Rex Jackson

Address: NSW, Australia
Sex: Male
Occupation: Politician

Convictions

Date: 1987-12-29
Charges: Three corruption charges
Category: Fraud/Conspiracy/Corruption
Court: Darlinghurst Criminal Court
Judge:
Penalty:

Ron Ralph was found guilty of protecting heroin dealers.

Ralph, a former head of the anti-theft squad and top CIB detective, earned the nicknames "Click" and "Magic Eye" for his photographic memory.

He had an uncanny ability to recognise wanted people instantly from their photographs. His amazing memory was credited with helping him bag more than 300 criminals over his 30 years in the police force.

Morres George was convicted with former Corrective Services Commissioner Rex Jackson were found guilty of corruption charges.

George had introduced Ralph to a heroin dealer and supplier referred to as "John Smith". Plans were made that Ralph in his official position could warn drug runners of possible arrest.

During the period they operated, Ralph had received about $80,000 for his help and to corrupt other police officers. "Smith" had said in evidence he made about $1 million from heroin and other drugs during the time he was given the benefit of the protection racket. The protection racket had ended with the arrest of "Smith" for dealing. "Smith" had then been enlisted as an informer by both federal and state police and given immunity on a number of serious charges.

In earlier evidence at the trial of Ralph and George, it was disclosed that "Smith" was a prisoner who had been let out by Rex Jackson under the government early-release scheme.

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Comments

Rex Jackson, one of Australia's most controversial politicians, died in January 2012 on the New South Wales south coast at the age of 83.

The former MP, who represented seats in the Illawarra beginning in 1955, held ministries in the NSW Labor government from the mid-70s until his spectacular fall from grace in 1983.

He was convicted of conspiracy as prisons minister for accepting bribes in exchange for letting prisoners out of jail early.

Tickets and buckets were the words with which he became associated; for the tickets of leave he corruptly sold and the nickname buckets of his tendency to come down hard on his opponents.

In the end, he served just over three years of his 10 year prison sentence before returning to Helensburgh and running a hotdog stand.

New South Wales ALP figure Johno Johnson says Jackson was a good man, but his gambling addiction led to his downfall.

"He was a very effervescent fellow but in later life, he had a passion for the dogs," he said.

"He'd go to the Dapto dogs, he'd go to the Wentworth Park dogs; he was a fixture at those events."