Williamstown resident and former federal MP Richard Evans has written the first book in a political thriller trilogy that has been dubbed Australia’s House of Cards.
Born and raised in Williamstown, Evans moved to Western Australia to play football – and stayed there 25 years.
He served as the Liberal member for the seat of Cowan from 1993-1998, before eventually returning home to Williamstown.
His first book in The Democracy Trilogy, titled Deceit, will be launched on Friday at Pelicans Landing.
The book starts with a plane crash that leads corrupt prime minister Andrew Gerrard to rush through legislation designed to line his retirement bin.
Evans says his experience in Parliament gave him insight in to its operations and “many of the strange folks that come there”.
“I was there when Paul Keating was prime minister and I sat behind John Howard when he was prime minister, so I’ve got a fairly good understanding of the Parliament,” he said.
“When I got involved with writing, which is a calling I guess, what they always tell you to do is write what you know.”
Evans specialises in depicting quirky characters, of which he says there is no shortage in Parliament.
“If you look at the Senate for instance, it’s full of quirky people,” he said.
“You’ve got Hinch, Sarah Hanson-Young, the One Nation guys … Jacqui Lambi, Ricky Muir and the Family First were in there, so it’s a whole bunch of quirky people.
“When I was there, they weren’t all cut-outs; they were all different people there to make a difference.
“There’s a lot of history and a lot of interesting things that happened in politics and I draw upon some of that, and some of it I just read the current newspaper.”
