Coming up this week, the final double episode of 2019 and this is a cracking tale to round out the year. This week, I will take you through Sydney’s Razor Wars.

The Sydney Australia crime scene of the 1920s was pure helter-skelter. Drugs. Prostitution. Immense and unapologetic violence. In response, the New South Wales government introduced a raft of legislative measures that it thought would tame Sydney: prohibition of drugs, prohibition of street prostitution, the closing of all pubs at six pm every night, and the criminalization of handguns.

The government’s measures did nothing to stem the tide of illegal activity: if anything it emboldened Sydney’s criminals who – in true contrarian Australian fashion – doubled down. We’re gonna do the drugs. We’ll move our prostitutes off the streets and into brothels. We’ll set up speak-easies, or sly grogs, as they’re called in Australia. And if you’re gonna take our guns, we’ll use razors against our enemies.

Sydney’s criminal fraternity took what was already an out of control scene, and turned it up to 11: triggering the now famous, Razor Wars.

The Risktory Podcast is created, written and produced by Jacinthe A Galpin.

Soundtrack (sourced from www.freemusicarchive.org)
Podington Bear - Elephants on Parade
Alan Spiljak – Clouds
Alan Spiljak – Forgotten
Alan Spiljak – Light Blue
Alan Spiljak – Empty Days
Alan Spiljak – Stars Above
Alan Spiljak – Not the End
Alan Spiljak - Sun

Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_gang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_Devine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Leigh
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/magazine/galleries/tilly-devine-and-the-razor-gang-wars
http://www.sydneycrimemuseum.com/crime-stories/1920s-the-razor-wars/
http://passingparade-2009.blogspot.com/2011/11/sydneys-razor-gang-wars-1925-to-1935.html
https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi276
https://razorhurst.com.au
(Documentary) Tough Nuts: Australia’s Hardest Criminals (Tilly Devine)