Keith Wright says sorry for sexual sins that landed him in jail
DISGRACED former Queensland ALP leader Keith Wright broke a 16-year silence yesterday to express regret and sorrow over sexual dealings with girls.
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DISGRACED former Queensland ALP leader Keith Wright broke a 16-year silence yesterday to express regret and sorrow over sexual dealings with girls that cost him more than five years in jail.
"Yes, I really blew it man," Wright said. "I was so stupid. And I profoundly regret it all. I am so sorry.
"I regret it for the girls, I regret it for my family, I regret it for myself and I regret it for those in the community who looked up to me."
Wright, who came within 3000 votes of becoming state premier in 1983, was jailed for eight years in 1993 for indecent dealing and rape.
Now 67, the former Rockhampton teacher and Baptist preacher said he has put his "dark past" behind him and, with his new wife Barbara, has devoted his life to improving literacy in Asia.
"I teach the teachers to teach the unemployed and the homeless," he said. "Part of it is because I fouled up. Improving literacy can free people from poverty. Improving literacy is, therefore, a way of combating child exploitation. I'm glad to say there is a charity element in my work."
He stresses he does not teach children.
"My job is to train volunteers to teach English," he said. "There is a commercial side to my literacy program. I have written 30 books and I'm currently working on a book on English grammar.
"I'm getting on with my life the best way I know how."
Wright's company, International Language Academy, has offices in Malaysia and the Philippines and state universities in both nations have endorsed his program, he said.
He is also setting up an office in Indonesia and, perhaps, New Zealand.
Wright said he has been invited by the King of Malaysia's uncle, Raja Dato Krib Shah, to develop a special literacy program for impoverished rural areas.
He is offering teachers looking for a change $US1000 a week on 12-month contracts.
"I taught hundreds of guys English in jail," he said.
"I helped them write letters and prepare statements for the courts. I discovered that 40 per cent of prisoners are illiterate."
He said jail helped him work out who he really was.
"I had a pretty rough time inside at first; I was the rooster who had lost all his feathers," he said. "I don't want to say prison was good to me but it did change me for the better.
"I'm not trying to make excuses because I blew it - and boy how I blew it."