This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Laurie, and this week we have an old friend on the show.

She is the artist formerly known as Zanthi Mallet, but she's gotten married, so she's now known as Dr.

Zanthi Weston, and she is a criminologist.

Of course, she teaches criminology at university.

Zanthi's joining us to talk about the hospitality wars that are gripping Melbourne.

We want to know why nightclubs

and even brothels are being firebombed. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional

owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Warrangwurong people of the Kulin Nation.

Zanthi, can you please tell us what the hell is going on in Melbourne?

Why are nightclubs and bars being firebombed?

Does it have anything to do with the last firebombing scenarios we had in tobacco shops? And also on a personal note, the ice cream shop, not far from my house, and Williamstown

keeps being... That's rude. It keeps being firebombed. What's going on with the so-called

hospitality attacks in Melbourne. So great question.

You know, it's almost like we've reverted back to like the 1920s, isn't it?

You know, and you've got like the gangsters taking over the cities.

I think we're kind of seeing a bit more of that now.

We're seeing serious, organised criminals.

But what they're doing is actually engaging, recruiting young people, particularly online,

and they are recruiting them, paying them, what, a few hundred dollars,

to undertake these, as you say, you know, fire bombings, attempted kidnappings,

aggravated break and enters, all targeting these hospitality venues.

And I do think it's a continuation of what we saw with the tobacco wars, as they've been

...