North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 93

NEW ZEALAND BOOKS^

editedbyPAUL LITTLE

ARebelinExile:
TheExtraordinary
StoryofShane“Kiwi”
MartinandHisBattle
toReturntohis
HomeandFamily
JarrodGilbert& ShaneMartin
(Hardie Grant Books, $35)

ShaneMartin’sstory– told
herebyCanterburyUniversi-
tysociologistandgangre-
searcherJarrodGilbert–
suggestsAustralia’sself-
proclaimedenthusiasmfor
larrikinsdoesn’tgoveryfar.
DeportedfromAustralia,he
is a NewZealandertrappedin
hisowncountry.Although
bornandraisedhere,Austral-
iahasbeenhishomefordec-
ades.Thatiswherehebegan
a familyanda business,and
becamea memberofthe
Rebelsmotorcyclegang.
Hisdeportation,onthe
evidencehere,isnotjusta
caseofsystemicinjustice
butofindividualanimosity
fromAustralia’sHomeAf-
fairsMinisterPeterDutton,
whoseemstohavetakena
personalinterestinthecase.
IntheyearspriortoMar-
tin’sdeportation,therewere
a fewminorrun-inswiththe
law.TheRebelsaren’tallthat
rebellious,althoughtheydo,
forinstance,rununlicensed
barsintheirheadquarters.
They have strict codes of con-

duct,undertakeroadjourneys

ofOdysseanproportionsin

convoyandgenerallylead

perfectlynormallives– inside

andoutsidetheclub.

Soitwasasurpriseto

Martinwhenhishomeand

familywerethesubjectofa

heavy-handedraidthatsaw

himthrowninprisonwithno

chargebeforehewassent

backtohiscountryofbirth.

Hestillhasn’tbeencharged

withanything.Thedeporta-

tionwasorderedonthebasis

of“secretevidence”andthe

assumptionisthatit’ssecret

becausethere’sliterally

“nothingtoseehere”.

FromthissideoftheTas-

man,hehasstruggledtorun

hisbusinessandcareforhis

family,includinga sonwhohas

grownintooneoftheall-time

greatsofAustralianRules.He

couldchancereturningtoAus-

traliabutitseemslikelyhe

wouldfindhimselfbackbe-

hindbarsonarrival.Onthe

strengthofthiscrisplytold,

Kafkaesqueyarn,wecanadd

PeopleMindingTheirOwn

BusinesstoAboriginals,ref-

ugees,Muslimsandother

ongoingvictimsofAustralian

human-rightsabuses.

NecessarySecrets

Greg McGee (Upstart Press, $38)

Dennis Sparks is a former

advertisingexecutiveplan-

ningtokillhimselfbeforehe

isclaimedbydementia.On

thisnovel’sfirstpage,we

meettheWaltherwithwhich

heplanstodoit.Ifyou’re

wonderingwhether,accord-

ingtotherulesofdrama,that

gunmentionedearlyonwill

goofflaterinthestory,rest

assuredit does,althoughnot

inthewayyoumightexpect.

Sparkshasthreegrown

childrenwhoeitherhaveor

acquiresecretsastheaction

ofMcGee’sfinenovelplays

out.Thebookis tautlypaced

and elegantly structured in

fourparts,oneforeachsea-

son,andeachtoldprimarily

froma differentcharacter’s

pointofview.Inthetimebe-

tweeneachsection,theac-

tionhasmovedoninsignifi-

cantways.

Moneyistherootofallthe

evilshere.Sparks’agency–

nowfailingunderhisson’s

stewardship– madeitsfor-

tunesellingdentallydestruc-

tive,obesity-inducingsoft

drinkstochildren.It’sthesort

ofblastfromthepastHenrik

Ibsen– whogetsanunfavour-

ablenamecheckhere– would

havedrawnoutoveranentire

drama,butwhichMcGeenev-

erreallydevelops.

Thereareplentyofother

issuestoponder,ripped–

thoughnotroughly– from

today’sheadlines:sustainable

tourism,tereoMāori,legalis-

ingcannabis,dementiarates,

residentialcarefortheelder-

lyandmuchmore.There’s

eventheoutlineofanethical-

lydubiousschemeforending

domesticviolence,whichthe

novelseemstoendorse.

Thetitlesuggests– andthe

actionsupports– theideathat

somesecretsarenecessaryfor

survival.Thatcasemaynotbe

madetoeveryreader’ssatis-

faction,butMcGeehasdeftly

demonstratedthatthemodern

worldisa morally perilous

place at any age.

Onthestrength

ofthiscrisply

told,Kafkaesque

yarn,wecan

addPeople

MindingTheir

OwnBusiness

toAboriginals,

refugees,Muslims

andother

ongoingvictimsof

Australianhuman-

rights abuses.