1958 – 1974 - Part II – Where It Began

Note 13: Ray Patrick Chuck was born on 23 July 1948 in Chiltern, country Victoria. His family moved to Melbourne while he was still young. He began working on the docks at the age of 14.

Note 14: Frederick William “The Frog” Harrison was a well-known underworld standover man and a Painter and Docker. Though he did not invent ghosting, he was responsible for transforming it from petty theft into a highly organised scheme within the Painters and Dockers Union.

Note 15: Ghosting was exposed during the Costigan Royal Commission into the Painters and Dockers Union. At its peak, twice as many people were drawing pay as were actually employed. One of Ray’s first jobs involved both creating ghost worker records and clocking on and off for them.

Note 16: Ian Carroll was convicted of larceny in 1961, at the age of 14, and was sent to Turana Boys Home. He served 18 months’ detention. He often referred to it as the best school he ever attended.

Note 17: Turana Boys Home was closed down in 1964 after it was revealed that widespread physical and sexual abuse was occurring. The 2015 Victorian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found there had been ‘horrific and cruel physical and sexual abuse’.

Note 18: Ian Carroll was a registered amateur boxer, competing in both Golden Gloves events and on TV Ringside.

Note 19: Ian Revell Carroll, card carrier 2085, joined the Painters and Dockers Union at the age of 17.

Note 20: Billy 'The Texan' Longley, former standover man on the Melbourne waterfront during the 1960s and 1970s, was one of the most feared of the hard men of the notorious Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union. In 1971, he was nominated for President of the Victorian branch of the Painters and Dockers Union but lost the election to Arthur Morris at the height of the Waterfront War. Longley said of himself: “I regard myself as a reserved person and I don’t go around looking for trouble, believe it or not, but if trouble comes to me, I think I turn into an entirely different person altogether.”

Note 21: Both Bill ‘Tex’ Longley and Pat Shannon were senior figures in the Painters and Dockers Union and had extensive criminal records, including armed robbery. During the Costigan Royal Commission, police estimated that 70% of Melbourne’s top criminals had ties to the union.

Note 22: Frederick William Harrison (Freddy the Frog) was shot in the face with a shotgun at 13 South Wharf during daylight hours on a workday. Despite dozens of co-workers being present, all claimed to have seen nothing. Although this story maintains the myth of Freddy being Ray’s first mentor, that was not the case. Freddy died in 1958, when Ray was only 10 and not yet working on the docks. Just another case of journalistic licence that permeates the Great Bookie Robbery. However, the account of Freddy’s death in the story is accurate.

Note 23: The South Melbourne MSS armoured van depot was robbed of $289,233 on Thursday, June 11, 1970, by men impersonating police officers. There was no such person as Creasy.

Note 24: Norman Lee’s family operated a dim sim and spring roll factory in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. It has long been rumoured that bodies were disposed of through the factory.

Note 25: The Beach Inquiry into police corruption recommended that charges be laid against 55 officers from the Armed Robbery and Consorting squads.

Note 26: Brian Murphy has stated multiple times that Ray Chuck threatened to “blow his head off” after Murphy allegedly threw Chuck’s son during a house search. Murphy denied the claim. It’s a matter of whom to believe, Gail or Murphy.

Note 27: In March 1971, Neil Collingburn and Ian Carroll were detained by Detective Murphy and Constable Stillman. The following day, Neil died at St Vincent’s Hospital from multiple injuries allegedly sustained while being questioned at Russell Street police headquarters. Ian Carroll was hospitalised for three weeks. In an interview in 2008 at Murphy’s home, Murphy produced the missing morgue photos for the journalist.

Note 28: The Rose and Crown Hotel in Port Melbourne, now simply The Rose, was Billy Longley’s unofficial place of business. It was there, he reportedly shot three other dockers in the mid-1960s.

Note 29: Detective Brian “Skull” Murphy had known Longley since the 1960s and kept in touch until his death. When Murphy was charged with the murder of Painter and Docker Neil Collingburn in 1971, it was Longley who became his protector. He went to the Painters and Dockers and ordered them to: “Leave Murphy’s family and his home alone,” Murphy revealed later.

Note 30: Nov 6, 1971, Robert Crotty, a known associate of Tex Longley, had the back of his head caved in with a brick outside a South Melbourne hotel. He suffered major brain damage requiring him to be institutionalised until his death. The Bulletin. Vol. 094 No. 4792 (5 Feb 1972).

Note 31: During the Costigan Royal Commission, police claimed that between 30 and 40 Painters and Dockers were murdered between 1970 and 1974, the period known as the Waterfront War. In a 1980 interview with The Bulletin, Tex Longley put the figure closer to 60. (The Bulletin, March 11, 1980). The reason for the uncertainty in the numbers is that the bodies of many of the missing were never found.

Note 32: April 21, 1973, 10-year-old Nicholas (Nickie) Kolovrat was killed by a stray bullet at the Moonee Valley Hotel. His father and another bystander were also injured. The target, Lawrence Chamings, was also killed in the attack.

Note 33: It is a myth that old-time crims respected the sanctity of the home and family. Ian Carroll was shot twice during the Painter and Dockers Wars. Tex Longley’s home was bombed twice. It was more good luck that other family members were not harmed.

Note 34: Pat Shannon was shot dead in the Druids Hotel on October 17, 1973. Tex Longley was convicted of the murder but maintained until his death that he was framed.

Note 35: Ian Carroll was initially appointed Union Secretary and was later elected to the post in 1974.