THE CATHOLIC Church in Perth almost lost $38 million when the infamous Rothwells Bank collapsed in 1988, somehow managing to withdraw the money before it was too late, despite incurring the wrath of the then-Premier Brian Burke.
The extraordinary event is recounted in Tales From Boom Town, written by former ABC journalist Peter Kennedy. The book was officially launched on April 23 at the University of Western Australia.
The revelations regarding the Church’s finances are found in the book’s sixth chapter, and are based on Mr Kennedy’s interview with Michael Beech, who was the deputy chancellor of the Archdiocese at the time.
“[Mr Beech] said the Church had virtually all the money being held for its schools – estimated at more than $38 million – deposited in Rothwells,” Mr Kennedy writes.
“He and prominent Catholic barrister, Terry O’Connor QC, had visited Archbishop William Foley at his Leederville home on the Sunday of the Rothwells rescue and told him he had jeopardised the Church’s finances.”
The book explains how Catholic educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame, Peter Tannock, was furious at the amount invested in Rothwells, according to Mr Beech.
Two days after visiting Archbishop Foley, Mr Beech, Mr O’Connor and Mr Tannock commenced a rescue of their own, hoping to get the Church’s money out of the bank as quickly as possible.
“Money was withdrawn at the rate of up to $700,000 a day,” Mr Kennedy explains. “There was a quick reaction. “Burke was on the phone virtually straight away,” Beech said. “He was livid that this was happening, saying something like ‘here we are rescuing it (Rothwells) and you are doing the dirty on us’.”
According to Mr Beech, the trio managed to get all of the Church’s money out in January 1988, 10 months before Rothwells collapsed.
Tales From Boom Town chronicles the leadership of 11 WA premiers, all of whom Mr Kennedy dealt with as a journalist. The book was three years in the making, and is based on more than 80 interviews Mr Kennedy undertook.
Speaking to The Record prior to the book launch, Mr Kennedy said all the leaders, regardless of their religious views, retained a certain morality in their leadership.
“I think the leaders that I’ve observed have kept the traditional separation between Church and State,” he said.
“But there was evidence to a greater or lesser extent that they all were guided by a moral compass about doing the right thing for the greater good.”
Of the six State leaders Mr Kennedy worked with, three were raised Catholic – Brian Burke, Ray O’Connor and Carmen Lawrence – although Dr Lawrence later left the faith.
Mr Kennedy said although Mr Burke is still an “extremely controversial figure”, he was a popular leader and a significant part of the State’s political history.
As a Catholic, he also took a strong stand on issues of morality.
“There were some things that he was strong on, for instance, pornography and things like that… he had quite firm views on that,” Mr Kennedy said.
“He told me that he said to some of his colleagues that if they raised the issue of abortion… he’d walk away, he’d give it away, because if they raised the abortion issue, we’d end up with the most relaxed abortion laws in Australia, and so while he was there the issue wasn’t raised.”
Mr Kennedy said all the premiers recognised the importance of winning and retaining the Catholic population’s vote, but one leader, Labor’s John Tonkin, went to particular lengths to do so.
“He had been very closely involved with the Labor Party’s debate in the mid-60s on State aid to Church schools, mainly Catholic schools at that stage, and he was a strong advocate of government assistance to Church schools when there was none,” Mr Kennedy said.
“It was a hot issue within the national Labor Party. At a national conference, John Tonkin spoke strongly in support of it, the proposal was accepted and that was considered a big step in helping Gough Whitlam become Prime Minister.”
It was also the kick-start for government assistance to Church-run schools, which has steadily increased since the 1960s.
Reflecting on the importance of having good politicians representing the people, Mr Kennedy said Catholics should be prepared to nominate for parliament.
“We’re 25 per cent of the population, so I’d like to see 25 per cent of the MPs being Catholic so that the Catholic view gets aired in the parliament,” he said. “As a Catholic myself, I think it’s quite important that the Catholic voice be heard, and not apologetically either. The Church should be upfront in stating its position publicly.”