Erik Eklund
Erik Eklund is an award winning historian and Adjunct Professor of History at The Australian National University. He was Professor of History and Head of School at Monash University from 2008 to 2013 and the Keith Cameron Visiting Professor in Australian History at University College Dublin, Ireland from 2015 to 2016. He is currently working as the Deputy Director of Navy Research at the Sea Power Centre in Canberra.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7335-8041
Politics, Pride and Perversion »
The Rise and Fall of Frank Arkell
Authored by: Erik Eklund
Publication date: 2025
Frank Arkell (1929–1998) was the most successful politician of his generation; an Independent who served as Wollongong’s Lord Mayor (1974–1991) and state member (1984–1991). Arkell dominated Wollongong public life with unstoppable energy, eccentric flair, and a single-minded determination to support the city through economic restructuring. Despite his popularity, at the edges of public consciousness there was growing disquiet over Arkell’s private life …
‘A compelling biography … Eklund provides a nuanced exploration of Arkell’s relentless efforts to transform Wollongong from a ‘steel city’ to the ‘Leisure Coast’, as well as his connections to an extensive paedophile network exposed during the 1997 Wood Royal Commission …’
— Associate Professor Jayne Persian, University of Southern Queensland
‘Eklund discloses the tragic consequences of unbridled male lust, deep social inequality and unaccountable class power … we have here a shocking story of sexual abuse and official corruption that brought untold suffering, political disgrace and, in the end, a brutal murder.’
— Professor Frank Bongiorno AM, author of Dreamers and Schemers: the political history of Australia
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