The Unholy Trinity: Fire, Fear, and Profits in Australia’s Underbelly

The Australian Organised Crime report paints a grim picture of an underworld that has evolved into a sophisticated business model. This model leverages the same principles as legitimate corporations to achieve its goals, but it’s not just efficiency that’s terrifying – it’s the disturbing synergy between this world and our own.

Arson is being used as a tool for extortion, with firebombs “persuading” shop owners to stock illicit products or face devastating consequences. This calculated violence has become an integral part of their business model, allowing them to dominate markets with cheap, unregulated products.

The recent trend of targeting legitimate businesses reveals a chilling strategy: saturate a market with cheap products until you’re the only one left. Disrupting competition and creating a stranglehold on local economies is just as important as selling illicit goods. The fact that some extortion attempts are motivated by profit rather than ideology should be a concern for us all.

The parallels between organised crime and legitimate business practices are striking. Multinationals often outsource to cheaper labor markets; Big Crime follows suit, recruiting teenagers through encrypted apps and using casual labour for hands-on work. Like corporate giants, they seek new markets to expand their reach – albeit with a focus on lucrative illicit goods.

Nicotine consumption in Australia is now comprised of 80% illicit tobacco products, generating an estimated $767 million in tax evasion. The human cost is staggering: victims of firebombings, exploited workers in Thai massage shops, and those suffering from the HIV epidemic caused by needle sharing.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports a 40% jump in nicotine use between 2017 and 2025, with most of this increase occurring since 2021. This trend is global, driven by cheap prices and increased demand for illicit products. As Dr Alfred McCoy noted, any drug will find a clientele – a sobering reminder of our country’s history of consuming vast quantities of substances.

The state government’s response has been inadequate, with only 13 retail tobacco licences cancelled despite the proliferation of illicit shops. The talk is cheap, but the action is non-existent. In fact, some might argue that the real cartels are not those peddling illicit goods, but our own governments, creating revenue-grabbing policies and tax loopholes that facilitate organised crime’s growth.

Serious crooks live off opportunities – and one of their favorite strategies is to exploit weaknesses in the system. The courts are lengthy and expensive; why bother when you can send bikies to “request” disputed funds or simply torch a business? It’s a recipe for disaster, and we’re running out of time.

The Unholy Trinity of fire, fear, and profits has taken root in our country’s underbelly. We must confront the reality that organised crime is not just an external threat but also a symptom of deeper issues within our own society. As Dr McCoy warned over 60 years ago, we have been given ample warning about the dangers of this world – it’s time to take action before the damage becomes irreparable.