A few days ago, Australia was almost (or basically) at the helm of North Korea style censorship when visual artist, Scott Marsh was shut down by police for painting a mural in protest of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s support of the highly dodgy Adani coal mine. He was later questioned by the criminal detective branch for painting the mural, which he had full permission to complete.

(source: Facebook)

As a reaction to the fucked logic and dictator-like tendencies of a few current Australian political figures, Sydney artist Anthony Lister painted a mural in Crown Street, Darlinghurst as a plea to #keepsydneyopen against police controls. To make sure his situation didn’t end like Marsh’s, Lister brought along none other than criminal barrister Charles Waterstreet to protect him.

(source: Facebook)

Waterstreet is, to say the least, a colourful Sydney character. Aside from being pretty chummy with his Hell’s Angels clients, the King’s Cross identity has also managed to have a pretty successful career in the arts.

To say the eccentric lawyer’s resume would stacked would be a bit of an understatement – he’s co-created the show Rake (loosely based off his life..), produced the movie Blood Oath starring old mate, Russell Crowe and is the author of Precious Bodily Fluids: A Larrikin’s Memoir, Repeating the Leaving and currently writing his third autobiography, Rake Man.

For those of you not familiar with Rake (binge it, seriously) he’s the smooth talking, ‘well connected’, life-in-ruins King’s Cross barrister with a particular fondness for the more ‘traditional’ activities of Kings Cross.

#inadmissibleevidence #listeria ###antilockdownsquad @charleswaterstreet @durrymills @jemhopetaylor

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Jul 29, 2017 at 1:14am PDT

Browsing through his Instagram feed, his captions put Conor McGregor to shame. He’s pretty much the antithesis of every straight-laced, boring stereotypical suit lawyer – he’s an antagonist, and truly seems to embody the quality of Rake. He’s unorthodox, poking fun at every boundary pretty much set for someone in his position, and if his Instagram is anything to go by, he’s been having a lot of fun doing it.

#4PM , WilliamStreet Art Class by Antony Lister in front of Convenience Store1 , rehearsals for 2nd NoN Ted Talk at UTS , See EventBright , Chalk Talks at UTS 8/3 at 6.30pm Eventbrite #whenArtCollideswithLaw book now , tell kids you were there , send kids if over20 , CPS points ,

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Feb 19, 2017 at 11:06am PST

#lawyersgunsandmoney???

#lawyersgunsandmoney??? ##goldcoastflorist @thejuryrat @charleswaterstreet

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Jun 9, 2017 at 1:26am PDT

#makeworkforme

#wiseWordsFromByronBayHotelMensTiolet #makeworkforMe #whatmenseeintioletsmakesthemamxious @charleswaterstreet

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Jul 15, 2016 at 7:35pm PDT

Like Rake, Waterstreet is passionately involved in Sydney’s nightlife, hence his advocacy towards the Keep Sydney Open movement.

#deathofKX ##LockDownWins ###BadaBingDollarsNotRefundable @charleswaterstreet @courtneyherrenberg @durrymills

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Jul 16, 2017 at 5:38am PDT

Will he or won’t he……?

#willIorwonti ##deathofKX ###ThePleasureDen ####alwaysopenminded

A post shared by The Real Rake (@charleswaterstreet) on Jul 16, 2017 at 5:46am PDT

Check out Rake for yourself if you haven’t already (there’s 4 quality seasons).