The Raids - History of Queen Victoria Market

One of the most intriguing stages in Queen Victoria Market's history was during the 1960s, when the Market was associated with the infamous "Honoured Society". Indeed, much of the innuendo and rumour surrounding the Market today can be attributed to this period.

It all began in 1960, when the complaining of suspicious growers unhappy with the handling of their consignments resulted in a Royal Commission being established to investigate price fixing at the Wholesale section of the Market.

Then, in 1963, stallholder Vincent Anguilotto was shot. This was the first of 5 shootings in the Market. These shootings, it is claimed, were carried out by the "Honoured Society", some of whose members had entered Australia through an illegal immigration racket and were using extortion to cheat immigrant Italian growers out of thousands of dollars.

This lead on to the registration of merchants, saw limits placed on the commissions they could charge, and eventually resulted in the relocation of the Wholesale section of the Market to Footscray Road, where it remains today.