The Writing of Brendan Lee

Bogan Proof Fences

Bogan Proof Fences tells the story of the rise and fall of a housing development on the outer rim of Melbourne. Unravelling over a forty year period and set between 1978 and 2008, the ghosts of scrupulous developers haunt the aspirational families who only want the best that the 'Lucky Country' can offer. Told from the perspectives of three locals - considered outsiders - Bogan Proof Fences humorously defines the historical foundations of what are termed Larrikins, Bogans and Hoons. The seventies was a time of optimism for the land prospectors of the outer western regions. Every trick in the book is used to lure young families into the freshly minted sub-divisions - from lion safari parks to naming streets and courts after birds - yet all this development comes at a cost. 

The Satellite City project was meant to be the solution to all of the inner city problems, jobs, community and lifestyle were being designed from the ground up. What wasn’t counted on was the cultural baggage that the new residents would bring with them. The eighties sees the project fail and an angry breed of locals spring up to take what they can get at any price. Satellite City becomes a place where life and death mean very little if it means getting in the way of a leg up. After the new millennium and a change of government, a bold new plan for Satellite City is hatched and it is decided that the best way forward is to start again. 

The Springs is built on the eastern fringe and is meant to act as a bogan proof fence through mega-mansions and landscaping, although what isn’t revealed to the new owners of the house and land package are the forty years of secrets hidden below the lake that proudly sits at the centre of town. Is the Bogan Proof Fence a psychological barrier or a shifting line of cultural habitation?