Razor gang

After the passage of the Pistol Licensing Act 1927, the Parliament of New South Wales imposed severe penalties for carrying concealed firearms and handguns.

[2] Illegal drug distribution became a serious social problem due to the concentration of addicts in Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and Woolloomooloo, estimated at five thousand.

As in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and Rome, Sydney sex workers were a sizeable market for the cocaine trade, which was supplied from corrupt chemists, doctors, dentists and sailors (given that Peru, Bolivia and Colombia were all accessible through transpacific merchant shipping routes).

Tilly Devine, known as the "Queen of Woolloomooloo" and connected to the gangs, ran a string of brothels centred around Darlinghurst and the Cross, and in particular, Palmer Street.

Considerable amounts of bootleg alcohol and cocaine were consumed beforehand, leading to thrown bottles, physical assaults, firearm exchanges and razor attacks.

At the same time, the Crimes Amendment Act 1930 was also passed, leading to six-month imprisonment terms for anyone found possessing cutthroat razors without good reason.

While he would not vigorously enforce anti-bootleg and anti-prostitution laws, he announced that the new police powers granted to his constabulary would be used against both women and their criminal enterprises unless there was immediate mitigation of gang violence and cocaine distribution.

The term "razor gang" is used in Australian political discourse to refer to a group – often a committee – tasked with finding ways to cut government spending.