by Thomas, Paul
While Eric had not been a wastrel, he was the sole breadwinner so his departure meant his family faced the prospect of significantly reduced circumstances. (Elizabeth’s parents were able to provide limited assistance.) She went out to work, initially as a shop assistant. From this point on, Elizabeth worked full-time, mainly in administrative and basic accounting roles in small businesses. Perhaps as a consequence, her son was notably more self-reliant than most of his peers.
Brightside did not shine at Auckland Grammar, either academically or athletically. He did, however, have the knack of ingratiating himself with high achievers. While the Brightsides eked out a frugal existence in Eden Terrace, most of Eddie’s friends lived in Remuera or Epsom and were comparatively well-off. He thus had plenty of opportunities to see how ‘the other half lived’. On the other hand, his lively personality and ‘gift of the gab’ made him a social success and the object of some admiration and envy.
Brightside left school in 1967 with School Certificate and University Entrance. Although his mother wanted him to go to university, he was anxious to start earning money and took up a traineeship with the Bank of New Zealand.
4. UNIVERSITY
In 1969 Brightside surprised his mother and friends by leaving the BNZ to become a full-time university student. Claiming a keen interest in politics, a development that had escaped their notice, he enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Political Studies and History. He was soon actively involved in student politics. While not all students were politically engaged and those of a conservative persuasion were probably inclined to keep their heads down on campus, the wider student movement was overwhelmingly left-wing and anti-government, and its leaders and spokespeople, the likes of Tim Shadbolt, stridently so.
The defining and galvanising cause was opposition to the Vietnam War in which New Zealand was a minor participant in line with its obligations under the ANZUS Treaty.
In January 1970 American Vice-President Spiro Agnew visited New Zealand, staying at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Auckland. An estimated 700 protesters gathered outside the hotel, which was located on the edge of the university campus (and whose large lower-floor bar was a popular student watering hole). Emotions ran high; the confrontation between protesters and the large police contingent spilled over into Albert Park and the skirmishing that took place there led to accusations of police brutality.
Brightside was one of the protest organisers, but may have played a double game. He later claimed that he was approached by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and/or the police seeking information on the protesters’ aims and tactics. In some versions of the story he refused point-blank; in others he pretended to cooperate, but provided misinformation. However, he told the woman with whom he was romantically involved at the time of his disappearance a rather different story: that he was arrested for possession of marijuana, but escaped without charge by offering to be an informant.
Here we see the first instance of what would become a pattern: vagueness about his exact role and motivation, leaving different people with contrasting impressions.
Brightside’s links to the student movement proved helpful when he showed up in Wellington 15 years later. While not a close associate, future Cabinet Minister Phil Goff was among the rising stars in the Labour Party who knew Brightside from their student days and were able to ‘put in a good word’.
Although he had passed all his papers and was on track to complete his BA, Brightside dropped out of university mid-way through his third year. In July 1971 he left for Australia, telling his mother that he had issues with his father that he needed to resolve one way or the other. However, he told friends that BAs were ‘a dime a dozen’ and that his father had been in touch, offering to pay his airfare and arrange a job for him in Sydney.
5. AUSTRALIA
Notwithstanding what he had told his mother and any psychological scarring caused by Eric’s desertion, Eddie’s reunion with his father seems to have been entirely amicable. Through Eric’s contacts (he was working for the tabloid Daily Telegraph) Eddie got a job at a leading Sydney public relations/advertising agency. Following the right-of-centre Liberal-Country Party Coalition’s loss in the December 1972 federal election, the agency secured the Liberal Party as a client and Brightside became part of the team working on the account. Although he had exaggerated his qualifications (for instance, claiming to have completed an honours degree in Political Studies), he impressed both his colleagues and Liberal Party officials as ‘a natural’ — a sharp, skilled operator with finely tuned political instincts.
(Incidentally, given the uncertainty over where Brightside’s political sympathies actually lay — he was nothing if not a chameleon — it is worth noting that Liberal Party officials who worked with him during this period were surprised by his later involvement with the New Zealand Labour Party, having been under the impression that he was robustly right-wing.)
Brightside played an active role in the December 1975 federal election campaign in which the Liberal-Country Party Coalition, led by caretaker Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, trounced the Labor Party, led by deposed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Brightside would later claim to have had a hand in devising the strategy of using the Coalition’s Senate majority to delay the passage of budget bills and thereby force an early election. The failure to secure supply was the trigger for Governor-General Sir John Kerr’s dismissal of the Whitlam government in November 1975.
Given some of the speculation that followed Brightside’s disappearance, we should draw attention firstly to the Australian left-wing conspiracy theory that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), perhaps in collusion with Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), had a hand in Whitlam’s downfall; and, secondly, to the fact that Brightside often implied that he had contacts in the CIA, ASIO and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS).
In March 1976 Eric Brightside drowned while swimming at Coolum beach, Queensland. He was body-surfing in strong waves and was probably dumped on his head, knocked unconscious and swept out to sea. Eddie was the sole beneficiary and was thought to have done well from the sale of his father’s terraced house in Paddington. He would later claim to have given half this windfall to his mother; she insisted that she received ‘a couple of thousand dollars’.
On a brief visit to New Zealand, Brightside told friends he was going to spend a year or so travelling overland from Singapore to London. He flew out of New Zealand in July 1976. Eight and a half years would elapse before his return.
6. UK/USA
There is no hard information to hand regarding Brightside’s whereabouts and activities between July 1976 and August 1978 when he surfaced in London. Wellington acquaintances recall him claiming to have been in Beirut, Lebanon during the early stages of the civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990.
Through his Australian Liberal Party connections, Brightside obtained a position with the Conservative Party organisation, then gearing up for the general election that would sweep Margaret Thatcher into power in May 1979. As in Australia, he was highly regarded for his political instincts and mastery of the logistical and organisational aspects of campaigning.
On the basis of glowing references from the Conservative Party high command, Brightside flew to the United States in July 1979 to take up a position with Republican presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan’s campaign organisation. It is testimony to Brightside’s political acumen that he chose to work for former movie star Reagan, at that time widely dismissed in UK political circles as lightweight, extreme and unelectable, rather than more highly regarded candidates like Senator Howard Baker, former Texas Governor John Connally and former United Nations Ambassador and CIA Director George Bush Senior.
In November 1980 Reagan gained a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter, winning 449 Electoral College votes to Carter’s 49. Thus Brights
ide had worked on three triumphant election campaigns in three different countries. While his roles and influence within the various campaigns remain a matter of some conjecture and were almost certainly less than he sometimes implied, this was nevertheless a unique distinction. It explains why he was seen in Wellington as something of a political guru, even by those who distrusted him because of his association with parties of the right or were put off by his glib manner and brash personality.
During the campaign, Brightside became friendly with Gerard ‘Gerry’ Waitz, the multi-millionaire Wall Street hedge-fund operator and a leading donor to the Reagan campaign. It was at Brightside’s suggestion that in 1981 Waitz made the first of his many visits to New Zealand, purchasing a beachfront property on Waiheke Island. In 1983 Waitz bought the famous Morgan homestead and surrounding property in Wairarapa. (It is understood that he has resumed spending time at the property since the fall of Helen Clark’s Labour government in November 2008.) Given the American’s track record of contributing to political causes, Brightside’s access to Waitz was another factor in his favour when he was seeking to establish himself in Wellington.
In 1981 Brightside spent several months working for a Washington DC political lobbyist. He then disappeared from view. We have no hard information on his whereabouts and activities in 1982–84, although he sometimes mentioned that he had visited a number of Latin American countries, including El Salvador where a bitter civil war between the US-backed junta and leftist insurgents was under way.
7. WELLINGTON
Brightside arrived unannounced in Wellington in February 1985. With his impressive CV and international connections he had no trouble securing a position with one of the many consultancies which ‘set up shop’ in the capital around this time. Despite his past involvement with right-wing parties, he presented himself as a non-partisan political strategist enthused by the Labour government’s programme of social reform and economic restructuring. As noted above, his University of Auckland ties gave him ‘a foot in the door’. Labourites who believed a second term of office was crucial in order to consolidate their legislative achievements were impressed by Brightside’s track record in successful election campaigns; his charm, worldliness and breezy self-confidence helped win over some of those who were initially suspicious. Over time he was also able to capitalise on his links to big business, a by-product of his friendship with Waitz.
The degree of Brightside’s access to and influence on Labour’s inner circle would become a matter of speculation and dispute. Broadly speaking there were several schools of thought.
Those who believed Brightside oversold himself characterised him as a glorified court jester whom certain ministers enjoyed having around but didn’t take very seriously. Others saw him as ‘not one of us’ — i.e. an unprincipled opportunist to be kept at arm’s length. The dissenting view was that his counsel was sought and listened to, and he was seen as a useful go-between to the business community and the Reagan Administration as the nuclear ships row worsened. There is no doubt that he was on friendly terms with a number of ministers, particularly those who enjoyed discussing American politics late into the night over a few drinks.
8. DISAPPEARANCE
The last known sighting of Brightside was on the evening of Thursday August 27th 1987. He had a quick, late dinner at a Chinese restaurant with his girlfriend, a Press Gallery reporter. She recalled him being distracted and somewhat off-hand, as he had been for the previous two weeks. Their usual practice after eating out was to spend the night together at Brightside’s city apartment, but he ruled that out saying he would have to work through the night. He was not at liberty to discuss the project in question which, given their respective roles, was not an uncommon situation. Brightside told her he would be out of town on business over the weekend, but would be in touch the following Sunday night or Monday morning. When she had not heard from him by Tuesday morning and was unable to contact him, she began ringing around his friends and associates.
A month earlier Brightside had renewed the lease on his apartment, suggesting his disappearance was not long in the planning. He cleared out his bank accounts. He left a note in his apartment — ‘To Whom it may Concern’ — saying he had decided to pursue unspecified opportunities overseas and did not want to go through a tiresome round of explanations and farewells. To those inconvenienced by his abrupt departure or who felt let down, he offered an apology and an explanation of sorts: ‘That’s the nature of this beast.’
All of Brightside’s friends and associates that we were able to contact and who consented to be interviewed insisted they have not heard from him since his disappearance. His mother, now 90 and living in an Auckland retirement village, was not responsive when we tried to interview her.
9. CONCLUSION
The most baffling aspect of Brightside’s disappearance is this: if he did what he said he was going to do — pursue overseas opportunities — why has he not been heard from or heard of since 1987? Internet searches generate no references post-dating his disappearance.
Six months after Brightside disappeared and at the behest of a former associate, an Immigration Department official checked whether his passport had been used in the interim. It had not (and, we understand, has not been used since). On the face of it, this would indicate that Brightside was still in New Zealand in early 1988, and indeed still is. However, he may have acquired a second passport while he was overseas. Given his supposed contacts in the intelligence world, it is entirely possible that he had a false passport and has been living under that assumed identity ever since.
Brightside’s disappearance triggered a welter of speculation. Some believed he was spooked by his 25-year-old girlfriend’s desire to cohabitate. The relationship had been going for ten months, and she made no secret of her intention to be married with children by the time she was 30.
Others took Brightside at his word: it was simply the nature of the beast. He was an opportunist who avoided emotional connections or commitments; an opportunity had arisen elsewhere and he reacted in typical ‘fly by night’ fashion.
A theory popular in left-wing circles was that Brightside had been recruited by the CIA and sent to New Zealand to ingratiate himself with senior ministers and persuade them to revisit their anti-nuclear stance. Proponents of this theory pointed out that Brightside turned up in Wellington a matter of days after the Government refused to allow the USS Buchanan to visit, a decision that signalled the beginning of the end of the New Zealand-US military alliance. According to this theory, after Labour’s re-election in August 1987 the Americans decided the situation was irretrievable and extracted Brightside to avoid the fall-out that would have ensued had his role come to light. The obvious counter-argument is that, if that was the case, a conventional, low-key departure would have caused much less speculation.
Although there is no hard evidence to support any of the theories arising from Brightside’s disappearance and subsequent invisibility (one of which, obviously, is that he is dead and has been for some time), we believe the most likely scenario is that he left the country on a false passport within a matter of days and has, for reasons unknown, lived under an assumed name, most likely in the USA, ever since.
Caspar Quedley’s package also contained a photo labelled ‘Eddie Brightside, 1986’. Brightside had an impressive head of yellow-blond hair that flopped over his ears and onto his forehead, and a roundish face whose soft shapes and lack of definition suggested cheerful hedonism or perhaps a character deficit. He was smiling for the camera, but it was a cool and distant smile of private amusement that had nothing in it for the photographer or anyone else out there.
There was no logo, no letterhead, nothing whatsoever to identify the authors, just an elegantly handwritten note across the top of the first page:
I know you’ve handled lots of confidential/sensitive info in your time, but you heard the man. Do not copy, do not show to anyone. Burn aft
er reading. Seriously. QC
Van Roon tossed the document aside and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes. He really didn’t know what to make of Eddie Brightside or Caspar Quedley or the assignment. The only thing he was reasonably sure of was that whoever was after Brightside, it wasn’t because they were still pissed off over some dud investment advice thirty-odd years ago.
Six
Tito Ihaka didn’t believe in any of it. He didn’t believe in God, Satan, heaven, hell, previous lives or reincarnation — coming back as a dolphin or a giant of the forest or, for that matter, a sewer rat. He didn’t believe in karma, destiny, extra-sensory perception, UFOs, the Abominable Snowman, elaborate conspiracy theories or the notion that you could be whatever you wanted to be as long as you kept telling yourself you could be whatever you wanted to be.
He believed that shit happened. He believed in randomness and coincidence and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He believed there were bad people out there. Some were bad because their upbringing and circumstances pushed them in that direction; some were just born that way. Whichever it was, most of them were never going to change. He understood that you had to be in to win. He also understood that your chances of winning Lotto were roughly the same as your chances of being killed by a piece of space junk falling back to earth.
So he didn’t attach any significance to the fact that as he was sitting there contemplating going over Detective Inspector Tony Charlton’s head, he got a call from the Auckland District Commander’s secretary summoning him to mahogany row.
By the time he got there, he still hadn’t decided whether he should try to persuade Finbar McGrail to override Charlton’s veto. It wasn’t that he was wary of getting further offside with Charlton; since the knock-back, irritation and frustration had hardened into truculence. Nor was he worried that some colleagues would see it as hypocritical given his long track record of rubbishing anyone who resorted to weaselly manoeuvring. There was a bloody big difference between using your connections to get unpaid time off to find out how your old man really died, and brown-nosing your way onto some bullshit War on Drugs junket or into a bigger office.