I have organised a little surprise for NSW Premier Morris Iemma and Federal Assistant Treasurer Peter Dutton when they open their mail this morning. I have sent them a list of 775 illegal brothels, nude massage and home prostitution businesses operating under Iemma’s nose in NSW.

The list was formulated by private investigators hired by the Adult Business Association NSW, using adult advertising in metropolitan and suburban newspapers as a source. They’re illegal because they haven’t been granted approval to operate as a s-x business under Mr Iemma’s NSW Planning Laws.

It is a damning indictment on a government that has sat on its hands and pretended the problem didn’t exist. Iemma has promised he would change the brothel laws if he was re-elected but he must act quickly as there are some placed near schools and churches.

Perhaps the worst is the illegal brothel operating from a private house in Arden Street Clovelly directly opposite Clovelly Primary School in Sydney’s East. I phoned them this morning and the Asian lady on the phone said they have three lovely teen girls there today offering full service s-x.

Then there is the case of Jo Jo’s, an illegal brothel at Pyrmont Bridge Rd Glebe, where their clients were parking in the school carpark of the nearby Forest Lodge Primary School. Complaints were made to the Principal of the school and to the Sydney City Council but it is not known what action the Council took. And what about wannabe Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell, an outspoken critic of illegal brothels? 

Is he aware there is an illegal brothel six doors from his Electorate Office on the Pacific Highway at Gordon on Sydney’s leafy North Shore? Is he aware of the other one that’s nine doors away going the other way? I have written to Iemma’s Chief of Staff Mike Kaiser seeking a meeting with Mr Iemma to assist with the reform of the brothel industry but he hasn’t bothered to reply.

The main area I want to talk about with Iemma is advertising. The lifeblood of the illegal industry is advertising. Without it they die. In NSW the main recipients of illegal pimp money are the News Ltd owned Daily Telegraph and its suburban arm Cumberland Newspapers.

Last year Crikey revealed how the shonky operators were placing their ads with the paper and the huge amount of revenue generated by adult advertising.

The double standards of newspapers were exposed by Media Watch on Monday.  They highlighted how the newspaper called for a crackdown on the scourge of illegal brothels in their area and then showed in the same edition the newspaper was running an advertisement for the illegal operator.

I’ll be asking Iemma to legislate so that brothels attempting to place an advertisement with a newspaper must prove to the newspapers they have been approved by the NSW government. Does Iemma have the balls to crack down on News Ltd and curtail their rivers of gold adult advertising? I will let you know.