David Chadwick
UNLIKE almost everyone else in today’s Australia I never met Richard Pratt Australia’s cardboard king.
Apparently, Pratt was Australia’s most likeable man. Isn’t amazing that when you die how everyone forgets your faults and rewrites history for you? As I was saying Pratt was without a fault and without peer at least in Collins Street Melbourne and according to his richest mates.
It may of course help your case for secular sainthood more than a tad or two if you are die a billionaire. Pratt, a billionaire several times over, died and was buried last week, as the media was quick to report, he, Pratt, passed a away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his family at his Melbourne mansion. Morphine is such a godsend it even sends billionaires to sleep peacefully.
Last week the very best of Melbourne business, politics and sports men and women poured out their hearts to this new Victorian saint. Singing his praises from on high the creme del la creme of Melbourne’s top echelons lauded Pratt’s philanthropy, yuppie-do so he gave away millions which is not that hard when you have billions and get tax relief on donations over two dollars. It is no doubt even easier to give away money when you made it by colluding to fix prices and cheat everyday Australians out of tens of millions dollars a year. According to the rich and famous Pratt was so wonderful because he returned a small part of his ill gotten profits as middle and upper class welfare. After all isn’t that what donations to the arts really are just welfare for the wealthy?
After being found guilty of price fixing and being fined 36million dollars Pratt returned his Companion of Honour award to Canberra. Now Pratt is dead and can’t face court on the perjury charges his rich mates have the absolute gall to say because he wasn’t found guilty of perjury his award should be posthumously returned to his family for his charity work! Fuck me dead no wonder some people get on in this world they have hides thicker than a rhinoceros.
