

While I’ve been active on-and-off for many years with my research (though always with an ear out for any mention in media), it was the death of Tony Sergi the other month that spurred me with a bit of renewed vigour. At first, I’d planned on writing a piece profiling the man generally accepted as having been one of those responsible for the murder of Donald Mackay, and so I began collecting some info beyond what my own files already contained.

It just so happened that Tony “the Operator” Sergi’s passing coincided with a weekend away my wife had booked some time in in advance. I’ll, uh, spare you all the details of our romantic getaway, and get to the point of the post. While my wife was selecting a bottle of wine for the evening, I noticed the ubiquitous bottle of Gossips amongst those available, and absent mindedly commented on the fact that Sergi had started the winery that eventually became Warburn Estate. The hotelier asked me who Tony Sergi was, so I told him. After a second of blinking, the man snorted and made the remark that head this post. Used to this sort of attitude, I sort of nodded and smiled. There once was a time I would have made it my personal mission to educate such a naievety (think less George Negus, more Derryn Hinch, “WAKE UP SHEEPLE!” sort of way. I was really fun at parties).

The point is, the overwhelming majority of people remain at worst ignorant, and at best indiffferent towards the ‘ndrangheta’s presence in Australia. I long ago came to realize that those that want to know about it will educate themselves. And if they find themselves fascinated by the subject, they can start digging.  Which is another part of the myriad reasons behind the blog, a wish to share some of the knowledge that I’ve dug up.

In any case, in slightly less time than it would have taken me to grow my own goddamn grapes and brew my own goddam wine, my wife chose a vintage and our night could continue. And for what its worth, the “short profile” on Sergi grew into a 15 page chapter on Griffith, parts of which I’ve used for Part 5, which will be up soon.