It's been 22 years since Peter Carey left Australia to live in the United States. The author has written at length about the two nations, setting his books both countries.
It's fitting then that his latest fiction offering should explore the intricacies of Australia-US relations.
This book would not exist without Assange. While the United States and people in congress were … calling him a traitor—I started to think, “Hang on pal, he’s not a traitor, he’s not even an American, he’s an Australian.”
The book tells the story of left-wing journalist Felix Moore, who has been enlisted by a Labor powerbroker to write the biography of young computer hacker, Gaby Baillieux. Baillieux is a public enemy of the United States after releasing a computer virus that set American prisoners free.
It's the hacker's motivation that provides the link to Australia's tumultuous political history. Felix Moore is convinced the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) engineered the dismissal of the Whitlam government, and Baillieux's act of technological terror is a form of retribution.
Carey admits to being obsessed by the Whitlam dismissal, and the possibility the CIA were involved. He can vividly recall the distress that engulfed Australia following the government's removal.
‘I remember the day or two after the dismissal,' he says.
'I was still working in advertising, and the art director’s club awards were in Melbourne. We’d won a lot of prizes and I remember—probably drunkenly—[being] on the stage making a speech about the shame of this criminal act.’
Incidentally, Whitlam himself always downplayed the suggestion of any CIA involvement.
In developing his plot, Carey looked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
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Drawing on the idea that Assange's mother was part of the left in the '70s, Carey imagined Assange as the product of a community intent on payback for 1975.
‘This book would not exist without Assange,’ he says.
‘While the United States and people in congress were calling for his execution, basically—certainly calling him a traitor—I started to think, “Hang on pal, he’s not a traitor, he’s not even an American, he’s an Australian.”’
Like other expatriates, the Australian author has been scorned for choosing to live and work overseas. He believes that there is a special place in Australian culture reserved for the expatriate, with mixed implications.
‘When one leaves, the unsaid accusation is that you’re going somewhere else because Australia is not good enough for you,’ Carey told The Paris Review.
‘The expatriate is occasionally lauded, and occasionally fiercely criticised, for daring to come back and judge.’
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Carey maintains his decision to relocate to America all those years ago was based on personal circumstances. While he disagrees with much in American politics, he continues to find New York City a place of possibility.
‘We spend all our time being sort of appalled and outraged by certain sorts of American behavior,' says Carey.
'But we love living in the city ... When you live there, anything can happen.’
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