Book Review: Caught Out! By Wendy Lewis
Australian Scandals, Lies and Cover-Ups from 1991 - 2007
News headlines constantly bombard the public with tales of scandals, lies and cover-ups. In Caught Out! (New Holland, 2008) Wendy Lewis offers a collection of the stories that have most fascinated the Australia public since 1991. Tales of sexual indiscretions, political scandals, mishandled finances and sporting star slip-ups provide fascinating reading for anyone interested in the who’s who of scandalous Australian celebrities.
Businessmen, Politicians and The Legal System
Proving that the Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia is alive and well, many of the individuals covered are public figures that the average Australian has relished seeing brought down to size.
Politicians and the general distrust of their motives are central to the Children Overboard cover-up that rocked the Howard government in 2001, outspoken Pauline Hansen and Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Brian Burke’s WA Inc controversy. Cheryl Kernot’s shock defection from Democrat leader to Labor party faithful and the uncovering of her long-time affair with Gareth Evans, the Deputy Leader of the Labor party is also discussed.
One.Tel, the collapse of HIH, the Wheat Board scandal, Bond, Skase and other high profile businesses and businesspeople do not escape examination. The workings of the justice system are also profiled with Justice Marcus Einfeld’s lies under oath, the missing blood samples taken when Justice Jeff Shaw was charged with drink driving, Aboriginal deaths in custody and Shapelle Corby’s imprisonment for drug smuggling all featured.
Tales of Terrorism, Intolerance, Fraud and Stupidity
Terrorism and prejudice have been frequent issues in the media, particularly since the events of 9/11. The imprisonment of David Hicks, arrest of Mohammed Haneef, and various other tales of threats to public safety have featured heavily in the headlines, while the controversial Mufti Sheikh Tal al-Din al-Hilali raised concerns about inciting racial hatred with his comments about women and Australian moral standards.
Jayant Patel and his medical incompetence at Bundaberg Base Hospital brought safety issues back to a more personal level as it was revealed that he had been permitted to perform surgery on patients despite being struck from the medical register in the US for gross negligence.
Australians are passionate about their sporting heroes, and none fall so swiftly as those heroes who betray the trust of their fans. Wendell Sailor’s use of cocaine, Shane Warne’s use of diuretic tablets and Wayne Carey’s sexual indiscretions drew attention from their sporting prowess to their character flaws.
These and other stories broaden the Australian scandals out to include everyday people caught up in public debate and thrust into the limelight.
A Social Barometer of the Nation
Australian’s love to voice their opinions, although they don’t always take the time to make sure those opinions are well-informed. Caught Out! provides a brief, researched summary of 36 of Australia’s most controversial events and individuals of the recent past. Offering a well written, not quite impartial review of famous and infamous faces and events, Lewis has provided a very readable, enjoyable way for readers to fill in some of the details that may have been overlooked in the thrill of the scandal.
Although hardly comprehensive, Caught Out! does provide a generous overview of the stories that have fascinated the Australian public over the past two decades, Lewis offers a summary of what she describes as the social barometer of a nation – scandals and the telling response of the general public that reveals the views of the population on justice, corruption and prejudice.
Covering the range from politics and business to sport and drug smuggling, Lewis has something of interest to offer to everyone.
