H
Historian
Think she owned Happy Haven in Bayswater all those years ago.
From a BBC documentary in 1988
Perth brothel owner says wealth lies in police policy
PERTH: Brothel owner Dorrie
Flatman says she has the Western
Australian police to thank for making
her a wealthy woman in Perth, ac
cording to a British TV program.
In an interview screened on the
BBC in Britain on Friday, Mrs Flat
man said the police's containment pol
icy on prostitution had prevented new
brothels opening in Perth.
She revealed there were 200 women
working in Perth's 16 contained
brothels, with another 120 working
outside the system.
The BBC program, presented by
Alan Whicker, was part of a series on
the lives of successful British mi
grants in Australia.
Mrs Flatman, who left Liverpool in
1963 with her three daughters and
only £45, was described in the pro
gram as one of Australia's richest
women.
The program said she ran three
flourishing brothels, employing be
tween 25 and 45 women, and took 50
per cent of each prostitute's earnings.
Perth's brothels, though illegal, are
said to be tolerated by police provided
there are no under-age girls, no drugs
and no men involved in their manage
ment. Mr Whicker told British view
ers, "Containment frees prostitutes
from the parasitical pimp and pre
vents organised crime getting its
hands upon the flourishing brothels of
Perth and Kalgoorlie."
Mrs Flatman told Mr Whicker that
no new brothels could open and peo
ple who wanted to get into the busi
ness had to buy into an existing
establishment. Business had been
good in the old days before police
controls, but was now even better.
Western Australia's Police Com
missioner, Mr Brian Bull, quoted in
the program as saying that contain
ment was the "ideal system", told
Perth's Sunday Times that his com
ments did not conflict with Western
Australia's planned legalisation of
prostitution.
"I believe the current system is ide
al until something better can be
found," he said.
Mrs Flatman told the newspaper
that she was shocked to hear about
her reported statements on prostitu
tion, but declined to comment further
until she had seen the program.
She said she thought she had been
on a family TV show to promote the
bicentenary.
A spokesman for Western Austra
lia's Minister for Police, Mr Hill,
said Cabinet would make a decision in
the "near future" about legislation to
legalise prostitution.
Mr Hill has condemned the con
tainment system, saying it puts police
in the unfair position of having to
administer an illegal activity.
He wants a judge to head a new
authority administering legalised
prostitution. -
From a BBC documentary in 1988
Perth brothel owner says wealth lies in police policy
PERTH: Brothel owner Dorrie
Flatman says she has the Western
Australian police to thank for making
her a wealthy woman in Perth, ac
cording to a British TV program.
In an interview screened on the
BBC in Britain on Friday, Mrs Flat
man said the police's containment pol
icy on prostitution had prevented new
brothels opening in Perth.
She revealed there were 200 women
working in Perth's 16 contained
brothels, with another 120 working
outside the system.
The BBC program, presented by
Alan Whicker, was part of a series on
the lives of successful British mi
grants in Australia.
Mrs Flatman, who left Liverpool in
1963 with her three daughters and
only £45, was described in the pro
gram as one of Australia's richest
women.
The program said she ran three
flourishing brothels, employing be
tween 25 and 45 women, and took 50
per cent of each prostitute's earnings.
Perth's brothels, though illegal, are
said to be tolerated by police provided
there are no under-age girls, no drugs
and no men involved in their manage
ment. Mr Whicker told British view
ers, "Containment frees prostitutes
from the parasitical pimp and pre
vents organised crime getting its
hands upon the flourishing brothels of
Perth and Kalgoorlie."
Mrs Flatman told Mr Whicker that
no new brothels could open and peo
ple who wanted to get into the busi
ness had to buy into an existing
establishment. Business had been
good in the old days before police
controls, but was now even better.
Western Australia's Police Com
missioner, Mr Brian Bull, quoted in
the program as saying that contain
ment was the "ideal system", told
Perth's Sunday Times that his com
ments did not conflict with Western
Australia's planned legalisation of
prostitution.
"I believe the current system is ide
al until something better can be
found," he said.
Mrs Flatman told the newspaper
that she was shocked to hear about
her reported statements on prostitu
tion, but declined to comment further
until she had seen the program.
She said she thought she had been
on a family TV show to promote the
bicentenary.
A spokesman for Western Austra
lia's Minister for Police, Mr Hill,
said Cabinet would make a decision in
the "near future" about legislation to
legalise prostitution.
Mr Hill has condemned the con
tainment system, saying it puts police
in the unfair position of having to
administer an illegal activity.
He wants a judge to head a new
authority administering legalised
prostitution. -
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