Shotgun and Standover

Painters and Dockers's brutal history is laid bare in a new book co-authored by journalist Russell Robinson.

What was the impetus for writing a book about criminal history of the Painters and Dockers?

The motivation for writing Shotgun and Standover was that, previously, only parts of the criminal history of the Painters and Dockers union had ever been told, and no one had really put the whole story together.

Co-author James Morton and I were intrigued by the death notices and tributes placed by old painters and dockers and their wives and families whenever a recent or current gangster or organised crime identity was eliminated.

Of course other journalists have written about the connections, but James and I wanted to complete the circle of violence and criminality linking the old painters and dockers, even going back to the 1920s, with the Underbelly identities of today.

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