Torn Apart + Lunch 10.30am - 1.00pm

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What are the ramifications of crime in small communities where people know each other?

Over the years we have witnessed via the media shocking crimes in small communities. You might recall the cases of baby Jaidyn Leslie in Moe; Stephanie Scott in Leeton; and closer to home, 12 year-old Terry Floyd who went missing on the Maryborough-Avoca Road more than 48 years ago,

Join Charlie Bezzina, former homicide detective, Phil Cleary author of 'Getting Away With Murder' and ex-MP and footballer, and Carmel Bird, writer and opinionista discussing the corollaries of crime in small communities.

This event is part of the Sunday Package.

Charlie Bezzina worked within the Victorian Police force on some of the State’s highest profile criminal cases. He was awarded four commendations at Homicide and Westgate Drug Task Force. Bezzina has been involved in the underworld murder of Alphonse Gangitano, the murder of heart surgeon Dr Victor Chang, manslaughter on international cricketer David Hookes, serial killer Paul Charles Denyer and the suspicious death of sporting media personality Clinton Grybas. Bezzina also led overseas extraditions from Vietnam and Baltimore USA. Since retiring from Victoria Police in December 2009, He is also a private investigator, security and risk consultant, media commentator and a highly regarded speaker.

Phil Cleary is a former teacher, football legend and independent member of the Australian Parliament. A political scientist and historian, Phil and is the  author of the books Cleary Independent (1998), Just another little murder (2002) and Getting away with murder (2005) and numerous published articles. Since the murder of his 25-year-old sister, Vicki, in 1987, Phil has been at the forefront of the campaign to stop violence against women. From July 2016 to November 2019 he was a member of the Victorian government’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council, which oversaw the state government's family violence reform agenda. In 2017 he created Vicki Cleary Day in memory of Vicki and all the women taken by violent men. Between 2016 and 2019 he was the spokesperson for the campaign that stopped a proposed destructive excavation at the Queen Victoria Market. In 2019 he was awarded the Gowland Award for his campaigning to end violence against women.  In 2022 Phil was made a Distinguished Alumni of La Trobe University. His latest project, a documentary film, Gladys and the Brunswick Boys, is in production.

Carmel Bird is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Since then she has published 36 books including novels, essays, anthologies, children's books and manuals on how to write.

She grew up in Tasmania, which is currently known by its indigenous name of lutruwita, and much of her writing reflects her place of origin. She now lives in central Victoria, on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung land. Her new book Love Letter to Lola is a collection of short stories, several of which are set in lutruwita. Her first book Dimitra was published in 1976, and her memoir Telltale was published in 2022. In 2022 the University of Tasmania awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, and in 2016 I received the Patrick White Award for Literature.