Gangster Allegations In Sydney Newspaper Fire

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27708, 12 July 1955, Page 13

Gangster Allegations In Sydney Newspaper Fire

(Rec. 11 p.m.) SYDNEY, July 11. Charles Morgan, a Labour Member of the House of Representatives, told an inquiry today that the fire in the “Torch” newspaper in Bankstown was “another episode in the activities of a gangster regime.” Morgan told the Coroner inquiring into the fire which wrecked the "Torch,” the local weekly newspaper, on November 4 last, that “there were only two avenues left to the people of Bankstown to speak up at the time of the ‘Torch’ newspaper fire. “One was the paper,” he said. "I was the other. They tried td silence me, and the logical thing was that the paper should be silenced too.” The tiny Coroners Court was crowded for the fire inquiry which followed widespread allegations of graft and corruption in Bankstown, a Sydney suburb. The recent privileges case m the House of Representatives in Canberra heightened the interest. The House of Representatives sent to goal Raymond Fitzpatrick, the owner, and Frank Browne, the editor of the “Torch’s” rival weekly, the “Bankstown Observer,” for a breach of Parliamentary privilege by trying to silence Mr Morgan. „ _. Morgan’s allegations m Parliament about corrupt contracting deals m Bankstown, and naming Fitzpatrick as “Mr Big, ’ were widely published in Fitzpatrick is still in goal, but Mrs Fitzpatrick attended the hearing. The Coroner. Mr Smythe, heard other witnesses, who described the beginning

of the fire, saying they saw smoke coming froih the building. Minutes later, one witness said, the newspaper office exploded “just like a bomb.” Police witnesses said there was no evidence of any blast in the charred remains when they made investigations. Later Morgan told Mr J. W. Shand. Q.C. (for R. E. and J. Fitzpatrick), that he associated Fitzpatrick with the fire insofar as he was the leader of the gangster regime. He also said he regarded Fiitzpatrick as the leader of a gangster regime which had several gangs working under it —gangs for different jobs, some to lift aeroplane hangars and some for graving docks. Mr Shand: Several gangs? Morgan: Gangs for different jobs—some to lift aeroplane hangars and some for graving docks. Mr Smythe: I will not have that sort of comment made. They are not the subject of this inquiry. To Dr. F. Louat. Q.C. (for Morgan). Morgan said that from what he knew about Bankstown he formed his conclusions about the motive for the attack on the “Torch.” He was aware that for a number of years the “Torch” exposed affairs in which the Fitzpatricks were involved. Mr Shand: I object. When Dr. Louat rephrased the question Morgan said that as far as the Bankstown Council was concerned there had been a lot of controversia 1 matters dealt with in the “Torch.” Morgan also said he would be ready to appear before a Royal Commission When Morgan said he had informed the police he had been told by Mr Justice Taylor (of the New South Wales Industrial Commission) that the police would “fit” the “Torch” editor, Philip Engisch, as the originator of the fire.

He said his informant was Joseph Reardon, secretary of the Federated Clerks’s Union, who told him another trade union officer gave him the information. Reardon did not name the other man. Morgan began his evidence by admitting that he said after the fire that it was another episode in the activities of the gangster regime in Bankstown. He also admitted having said he hoped the police inquiring into the explosion would track down “this sinister gang.” He also admitted having said publicly that knowing the desperate characters of some involved in the fire it seemed likely that it was bound to happen and would recur unless the ring was broken. Under further questioning by the Crown counsel, Mr A. J. Goran, Q.C., Morgan said he had never stated that the Fitzpatricks were guilty of starting tjie fire. The first witness. Arthur Thomas Powell. M.L.A. for Bankstown, denied that he had been threatened with political extinction if he did not toe the line.

Earlier he denied he made statements published in the press. He specifically denied having said he knew who blew up the “Torch” office, having knowledge of who caused the “Torch” fire, having told a reporter he would ask for an immediate inquiry into a gang’s activities in Bankstown, having named the leaders of a gang at Bankstown, having told a reporter the “Torch” was often opposed to the Labour Party and that this thing was bigger than politics, having even said the gang’s money “talked in all places,” and having said the gang was so powerful and so far above the law that it was no longer bothering to cloak its activities.