Content area
Full Text
A VIETNAM VETERAN IS CONDUCTING A UNIQUE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT ON A REMOTE PROPERTY IN THE KIMBERLEY. DOES HE HAVE THE ANSWER TO HUMANITY'S WOES?
The locals have long whispered about the curious events that take place behind the gates of 638 Packsaddle Road, the lush Kimberley property owned by multi-millionaire businessman James Salerno and his "family". Many in nearby Kununurra suspect Salerno, 68, and his 40 followers are Scientologists or members of a cult. Gossip in the town regularly turns to the group's communal living arrangements - two houses on a sprawling block facing the crocodileinfested Ord River - fervent beliefs, impressive wealth (now the subject of the Australian Tax Office's attention) and secretive "research" projects. But Salerno, the founder and patriarch, insists there is nothing sinister or even particularly mysterious about what he is doing in this remote patch of Australia's far north.
For the past four decades he has devoted every waking minute to a unique social experiment that has culminated in what he now describes as the most important discovery in the history of humanity. This discovery, Salerno claims, has the potential to end all wars, violent crime, family breakdown, drug addiction, workplace conflict and pretty much every other problem afflicting the modern world. It's only now, as he hosts The Weekend Australian Magazine at his outback Shangri-La for a three-day visit, that the selfstyled guru and humanitarian says he is ready to announce to the world that his life's work has proved a success, that the millions he has spent studying the actions and emotions of his fellow humans have all been worth it. "Here we have created the world's first model of the ideal human environment," he says. "No one has ever told this story - you will be famous if you do it."
It's a 20-minute drive from sleepy Kununurra Airport to Salerno's 5ha rural retreat, and it doesn't take long during the journey to realise that this is a pretty agreeable setting to create the ideal human environment.
The East Kimberley has rugged cliffs, vast lakes, natural swimming holes and wild rivers. All around are fertile plains growing chia seeds, mangoes, melons and Indian sandalwood. When we arrive, Salerno's wife Kerrian and several helpers have started work...