Code of silence
On October 28 Keith Wright, ex-honourable member for Capricornia (ALP), was convicted of rape and indecent dealing with a girl under the age of 14, and sentenced to eight years in jail. Now that the verdict is final, and there can be no question that his once-promising political career is dead, his ex-colleagues have gathered, stiff-necked and righteous, to kick the corpse.
Queensland Attorney General Dean Wells says he is concerned that Wright — with whom he worked closely when Wright was leader of the ALP opposition to Bjelke-Petersen's National Party government during the early 1980s — has been treated too leniently. Wells' office has announced to the circling press that the A-G is considering lodging an appeal for a tougher sentence
One wonders whether Wells was amongst those who took a similarly courageous stand when Wright was "demoted" from his leadership of the state parliamentary party down to a mere Federal seat, when his "indiscretions" became too much of a risk to the state ALP's election chances.
"We all knew about Keith", a valiantly anonymous "powerful figure" in the Queensland government told the Sydney Telegraph Mirror on October 30. "We all saw Keith regularly in action ... It didn't surprise me that he slept with her [the then 13-year-old girl with whom Wright had what he called a "sexual relationship" for three years] — and the thing that makes me feel real bad now is that I thought it was all a joke, the way he chased women."
It was a joke until it threatened election prospects, and then it became serious enough to take action — not to take steps to prevent Wright physically and psychologically abusing young women, but to remove him to a position in which his crimes were less likely to be brought to public attention.
It was the abused woman herself who finally brought Keith Wright to some measure of justice, reporting to the police and testifying that she had been unable to stop Wright's sexual advances (although she had managed to summon the courage it took to ask him to leave her alone, he ignored her) and that he had forcibly raped her at least once.
One of Keith Wright's final hobby horses, before he lost his seat following his arrest on these sexual assault charges, was a campaign to have "adult" magazines placed in brown wrappers on special high shelves in newsagents, so that children's minds wouldn't be polluted by them. As a Baptist preacher, he was ever concerned to protect the innocence of young children.
Meanwhile, out of the glare of the TV lights and back in the comfort of his parliamentary suite, he molested a child (charges have been filed alleging similar offences against at least two others) while his fellow politicians sniggered in the corridors.
When Wright, while leader of the opposition, was privately confronted by a journalist over his very public "inappropriate" behaviour, he expressed full confidence that no journalist would ever write about it. He was almost right. But a young woman fought back, and as a result Wright is no longer "one of the boys", and no longer protected by their code of silence.
By Karen Fredericks