Organised crime has a long history in Australia. For more than a century, criminal groups have accumulated vast fortunes, committed countless acts of intimidation and coercion and, at times, extreme and spectacular violence.

In the process, they have become a recurring feature of public concern, media sensationalism and political debate.

There’s the razor gangs operating in Sydney during the 1920s, and the underbelly gangland conflict in Melbourne during the 1990s and early 2000s. Now we have the nationwide “tobacco wars”.

All of this organised crime shares something in common: it’s centred around competition for control of the country’s highly profitable illicit markets.

But if we look back at the responses to organised crime and black markets in Australia’s history, we can see governments are making many of the same mistakes now as they did a century ago.

Changing times, changing vices

While organised crime has shown remarkable continuity, the specific markets it exploits have changed over time.

Each period produces its own anxieties about the harmfulness of different behaviours. These are shaped by prevailing social norms, the familiarity or novelty of what is deemed “deviant” and the political priorities of the day. As these factors shift, so too does whether and how different goods and services are regulated.

In his recent book, Ian Shaw recounts the exploits of Squizzy Taylor. He was a flamboyant criminal in early 20th century Melbourne with a penchant for fine suits, horse racing and armed robbery.

Yet the most reliable sources of income for Taylor and his contemporaries were not spectacular crimes, but illicit markets, particularly illegal gambling, sex work, and alcohol, commonly known as sly grog.

At the time, each of these commodities was subject to outright prohibition or extraordinary restrictions intended to reduce harm. For alcohol, this included mandatory 6pm closure times for licensed establishments.

While restrictive regulations likely reduced overall consumption, they........

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