BOOK REVIEW: NAOMI LEVIN

Richard Pratt: One Out of the box
By James Kirby and Rod Myer, John Wiley and Sons ($34.95 rrp)

RICHARD Pratt was no shrinking violet. In fact, a biography that has recently been released about the businessman and philanthropist explains at length just how public Pratt lived his life.

It is a little disappointing then, that the book relies heavily on information straight from Pratt’s mouth or sourced from media reports -– details that were already public -– rather than conducting in-depth interviews with those close to him to discover the true personality behind the popular identity.

Richard Pratt: One Out of the Box is an easy and interesting read. It is not specified whether the biography has been authorised, but judging by the scarcity of original material, it is unlikely the Pratt family offered any special assistance. Nevertheless it is a good memorial to a man who was, as the book’s title suggests, one out of the box.

Rod Myer, a journalist and author of Living the Dream: The Story of Victor Smorgon, teamed up with acclaimed business reporter James Kirby to write the book. The result is a story that charts Pratt’s achievements in turning Visy from a small Reservoir-based box-maker into a global recycling and packaging giant.

It documents Pratt’s philanthropy in Australia.

“After taking over the family business in 1969 Pratt has said that he began by setting aside $500 a month, increasing that amount as Visy grew, until eventually he was giving away $1 million a month,” the book details.

It focuses more on his arts contributions though, rather than his support of the Jewish community and Israel.

The book also charts Pratt’s downfalls, detailing his relationship with Shari-Lee Hitchcock and his child with the Sydney woman.

The authors write that even through this affair, Pratt did not break “his own dictums”.

“Family remained important to him -– the family had just grown, and Richard Pratt was never one to do things the way everyone else did.”

The penultimate chapter of the book looks at Pratt’s role in the price-fixing allegations with Amcor, another box-maker.

However, for those who were keen followers of the case with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, not much new ground is covered in this book.

Richard Pratt: One Out of the Box provides a strong overview of Pratt’s childhood, family, booming business career and later stumbles. It has a journalistic style that is easy to follow and admirably leaves judgements on Pratt’s character to the reader.