NEWS / Witness J’s new book
LETTER
By Robert
The sound of mistrust
My life among Canberra’s paedophiles
THANK you for arts editor Helen Musa’s review on the troubles surrounding ArtSound radio (“Change is a challenge as ArtSound FM struggles”, CN, April 16). On the whole, I think it to be a fairly accurate statement of the situation there. It was, I think, public knowledge that the ACT “powers that be” had not been happy about grant expenditure. For that and other reasons things had to change. But I have to take issue with ArtSound president Amalijah Thompson about her and the board’s dealings with volunteer presenters. After 21 years of presenting on ArtSound FM, my program partner and I were told just before Easter last year, our program did not fit the “new” schedule. That’s fair enough, broad and telecasting are ephemeral media, and we considered that 21 years was a pretty good run. But, to be dismissed with four days’ notice and by email just showed a lack of guts from those who made the decision. To a large extent, methods of management like the above, have much to do with the unrest Ms Musa reports on.
MACKLIN WITNESS J, the prisoner held secretly in Canberra’s Alexander Maconochie Centre for more than seven months, is soon to publish a book on his incarceration with some of Australia’s most odious paedophiles. Titled “Here, There are Dragons”, it will be published online via Amazon and Lulu. Both paperback and e-book will be available on demand. While it is self-published, it has been professionally designed and edited at a cost of some $2500. All profits will go to Beyond Blue, partly because of proceeds of crime legislation but also to acknowledge the work of the charity that assists those like himself who have suffered mental health issues in times of stress. Witness J told “CityNews”: “I’ve spent a bit bringing it to market. I accept this cost as I want my humble story to be told. Due to an unfortunate combination of my literary inexperience and ongoing anonymity, I’m rather restricted from promoting the book outside of Twitter.”
How “CityNews” reported the Witness J story on November 14. The official publication date is June 1. Witness J’s secret trial and incarceration was first revealed by “CityNews” late last year when he brought a civil action against the AMC authorities after his cell and his brother’s home were raided by the AFP. This followed an attempt to seek literary and publishing advice from myself as the author of some 29 books. The action was unsuccessful, but the revelations of his imprisonment made national headlines. The book is an extraordinary and compelling story of a Canberran from a well-respected family who graduated from Duntroon, served with great distinction for 10 years in battlefields from East Timor to Afghanistan and later with DFAT in sensitive civilian posts. The
circumstances that led to his trial and imprisonment took place during his posting to Indonesia. However, while the story of his career – and the actions that led to his imprisonment – have yet to be told, the saga of his time confined with sexual offenders at AMC is itself a fascinating account of the moral conflicts and outrages when forced to deal at close range with the human “monsters” of the title. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the book is the fact that he was able to write the story while actually serving his time in the same “Pod” as the characters he was forensically delineating. (Disclosure: I have written a foreword to the book). Since his release, Witness J has been living in Victoria seeking employment while pursuing some redress from his former employer.
Bruce Bowman, via email
Write to us
Witness J’s account of his time in the AMC.
Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au
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