SEASON 1 EPISODE 1

I. Where it all began: The rise of 'ndrangheta in Australia

From Melbourne to Griffith and Mildura and then back to Melbourne: the road trip begins.

My Australian Mafia Road Trip

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To understand the rise of the 'ndrangheta in Australia, you can't just stay in the big cities: tracing its origins means hitting the road. Carlo Oreglia and Anna Sergi head up the Hume highway and through the Coleambally plains toward Griffith, the NSW town that was the centre of a national case in the 1970s: the disappearance of aspiring politician Donald Mackay.

The Donald Mackay disappearance

Donald Bruce Mackay was an aspiring politician from Griffith. He disappeared in 1977 after exposing the presence of marijuana plantations in the area and the involvement of the 'ndrangheta
His name as a whistle-blower was made public during the trial that followed, effectively putting his life in danger
His body was never found, and the mystery of his disappearance remains unsolved

Since when have the 'ndrangheta had a presence in Australia? Is it a city or a rural phenomenon? What effect has the 'ndrangheta had on the Italian community?

To answer these questions and a thousand others, SBS journalist Carlo Oreglia, along with mafia expert Dr Anna Sergi, set out on a journey from Melbourne to Griffith and then to Mildura, in search of the origins and rise of the mafia in Australia.

No one can understand the Calabrian mafia in Australia without going to Griffith and without understanding how the myth of the Calabrian mafia started
Dr Anna Sergi

The first stop is Griffith, the NSW town that was the center of a national case in the 1970s: the disappearance of aspiring politician Donald Mackay,

His body was never found, and his disappearance put the 'ndrangheta's name on the map in Australia, setting in motion a series of ambiguities and unresolved issues that still haunt Griffith.

On the plains of Coleambally, Carlo and Anna discover what linked marijuana trafficking in the 1970s with the 'ndrangheta and the Italian community.

SBS journalist Carlo Oreglia and Dr Anna Sergi in the plains of Coleambally, where in the 70s a series of drug busts enraged the Griffith 'ndrangheta.

“My Australian Mafia Roadtrip” is an SBS Audio podcast about the history and the psychology of the ‘ndrangheta Down Under. Find it in your podcast app such as the SBS Audio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or LiSTNR.