Melbourne University Publishing

The Hilton Bombing

$25.00 ~~$34.99~~

The terrorist turned reverend: a remarkable story told for the first time

In 1978, Evan Pederick, a naive 22-year-old in the thrall of a radical religious movement, Ananda Marga, placed an enormous bomb outside Sydney's Hilton Hotel. It killed three people. A decade later, Pederick confessed to this act of terrorism. But when one of his alleged accomplices was later acquitted, significant parts of Pederick's testimony were undermined and he was accused of being a 'fantasist'.

Conspiracy theories flooded in to fill the vacuum. Was it a plot by ASIO, rather than, as Pederick asserted, a plot to assassinate the Indian prime minister? In the absence of a Royal Commission or similar inquiry, mystery continues to shroud the deadliest terror attack on Australian soil. Pederick, an Anglican priest, stands by his confession and testimony.

Here is his story, told for the first time. It is an extraordinary tale of guilt, remorse, renewal, and the search for forgiveness.

About the author

Imre Salusinszky was born in Budapest in 1955. He and his family came to Australia as refugees following the 1956 Hungarian uprising. He was educated at the University of Melbourne and at Oxford. Between 1994 and 2012, Imre’s weekly column appeared in daily newspapers across Australia. He served on the Australia Council between 2006 and 2009. Imre spent seven years reporting on NSW politics, and between 2013 and 2017 was a senior adviser to the former NSW Premier, Mike Baird. His previous publications include, as editor, The Oxford Book of Australian Essays.

Imre Salusinszky
Published October 2019
Paperback
486 pages
196mm x 129mm
ISBN: 9780522875492