Mr Big of Bankstown: The Scandalous Fitzpatrick and Browne Affair

Corruption, violence and bribery, mixed with a healthy dose of larrikin charm, Mr Big of Bankstown has it all. In 1955, Raymond Fitzpatrick, a rough-hewn, ill-educated Sydney businessman known in the media as ‘Mr Big of Bankstown’, and Frank Browne, a journalist with a bent for verbal attacks on politicians, joined forces to teach a troublesome MP, Charles Morgan, a lesson he wouldn’t forget. They published an article that insinuated Morgan was implicated in an immigration racket. However, it was Fitzpatrick and Browne who ended up learning a lesson when Morgan responded by raising this issue in parliament under the Privileges Act. Colourful personalities, personal animosities and the self-interest of several individuals intersect and collide in this true story about two individuals who were imprisoned on a vote of the Commonwealth House of Representatives.