Three key events that set Unspoken in motion

13 May, 2026

In 1977, I was in Year 8 at Marist Regional College in Burnie, Tasmania.
In 1994, I was Manager of Training and Development at AMP Corporate in Perth, WA.
In 2017, I was Adviser to the President of the Senate, Stephen Parry.

These three years ended up being pivotal to the storyline of Unspoken.

Let's start at the end.

In 2017, Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister, and I an Adviser to Stephen Parry, the President of the Senate.

I was working through the flood of emails arriving when one caught my attention.

It was the first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Report, produced by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission as part of the National Ice Action Strategy.

If you're not familiar with the program, wastewater analysis tracks illicit drug use in communities and, by extension, the activity of organised crime.

And for the first time, I saw the story arc of Unspoken unfold. I started reading and researching: organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, distribution networks, ice addiction, financial models, and the infiltration of organised crime networks into our everyday life and the institutions we trust.

That research led me to 1977 and political candidate Donald Mackay.

Donald Mackay was a Griffith businessman and anti-drugs campaigner who had stood as a candidate in state and federal politics. He was outspoken in his call to do more to combat the increasing harm of illicit drugs in his local community.

On the evening of July 1977, he left the Griffith Hotel, walked to his car and was never seen again. Bloodstains, his car keys and three spent .22 cartridge cases were found near his van in the hotel car park.

Although Mackay's body has never been found, it is widely accepted that it was a mafia-ordered hit.

It was the first clear sign that organised crime had become embedded within Australian society and was operating at a level of sophistication and confidence that few grasped at the time.

Now, fast forward nearly twenty years.

In 1994, anti-drug campaigner and NSW MP John Newman was assassinated in the driveway of his home in Cabramatta. This is widely cited as Australia’s first political assassination.

The attack against Newman was targeted, deliberate and overt. It sent a clear message that organised crime no longer felt compelled to operate in the shadows. There had been a frightening power shift - one we’re still coming to terms with today.

Unspoken is a work of fiction, but it explores a very real issue - the growing reach of organised crime into our communities, institutions and systems. Just as importantly, it’s also about the personal cost. The families caught in the middle. The lives damaged behind closed doors. It’s happening right across Australia, and no community is immune.