Early in his
editorship Bowditch was involved in a major
story involving gambling in Darwin
which saw him threatened with legal action by the angry Administrator of the Northern Territory . Everybody in town knew gambling
was rife. Strangely, Canberra on three occasions refused assent to
a NT Legislative Council
approved bill which would have legalised betting shops.
There were at least six
illegal gaming and betting shops in town
at the time , and the din from them could be plainly heard in the main thoroughfare, Smith Street. In February
, one of the gambling
joints, known as the “ Paspaley
Betting Shop ” , had been raided
and 19 men arrested. On the walls of the premises
there were boards carrying details
of southern races; two cash boxes
were seized
About a month later police
visited seven betting shops one weekend , but only arrested
the owner of a new one . Bowditch became suspicious about the
police action . In the True North
column of the News there
appeared an odd item saying
Darwin was not the only town with
SP betting trouble. At Katherine
, south of Darwin , it
read, only one betting shop was ALLOWED to operate , would be competitors being shut down. How , it asked , did you become one of the chosen few ?
The item carried the nom–de-plume , “ Ku
Cumshaw ”. Cumshaw is Pidgin
English for a present , tip and a gratuity- the inference
being that somebody was being
paid .
While walking down the street , Bowditch met
the police officer who had led
the raid on the new Darwin betting shop ,
Sergeant Jim Mannion, often described as “ an honest cop ” . Bowditch, had
known Mannion in Alice Springs , asked
him what was going on . Mannion said he had been instructed from the highest
level to raid one betting
shop and ignore the others, which were commonly known to be run by one
man. He told Bowditch that if he
could arrange for the right
questions to be asked in the court case involving the owner of the new betting shop, Roland McGuire, he
would blow the whole thing wide open.
Bowditch then
briefed defence lawyer John “Tiger ” Lyons
who, of course, asked the right questions of Mannion . Lyons
claimed the evidence
given showed that there was a “ Tammany Hall rule” in Darwin. The Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Lou Hook,
denied a blind eye had been turned
to other
betting premises in town. Lyons retorted that Mannion had visited seven gaming places on the one day
and only one had been
booked. “ I don’t know if that is the blind
eye or completely shutting both . ” The
News highlighted the fact that Mannion said he had been ordered by
“ a superior authority ”to raid
the new betting shop every time it operated.The court was told that a prospector arrested on the premises ,
on being taken away by police, had pointed to “ Paspaley’s” and said : “ Look at them, they don’t
have to worry that they will
go off. ”
The Administrator of the Northern Territory , Mr Frank
Wise, who was also responsible for police, reacted strongly
to the criticism of the
gambling situation . Bowditch gave the issue substantial coverage in the paper
and launched a campaign to legalise all betting
shops . The situation received
southern media coverage ; Bowditch was
asked by the Brisbane Truth to get a
photograph of the Darwin businessman who owned
the “untouched ” gaming dens
. Bowditch and a nervous amateur
photogapher went to a betting shop ,
but somebody became suspicious, called
for the boss , “ Mick ” , and they ran out of the premises.
Only a blurred photograph was obtained of their quarry, Mick Paspalis . Later on ,
Paspalis discussed the episode
with Bowditch who explained his
stance in relation to betting shops. He and Paspalis became good friends.
GALLOPING ADMINISTRATOR
Oddly enough , when Administrator Wise , a former WA Labor premier , first went to Darwin as the Liberal Government appointee
in l951 , he was likened to a race horse .
A no-nonsense man who disliked redtape, he got things done.
An article written about him
in l952
said Territorians grudgingly admitted that his
“ preliminary gallops ” showed
unusual form. In racing parlance , he
was seen as a steady miler rather
than a flashy five furlong sprinter.
However, the Administrator accused the media of sensationalism in respect of
gambling and issued a lengthy defensive document. In it he said that some years previously as a politician he had
carried out research into SP
betting Australia wide for the purpose of introducing a bill
into parliament to control gambling . His investigation had given him a
thorough insight into the
gambling industry , especially the activities of off- course betting
and the part newspapers and
other agencies played in providing information for
SP bookies. He pointed out that in some instances newspapers received large sums of money
from SP bookies to provide racing information .
Gambling was such a big
thing in Australia , he said the Flying
Doctor Service , in some remote centres , were
tremendously busy on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings , receiving
telegrams for dispatch to SP bookmakers.
PRIME MINISTER SCRATCHED
Good humouredly, Wise pointed out that if British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appeared at
10 Downing Street wearing a
bandage , he would not get as much attention in the Press as would a
horse called Raconteur if it
suddenly sported a bandage or a
different sort of shoe. And if Prime
Minister Menzies were to get a scratch
it would not be mentioned by the
Press. However, if some “equine fancy ”
were scratched there would be a stop press.
Wise said one of his responsibilities was to keep vicious things
within due bounds and to use the law to do so with due regard to public welfare . Much of the agitation over the
betting shop issue was from
interested parties and expressions of
opinions , some under privilege, clouded but did not clarify the issue.
Years previously , he
said , Darwin had a regular two up game every Saturday .
Pi-que joints and other games were played all night in some places , but it did
not have them now . There were no street
corner betting or
betting in public houses .
He said that as far as he was
concerned , until the Government had a good
look at all the implications
of the subject of legalising off -course
betting, those who broke the law
would be made aware of the fact that they were acting illegally. Knowing that it was
impossible to abolish gambling, he said
he had no feelings at all in the matter . However, what he did deplore was
the “sensation “ being made out of the
incident.
Wise’s statement was run
on the front page next to a
Commonwealth Savings Bank
advertisement which carried the
message A Wise Bird
Takes No Chances . It showed a young bird in helmet , goggles
and parachute out on a limb with
a safety net underneath. Many readers
took this to mean Bowditch was having a
dig at Wise and it
infuriated the Administrator who
rang and threatened to sue . According to Bowditch , the placing of the
Administrator’s statement next to the
bank advert had been a coincidental
juxtaposition. The populace, however , took it as an audacious crack
at the Administrator and it caused laughter in the community .
Drastic action
followed the case . Within two weeks, Sergeant Mannion was banished to Tennant Creek , regarded as Siberia within the force . In
Bowditch’s words , Sergeant Mannion had
been “ heartbroken ” . Despite the News editorializing
against the move, a line taken up
by Jock Nelson in the House of Representatives , it was claimed
the move had been planned before
the gambling case.
When Mannion went to Tennant Creek
he became involved in a
devastating fire which killed one person, seriously injured four and 30
others required treatment.
The fire was in Campbell’s garage and store ; Mannion fought his way into the
exploding building to check if anybody was trapped .
A TAA plane was
diverted to Tennant Creek to pick up the injured .
For his bravery Mannion
became the first person in the
NT to receive
the George Medal . Despite
having been banished to Tennant,
Mannion rose to the rank of
inspector in later years and was
highly regarded by the community.
NEXT : Bowditch overcomes daunting hurdles .
