Condon Matthew - All fall down

PRAISE FOR THR EE CROOKED KINGS

A powerful treatment of an inelegant past that still smoulders. WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

Three Crooked Kings delivers its promised explosive true story... a fabulous tale of graft, extortion, sex, drugs and mayhem. Condons deft touch makes [this book] immediate, engaging and riveting. THE NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS

Three Crooked Kings paints a compellingly dark picture. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Hailed as the most explosive book of 2013 a riveting epic and unrelenting tour-de-force which will shock a nation. And its all true. Compelling stuff. THE CHRONICLE

PRAISE FOR JACKS AND JOKERS

... highly readable, well-researched and multi-layered expose of police and political malfeasance in the Sunshine State. SATURDAY AGE

Jacks and Jokers sprawls and appals in equal measure. Condons true crime series is not just a compelling read: it is compulsory. AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW

Praise is being lauded on Brisbane journalist and author Matthew Condon who is backing up his bestselling chronicle of Queenslands underbelly. COURIER-MAIL

Meticulously researched. WALKLEY MAGAZINE

An important work of history. OVERLAND

A fantastic fusion of Frank Moorhouse and Peter Corris, Jacks and Jokers is crime writing at its best. NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS

Acknowledgements

The publication of the final volume of the Lewis trilogy marks the end of a five and a half year journey that has attracted the kindness and encouragement of many hundreds of people.

I would like to thank Terence Lewis for his contribution to the books. I have made every effort to present a balanced version of events in the trilogy, and as with the first two volumes Three Crooked Kings and Jacks and Jokers Lewis was offered a right of reply to all the major issues canvassed in All Fall Down .

I would like to pay tribute to writer and mate Doug Hall, who triggered the trilogy.

Many former State and Federal police officers generously gave of their time, and offered documentation and diaries for the books. Thanks to: Kym Goldup-Graham, Greg Deveney, Ross Dickson, Peter Gallagher, John Bluey OGorman, Ron Edington, the family of the late Robert Walker, Barry Krosch, Les Lewis, Keith Smith, Peter Dautel, Ken Hoggett, the late John Huey, Geoff Pambroke, Ron Lewis, Arthur Volz, Bruce Wilby, the late Noel Creevey, Cliff Crawford, John Moller, Ian Hatcher, the late Abe Duncan, Fred Collins, Max Rogers, Brian Bennett, Bill Harrigan, Bob Sawford, Clive Small, David Marshall, John Cummins, Frank Rynne, Jim Shearer, John Morris, Ross Allan, Dennis Koch, the family of Merv Callaghan, the family of Don Buck Buchanan, John Shobbrook and Ian Alcorn.

I owe a special thanks to Jim Slade and Peter Vassallo two fine men.

I am especially grateful to Lewis former personal assistant, Greg Early, for allowing me to make use of excerpts from his police diaries and his expansive unpublished memoir, and for his help with innumerable queries.

I am, once again, indebted to two great mates: former Licensing Branch officer Nigel Powell, for countless hours of support, advice and friendship Nigel, you are the definition of integrity; and former Licensing Branch officer Kingsley Fancourt, a man who suffered much for his honesty, but whose actions contributed to changing the history of Queensland.

To those policemen and women, and their families, who offered information but chose to remain anonymous, I thank you.

I would like to pay tribute to the inspirational Mary Anne Brifman, who so generously welcomed me into her extraordinary life. The Brifman story haunts the trilogy and underpins much of the drama over more than 50 years, and its unfolding was only made possible due to Mary Annes open heart and fierce intellect.

The political threads of the books were enriched by the cooperation of many former premiers, politicians and political operatives. Thank you to: former premier Mike Ahern, former premier Peter Beattie, Sir Llew Edwards, Paul Clauson, Terry White, Bill Hewitt, Brian Austin, Henry Palaszczuk, Paul Braddy, Russell Grenning, the family of the late Huan Fraser, Allen Callaghan, and the inestimable (Sir) Malcolm McMillan.

I would also like to thank former Chief Justice and now Governor of Queensland, Paul de Jersey, and his wife Kaye, the late Justice Bill Carter, Michael Forde, Terry OGorman and the late, great Colin Bennett. Thank you also to Gavin Rebetzke.

I would especially like to acknowledge the work and contribution to Queensland history of Tony Fitzgerald.

So many others from all walks of life made valuable contributions to the books. My thanks to: Anne Marie Tilley, Debbie Kilroy, Carol Scully, Leonie Bahnemann, Lee Kear, Richard Spencer, Peter Walsh, Lawrence and Andre Daws, Ken Lord, Ruth Whitrod Blackburn, Ian Whitrod, Mervyn Carey, Dr Paul Wilson, Dr Ross Fitzgerald, Paul Reynolds, Jean Hudson, John Hooper, John X. Berlin, Dr Harry Akers, Fred Komlosy and his family, Edgar Bourke, Keith Underwood, John Stopford, Tony Corrigan, Robert Dave Berrick, Pat Gallagher, Vince Doyle, Mary, Judith and Christian Bennett and the Bennett family, and Bob Martin of Amity Point.

I am indebted to the hundreds of Queenslanders who have contacted me with their own tales from the eras covered by the books, some of which have enriched the text.

Again, I am enormously grateful to investigative journalists Chris Masters and Phil Dickie, whose work forms the bedrock of the trilogy. Thank you, Chris and Phil, for your extreme generosity during the years of the project.

Thank you, also, to those inspirational scribes, Quentin Dempster and Evan Whitton, and to Bob Gordon, Greg Chamberlin, Peter James, Tony Koch, Alan Hall, Paul Weston, Ken Digger Blanch, Matthew Fynes-Clinton, Jason Gagliardi, Michael McKenna, Alex Mitchell, Judith White, Phillip Knightley, Steve Bishop, Peter Morley, Michael Crutcher and David Fagan. Id like to pay tribute to the memory of Tony Reeves. A special thanks to two great friends Hedley Thomas and Des Houghton.

The books were largely made possible courtesy of the invaluable encouragement of my editors at News Queensland Christopher Dore ( The Courier-Mail ), Peter Gleeson ( The Sunday Mail ) and Kylie Lang ( Qweekend magazine). A big thank you to Alison Walsh, Phil Stafford, Anne-Maree Lyons, Frances Whiting, David Kelly, Russell Shakespeare, Leisa Scott and the wonderful Susan Johnson.

I owe more than I can express to Jean Bowra of Brisbane, who faithfully and professionally transcribed interviews over many years. Thank you, Jean.

Many books and documents have been important to the trilogy:

The Road to Fitzgerald and Beyond by Phil Dickie, UQP, 1989

In Place of Justice: An Analysis of a Royal Commission 196364 by Peter James, The Shield Press, 1974

The Sundown Murders by Peter James, Boolarong Publications, 1990

The Long Blue Line: A History of the Queensland Police by W. Ross Johnston, Boolarong Publications, 1992

The Bagman: Final Confessions of Jack Herbert by Jack Herbert with Tom Gilling, ABC Books, 2004

Before I Sleep: My Life Fighting Crime and Corruption by Ray Whitrod, UQP, 2001

The Prince and the Premier by David Hickie, Angus and Robertson, 1985

Trial and Error by Don Lane, Boolarong Publications, 1993

The Man They Called a Monster by Paul Wilson, Cassell Australia, 1981

A Life of Crime by Paul Wilson, Scribe, 1990

Reform in Policing: Lessons from the Whitrod Era by Jill M. Bolen, Hawkins Press, 1997

Dont You Worry About That! by Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Angus and Robertson, 1990

Honest Cops: Revealing Accounts of Australians who Stood up to Corruption and Suffered the Consequences by Quentin Dempster, ABC Books, 1992

Crims in Grass Castles by Keith Moor, Penguin Books, 2009

Joh: The Life and Political Adventures of Johannes Bjelke-Petersen by Hugh Lunn, UQP, 1978