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Will Mundine’s past prove to be his Achilles’ heel?
by Stephen Hagan 14 October 2013
W
ill Warren Mundine’s extra-marital affairs and his ‘too Aboriginal’ comment of his ex-wife prove to be his Achilles’ heel? To answer these questions and others I found it a taxing task trying to find an Indigenous leader, with any credibility in the movement, who would go on the public
Warren Mundine with wife Elizabeth.
record to champion the political attributes of Warren Mundine as he assumes the enviable position of Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council and the insufferable mantle of our ‘new Messiah’. In an interview with Stuart Rintoul for the Sydney Morning Herald of 5 October, Lowitja O’Donoghue was adamant Warren Mundine “is not our new Messiah”
whilst Pat Dodson – on the same topic - was unambiguous in his innocuous sitting-on-the-fence commentary that “it was far from clear what Mr Mundine intended to do”. Gary Foley weighed in on the topic for his opinion piece in Tracker by expressing concern of the ‘kindred spirit’ relationship forged between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Mundine Page 1
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and questioned whether “this convenient relationship (or relationship of convenience) will ultimately be to the benefit of many Aboriginal people”. Lynette Riley, Mundine’s former wife of 27 years was candid in her views on whether the Bundjalung boy from Grafton, who she fell in love with in 1983, married in 1984 and married for a second time in 2003 and together raised seven children, had what it takes to be Indigenous Australians’ new Messiah. In an exclusive interview with Stuart Rintoul – that featured the above commentary from Lowitja and Pat - Lyn said, “‘I think he has sold out his family and his culture. I think he gave up his good Aboriginal wife and kids so he could do that.” Like most things in black affairs the so-called ‘exclusive interview’ of Rintoul’s on the extracurricular activities of a philandering husband – which really wasn’t an exclusive - has been discussed in whispered tones at social functions for years. In fact I’d heard about it from various sources over the years but only had it confirmed from Lyn at the 60th birthday party in Brisbane that she attended with friends a couple of weeks before the story broke in the SMH. It was over a meal at the birthday of our mutual friend on Brisbane’s west side that I asked Lyn how she thought Warren would go in his new role that Abbott had anointed him to. She was very forthright – in that she thought he wouldn’t be a good leader because ‘Warren was too much in love with himself and his career to help others’ – and in sharing Warren’s extra-marital affairs with me. Lyn then made the startling comment that Warren said she was ‘too Aboriginal’ for his career advancement and as such then made the decision to ‘upsize’ in the wife’s department to a “whiter more politically connected version”. “Where is the digital recorder Page 2
Lynette Riley, Mundine’s former wife of 27 years.
when you need one,” I thought to myself as Lyn continued to share her most intimate of details on the former President of the Labor Party and now confidante to the new Coalition Prime Minister on all things Indigenous. “I struggled with the brutal honesty of him saying I was ‘too Aboriginal’ because that is what I’m most proud of, that our children are most proud of, and that of which I thought Warren was most proud of,” the Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Studies at Sydney University said with a feeling of pensive sadness. I left Lyn later that night with a parting comment that I hoped she could find the strength to share her remarkable story with the rest of the nation. I don’t have a position either way on Warren Mundine – having only spoken to him on a couple of occasions in my life – but felt that Australians, and our mob in particular, needed to be made aware of the man – his strengths
and failings - who was going to be pivotal in shaping the future social and economic policies for all Indigenous Australians. It was a bit of wishful thinking on my part that Lyn would share the story ‘on the record’ with me to tell the nation through our media outlet, but that was not to be. I found that out a few weeks ago when someone told me Stuart Rintoul would be breaking it in the Herald the following weekend. On the morning in question of the day the story was to break I turned on my laptop in my Byron Bay hotel – where my wife Rhonda and I were in town to cover the inaugural Boomerang Festival – and to my surprise, when I typed in Warren Mundine in a Google search, Lyn’s exposé was not initially found in the myriad of Mundine news stories. As Rhonda and I took in the tropical splendour of the long stroll along the boardwalk, from our room to breakfast at the spectacular
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Byron at Byron Resort restaurant, I shared with her my concerns that Mundine’s lawyers must’ve put a stop to Lyn’s story. Then fortuitously, half way along the boardwalk, an upwardly mobile young couple walked quickly past us to the restaurant and were heard talking about “Mundine and his extra-marital affairs”. Rhonda and I looked at each other, nodded, and our boardwalk leisurely stroll suddenly became brisk with purpose. Over breakfast I could see older guests reading the only complementary copies on offer of the SMH at their tables and try as I might to sample all that was on offer at the vast buffet to stall for time to finally get my hand on that paper, it wasn’t to be. I did eventually locate the SMH news link on my laptop back in our room and read Rintoul’s story; of the bitter divorce, after Lyn caught Warren cheating. And, “But it remained in the shadows as Mundine rose, becoming national president of the Labor Party, an outspoken critic of decades of failed Aboriginal policy, an adviser to the Howard government on Aboriginal affairs, and now a close personal friend and adviser to a conservative prime minister,” that Rintoul wrote. When we finally arrived at the Boomerang Festival, 10 kms north of Byron Bay at Tyagarah Tee Tree Farm, Lyn’s exclusive in the SMH was the main talking point for Indigenous leaders, in attendance from all around the nation, as they sat casually in mild temperatures under a cloudless blue sky, in between taking in the array of great artists on offer. Interestingly enough I did have a friendly chat later that afternoon with Warren’s brother Djon at the festival and he too was surprised with the serendipitous media coverage. “I find it bizarre that Lyn’s kept these little secrets to herself for all
these years and now that Warren’s doing well for himself politically she’s chosen to do a ‘tell all’ to the Herald,” the renowned curator, activist, writer and occasional artist said. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” was the parting words from a brother trying to discern the gravity of the situation his brother Warren must now manage in all his future dealings with our mob – who are customarily slow to praise but quick to criticize. The response to Mundine’s ‘too Aboriginal’ comment about his exwife and extra-marital affairs was rapid. First Nations Telegraph’s Facebook page the following day was inundated with mostly negative attacks on Mundine’s character: “How can we trust someone in leadership if they can’t be trustworthy with their wife…” and “never liked him and now I hate him” and “Why do we care what this guy does? I think he is just a jerk – no voice for first people”. Some commented, “Sounds like sour grapes to me” and “Don’t you just love Aboriginal politics … too Aboriginal … not Aboriginal enough … a poor Murri just can’t win.” Irrespective of what others think of Warren Mundine’s colorful past today, it makes little difference to the imminence of his elevation to the top job in Indigenous affairs as Abbott’s go-to-man sitting at the head of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council. At the end of last month when Tony Abbott signed off on the Council, to inform the policy implementation of his government, he said the council “will focus on practical changes to improve the lives of Aboriginal people”. In formally announcing the Indigenous Advisory Council Abbott spoke highly of Mundine as a “natural leader and a forthright advocate for Indigenous Australia”. “There is so much goodwill,”
Abbott said. “The challenge, though, is to convert good sentiment into practical change for the better. I want to be a prime minister for Aboriginal affairs and I am delighted that Warren Mundine has taken up the call to be part of this journey with me.” As the keynote speaker on health at the Baker IDI Central Australia Oration in Alice Springs on 4 October, Mundine said he had reached the life expectation of Indigenous males and almost became a statistic last year after undergoing a quintuple by-pass surgery. During his heart surgery comments, made in his introductory remarks, Mundine added an ominous warning to his critics when he told the captivated audience that he intended to be around in black politics for many years to come. “The bad news for my detractors is that as long as I look after my new arteries I could well live to be 90 like my father did, and I fully intend to,” the former fitter and machinist and proud Catholic said. Whilst it was a taxing task trying to find an Indigenous leader, with any credibility in the movement, who would go on the public record for this article to champion the political attributes of Warren Mundine, I hope, for all Indigenous Australians, that in the near future that I do talk to a significant number who will do so. If our creditable leaders do speak highly of Mundine in the future it would then confirm that he did have the requisite skills after all, that many doubted he had, to perform the task assigned to him by Abbott of “getting outcomes”. Only time will tell whether Mundine is ‘the real deal’ and will deliver the goods for our mob or if his colourful past, including extra-marital affairs and the ‘too Aboriginal’ call on his ex-wife as the reason for their divorce, prove to be his Achilles’ heel. Page 3