REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Tuesday May 18, 1982

TWO leading Gold Coast National Party MPs gave conflicting views about the significance of a mafia threat to the Gold Coast’s future Jupiters casino.

Surfers Paradise MP Rob Borbidge told a southeast zone conference: “Anyone who has any doubts should now accept that organised crime is a massive threat to this nation, to our way of life, our system of government and democracy itself”.

But Police Minister and South Coast MP Russ Hinze told the same conference: “I am not a bit concerned about the mafia”.

Both men made their comments after one of Australia’s leading authorities on organised crime, Bob Bottoms, had explained the threat it posed to future legal casinos.

Mr Bottoms, who was guest speaker at the event, warned that one way the mafia would attempt to take over legal casinos was by spending millions of dollars to “corrupt people at the top”.

Mr Borbidge, who heard the speech, said he hoped it would give the Bjelke-Petersen Government renewed vigour to take action which would ensue “gutter-level” people, imported from interstate and overseas, would not be allowed to get a foothold in our casino.

But Mr Hinze adopted the attitude the state’s police, together with security measures planned for the casino, would be more than a match for organised crime. But he did not deny there were brothels in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

“Prostitution is going on in Queensland and has been going on for 2000 years in the world,” he said.

“I am not Solomon. I have no way of controlling it and I am not going to try. Why should I?”