Vale Richard Neville (2) - David Hare recalls an essential moment

Only Richard could have put to air one night (late 70s, the Fraser years) on his regular post 10pm 2FC (Now Radio National) late night interview/ review half hour, a bunch of self- professed gay "pedophiles" and one young-ish male hustler from the Wall, who - it quickly became clear to me - were mostly older queens around the Sydney, social circuit, one of whom I recognized instantly (no names no pack drill). They all chattered away about their taste for adolescent boys, usually very willing ones (like me a decade earlier) in what really should have been a program about ephebophilia, if indeed that persuasion were even a fetish, let alone a singly gay male one. But such niceties were not part of the program. 

One of the panel the only un-funny one- was deadly serious and a very obvious and serious pedophile, and Neville singled him out for attention with, "so you're not just talking about a butch weekend in the bush with "uncle" fishing and hunting"? the show was completely rivetting, really walking the line. If you weren't there at the time you can only guess at the subsequent outcry from the morality brigade, including not a few old time lefties which just showed how homophobic Push and post Push Sydney Bohemia always was. Neville never stood down over the show, to his immense credit, and the ABC never resiled from putting it to air, to its credit. Could anyone imagine this happening today?