Junie Morosi - Life After Politics

Life After Politics

By 1977, however, the same allegations that had been made against Morosi in the political world were being made in the alternative lifestyle movement: specifically, that she was manipulating Cairns, and that her husband was manipulating both of them for financial gain. Cairns and Morosi subsequently severed any formal links with the Down to Earth movement in 1979 and the movement more or less fizzled out, leaving a legacy of ill-feeling and disputes over money which eventually led to litigation in the New South Wales courts.

By 1981 Morosi had moved on to a new project, the Wyuna Co-operative, a "community housing project" in Canberra involving Morosi and Ditchburn as well as Morosi's brother and sister-in-law, with some financial support from Cairns. In 1985 the co-operative received a $133,000 grant from the Community Housing Expansion Program of the federal Territories Department. When the National Times newspaper revealed this, Prime Minister Bob Hawke intervened and the program was wound up. Morosi complained that the controversy was entirely because of her involvement, and indeed an inquiry later found that there was nothing improper about the grant, although it was critical of Wyuna's management.

Despite the inquiry's findings, the government froze the grant and attempted various circuitous measures to ensure that the Wyuna Co-operative could not make use of it. The resulting proceedings dragged on, in 1986 Morosi was hospitalised suffering from stress and exhaustion. In 1988, the matter was finally settled and the grant was provided. By this time however, the strain and legal costs had ruined both Morosi and Ditchburn's business interests and contributed to Morosi's divorce from Ditchburn. These events also effectively marked the end of Morosi's relationship with Cairns, who was reconciled with his wife, although Morosi and Cairns remained friends until Cairns' death in October 2003.