Chase for Skase over.

August 5, 2001 3:41 PM

Chase for Skase over. That is, if you believe it. There'll be certain elements in the media who'll doubt the death of Christopher Skase. Prepare for killer headlines, such as "Skase Escapes Spain for Underworld - Australian Authorities Look Up Underworld in Street Directory".
posted by Neale (6 comments total)

What a strangely written article. Halfway through, I thought the author had decided to start over from the beginning.
posted by tomorama at 5:30 PM on August 5, 2001

It just seems like the Skase thing has been going on for so long that the first thing to do is to doubt the legitimacy of the claims... like how every single report on his illness over the last decade, and the photos of him in surgery and such, were seen in a sceptical light, at least by the media and various indignant Australians.

I still don't actually understand what he did that was so bad (I was quite young at the time that Skase and fam ran off to Spain), but if this is all real, then I do feel for his wife and family.

Neale: hee! Great headline ;-)
posted by sammy at 5:44 PM on August 5, 2001

He said Mr Skase's wife Pixie was by his side.

His wife was named Pixie... how cute/odd is that.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 6:34 PM on August 5, 2001

And so the backlash begins. I swear someone should write a book on the Skase/Media phenomoemoneomonen.
posted by Neale at 7:43 PM on August 5, 2001

from today's Crikey, which is an Australian political e-zine I have something to do with.

Skase was great copy - a bloke who turned a tin mining outfit into a media and leisure giant with Hardy Brothers on the side for nick-knacks, made a bid for one of Hollywood's most legendary studios, had a little trouble in the cashflow department and legged it off to exile on a millionaires' playground in the Mediterranean.

The hair, the Miami Vice outfits, the yachts, a resort opened with a concert from Sinatra and a marriage to someone who called herself Pixie - Skase courted and was guaranteed publicity. Running to Spain - a much more glamorous location than that other favourite bolt-hole for the local busted businesspeople, Poland - guaranteed it would continue.

Skase became the man Australians loved to hate. His only rival, Alan Bond, somehow managed to keep some vague credibility, but Skase sparked off a million talkback rants and an atmosphere where Andrew Denton's "Chase for Skase" stunt could actually win donations.

It didn't really matter that the funds that Skase had supposedly stashed away would only be a drop in the ocean when it came to paying off debts - or that some commentators thought he could beat the charges he was facing. Get Skase was the order of the day.

Such was the environment Skase generated that in 1997, when Attorney-General Darryl Williams made a pragmatic move to abandon the extradition proceeding, he was immediately ordered back on the hunt by an angry PM.

But ten years on, what has changed? Despite the creation of a whole new range of regulators, HIH went down the plughole before their eyes. OneTel was probably trading while insolvent. It seems Australia's business, media and government still can't recognise shonks and protect consumers and shareholders.
posted by lagado at 9:44 PM on August 5, 2001

That link again
posted by lagado at 9:45 PM on August 5, 2001