Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Nick Cook, NewSouth, $39.99.
The motivating and fearless story of how affected communities in NSW came together in the early 1980s to respond to the AIDS crisis is well detailed in this book.
This is an extraordinary alliance through a crisis. They were the ones who bravely took action against a harrowing backdrop of illness and death, fear and anger, hate and discrimination.
In the foreword, President of the AIDS Council of NSW Justin Koonin and ACON CEO Nicholas Parkhill bring our attention to the fact that “we are now entering new territory in the struggle against HIV, a struggle that is far from over”.
Above all, they want us to “feel hope” after reading this book. “We want you to reflect on everything that ha been achieved, during the most horrendous of circumstances, and realise there is nothing our communities cannot do when we work together. It took unity, courage and persistence to get us this far and we will need all of those things as we continue moving forward.”
It should be noted that this is not a comprehensive account of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Australia. The guiding motive for this book has been to “ensure younger generations within our communities, as well as people in main-stream society are aware of the dramatic struggle that took place throughout the 1980s and 1990s”
Not only has the research been thorough, but Nick Cook has done widespread examination of the many facts involved.
Former Justice of the High Court of Australia Michael Kirby states: “this book is proof positive that light, hope and courage can grow out of the darkest corners of human experience. ACON emerged in 1980s to give leadership in the Australian struggle against HIV/AIDS. Soon that challenge expanded to a myriad of new controversies: gay rights, drug use, sex work, trans and prisoner experience. Nick Cook chronicles the terrifying early years of the HIV epidemic, identifying heroes and villains. And the story continues to this day to call forth our ‘better angels’.”
