A Secret Country

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

An Australian-born journalist and documentary filmmaker now living in London, Pilger provides a bracing rebuttal of the conventional view of his native land as an egalitarian nation with homes and jobs for all. Praising the innovative social reforms that made turn-of-the century Australia famous as a ``Workers' Paradise,'' Pilger contends that these benefits have been abrogated in the '80s as a result of the Conservative Labor Party government's tax giveaways to the ``Order of Mates'' (including media mogul Rupert Murdoch and beer baron Alan Bond), which has resulted in an economic crisis. In addition, the author argues, white Australians have never acknowledged that their country was founded on the genocide of the aborigines, still discriminated against today, and has been run ever since as a colonial tool, first of Great Britain and now of the United States--the CIA, the author suggests in convincing detail, connived in the 1975 overthrow of a Labor government unpopular with the U.S. Pilger's strong tone may alienate those who don't already agree with him, but he backs up his contentions with careful documentation. Overall, though, his thoughtful book will appeal to those seeking a more realistic understanding of the land Down Under. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)

Library Journal

Pilger, an Australian journalist, argues that while Australia has developed a popular image as a nation of koalas and Crocodile Dundees, it is in fact a secret country with a dark past that includes the slaughter of entire Aboriginal tribes. He also believes that Australia continues to be dominated by British and American imperialism; the British via a governor-general who can sack the elected government at any time (which happened to the Whitlam government in 1975), and America via its military dominance of the South Pacific and its economic ties with Australia. Further, Pilger argues Australia has been betrayed by its own leaders who have created a transnational economy that compels it to sell off its resources and rely on tourism and international money markets. This has led to reduced wages, lower living standards, and poverty for many. Unless Australia casts off British and American influence and starts to manage its resources wisely, it will face a dismal future. Recommended for large academic and public library collections.-- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio