Deceit

by Richard Evans

  ‘Barton here has an idea that the prime minister is about to commit fraud on the Australian taxpayer.’ Stanley wasted no time, and gestured to Messenger to take up the story.

  ‘Jim, I’ve had a number of things come to me throughout today that could indicate the prime minister is about to announce his retirement, and is possibly doing a deal with Indonesia for a pension payout.’ Messenger was nervous delivering his pitch, given the evidence was so flimsy.

  ‘You have got to be kidding, right? How does he propose to do that?’ Harper sounded incredulous.

  ‘I think he will announce his retirement in the house tomorrow, and I suspect he has done a deal with the president of Indonesia. That’s why we’re putting the entire amount for the immigration centres into new legislation next year, rather than the agreed four payments.’

  ‘So he is retiring tomorrow and getting paid by the Indonesians in February for monies that aren’t in any form of legislation before the house?’

  ‘I know that sounds weird, but I have thought he could be using the Appropriation Bill for the stimulus package, and he may well add money to it tomorrow when it comes back into the house.’

  ‘That’s crap, he would never do it.’ Harper couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  ‘Listen to the boy, Jimmy, please,’ Stanley advised.

  ‘Okay, but this better be good.’ Harper sat back in his chair and relaxed a little; it wasn’t the discussion about leadership he had been expecting all afternoon.

  Messenger then set out his fraud theory, covering the information as he knew it, and the links to the various other pieces of news, including the anonymous text message, which he showed to his colleagues. None of them recognised the number.

  ‘By themselves they mean nothing, but together they are more meaningful, don’t you think?’ Messenger asked.

  ‘And what would you like me to do about it?’ Harper asked.

  ‘Go to the media?’ Messenger suggested with a grimace.

  ‘Do I look stupid to you?’ Harper was getting annoyed. ‘Do I?’ Messenger gave a slight shrug of the shoulders so he continued. ‘You come in here with an unbelievably harebrained idea, and you expect me to believe that the prime minister of Australia is about to commit fraud in an alliance with the president of Indonesia, and you want me to go to the media? You have got to be kidding me.’

  ‘We just wanted to get your view on it; there’s no need to get snarky.’ Hughes came in to save Messenger.

  Harper stood and began pacing behind his desk. ‘You think the prime minister of Australia and the Indonesian president are criminals, and you want me to go on national television to expose them, is that right?’

  ‘Jim, calm down,’ Stanley counselled.

  ‘Calm down?’ Harper stopped pacing. ‘Calm down? Let’s see, I am forced to sign an agreement not to cause any dissent within a parliament in which we hold a majority, I am pilloried in the media for doing it, my party in Queensland have suggested I lose my preselection, such is the respect I have in my own fucking home state. I then get humiliated in the parliament and can’t do a thing about it, and journalists are already predicting I’ll lose the leadership after the by-elections if we don’t win, and now I’m presented with this theory about the prime minister ripping off the country because one of you received a text, and you want me to calm down?’ Harper had rested his fists on his desk and leaned in to his colleagues. ‘You want me to go to the media and accuse the most popular prime minister for the last fifty years of being a thief, without one whiff of evidence, and you want me to calm down?’

  ‘Yes, I do.’ Stanley said quietly.

  ‘Just say for one daft moment that I agree with your dumb analysis and the PM is ripping off the country, what the fuck do you think I should do about it?’

  ‘Vote it down,’ Hughes said.

  ‘Vote it down? Vote it down?’ Harper was winding himself up again. ‘How do you expect me to vote it down when we have signed an agreement with the government, which is virtually in caretaker mode until the elections, and which the fucking governor-general witnessed for chrissake? We cannot vote anything down.’

  ‘We don’t need to keep to it,’ Stanley said.

  Harper was surprised by his friend’s view. ‘There is just one thing missing from your unbelievable plan.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Messenger.

  ‘Where is he getting the money from?’

  ‘The Indonesians.’

  ‘The Indonesian money is not in the fucking parliament until February, you moron!’

  ‘And, if it were?’ asked Stanley.

  ‘We still wouldn’t vote it down, and I’ll tell you why.’ Harper straightened up. ‘We have already agreed to the funds being released to the Indonesians, and if they put it into the stimulus package and we vote it down, what the hell do you think will happen?’ The group remained silent. ‘No ideas? We vote down the Christmas money for all Australians, and if we do that then we are fucked.’

  ‘That’s why he’s going to do it,’ Messenger said.

  ‘Bullshit!’

  ‘Come on, we’re wasting our time.’ Hughes got up and left.

  Messenger followed, while Stanley lingered.

  Harper sat down and put his head in his hands, giving himself a vigorous massage in an attempt to release the tension knotting up his head and neck.

  ‘Are you okay, Jim?’

  ‘It’s been a bad day, and Shirley has received threats over my signing the agreement. I mean threats, Peter!’

  ‘Is she okay?’

  ‘Not really, but she’ll get over it. She just wants me home.’ Harper took a few deep breaths and looked up at his friend. ‘Do you really believe this conspiracy crap?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I thought we should talk to you about it. I wouldn’t put it past Gerrard to try it on.’

  ‘Maybe that’s why he got me to sign that fucking agreement. He’s at the top of his game; why would he need to do anything like this?’

  ‘I watched him during the condolences the other day, and he appeared to be very upset. Maybe he thinks it’s time to go?’ Stanley regarded his friend. ‘Money can be a great seductress, and you know very well there’s not much in our pension plans any more. Gerrard may just think he’s owed something. It’s happened before. Maybe there’s a retirement project going on we don’t know about. Anyway, do you want to join us for dinner?’

  ‘No thanks, mate.’

  ‘Would you like me to stay?’

  ‘No, Pete, you go. Thanks for your support, though.’

  The others had waited for Stanley in the corridor outside the leader’s office. ‘He’s just under a bit of pressure, that’s all,’ Stanley said with a shrug as he joined his colleagues.

  ‘Let’s go and get pissed,’ said Hughes, walking off toward the representatives’ entrance where a waiting commonwealth car would take them wherever they wanted to go, just one of their parliamentary perks.

  ‘That was stressful,’ Messenger finally offered, as the car ferried them to their favourite Chinese restaurant in Kingston.

  ‘He’s under a bit of pressure. His wife has had threats,’ Stanley said.

  ‘That’s rubbish, he knows what he should be doing,’ Hughes interrupted.

  ‘And what’s that?’ Stanley asked.

  ‘He has to fight Gerrard all the way, all the time, and never give in. He gave in with the signing of that ridiculous agreement.’

  ‘Look, maybe I’m overstating the case against Gerrard,’ suggested Messenger.

  ‘Maybe you are,’ Stanley said, looking out at the darkened streetscape.

  Many politicians preferred the Chairman and Yip in the centre of the city for Chinese, but these MPs thought the Wild Duck in Kingston far superior. When they arrived, Wilson was already waiting for them with a waiter pouring the last of four beers.

  ‘Cheers, queers,’ said Campbell, glass raised as they settled at the table. ‘Where have you been? What’s taken you so long?
’

  ‘We stopped by to see the leader,’ Stanley said, clinking his glass.

  ‘Oh yeah, what about?’

  ‘His attitude to winning the next election,’ said Hughes before taking a good long draught.

  ‘We will never win with him as leader. I keep saying it, but no-one believes me,’ Campbell said.

  ‘Wilson, I think you’ve said it too often for anyone to take you seriously,’ said Stanley.

  ‘Have you ordered, Will?’ asked Messenger.

  ‘Not yet, let’s go the banquet.’

  The men laughed and chiacked each other through four rounds of beer, three bottles of wine and a one-for-the-road brandy when Stanley took a call from Joe Anthony, the leader of the opposition in the senate. He asked the others to quieten down so he could hear what Anthony was saying. Once he understood the message, he ended the call and looked at his colleagues.

  ‘What’s up, Pete?’ Messenger was the first to speak.

  ‘You may have been right.’

  ‘Tell us, will you?’ Hughes was losing patience.

  ‘That was Joe. It seems the government have moved an amendment to the Appropriation Bill. They’ve added the Indonesian money, suggesting to the Greens that it was required before the end of the cyclone season, so they’ve voted with the government.’

  ‘And those morons bought that?’ asked Hughes.

  ‘It seems so. The total spend is now ten billion plus.’

  ‘They can’t do that,’ Campbell said.

  ‘They just did.’ Stanley said.

  ‘When does it go to the vote?’ Messenger asked.

  ‘It’s already passed, and our boys voted for it.’

  ‘Say what? Why would they do that?’ Messenger asked.

  ‘We support it,’ Stanley confirmed.

  ‘But that will mean we can’t fight it in the house,’ Messenger said. ‘What a dumb move.’

  ‘Fuck, now what?’ Hughes asked.

  ‘Let’s get the troops back. We need to discuss this in the party room before tomorrow. Jimmy needs to consider his position,’ Stanley said.

  Campbell had become focused very quickly. ‘I’ll call the whip and get him onto it.’

  As Messenger left the restaurant he felt a text buzz on his phone.

  NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. VOTE DOWN THE MONEY.

  Who is this?

  A CONCERNED CITIZEN. VOTE IT DOWN.

  We can’t.

  IGNORE THE AGREEMENT. VOTE IT DOWN.

  Complex. Leader doesn’t agree.

  IT’S FRAUD.

  Can you share evidence?

  Messenger slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket as he got into the commonwealth car waiting to take him back to the house. There was no response to his question.

  Gerrard had retired to Yarralumla to wait for a call from his man in the senate. It came just after ten, with the news he expected.

  ‘Well done, Kevin. I owe you.’

  He replaced the phone and moved to his liquor tray for a solid dram of his favourite Irish whiskey. He splashed it into two glasses and returned to his private lounge, where he made a quick call. ‘Congratulations, darling, your plan is in place. I have a whiskey for you, I won’t be long.’

  He took a swig of his drink and punched in another number, this time international. When he was finally connected, he was pleased to tell his fellow conspirator the news.

  ‘Mr President, your country is now funded for the immigration centres. Now get me my money, and I will pay you yours.’ He waited for the response.

  ‘If I have my money by Monday, you will have your commission on Tuesday. Good night, my friend.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  WEDNESDAY 10.18 PM

  ‘Gordon? The worst thing that could happen, has happened. You had better take a seat.’ Nigel Nelson had phoned his friend as soon as he was out of the senate chamber. ‘The senate has amended the Appropriation Bill.’

  ‘You are kidding me.’

  ‘I wish I was, Gobby,’ Nigel replied. ‘They were about to approve the legislation as it was when the government suddenly moved an amendment to add the Indonesian money we’ve already spoken about.’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘A little over four billion.’

  ‘The full amount for the entire project?’

  ‘Yes, although a little more was added, some forty million, explained as additional site costs.’ O’Brien said nothing as he lay back in his chair resting his face on his right hand, rocking ever so slightly back and forth, listening. ‘Are you there, Gordon?’

  ‘Yes, I’m here.’

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to think about anything at the moment.’ Gordon sat forward, picked up a pen and hovered it over his note pad. ‘You know what this means, don’t you?’

  ‘The senate overstepped its authority?’

  ‘There’s that, but it’s much worse than the senate spending taxpayers’ funds without any authority to do so.’

  ‘What could be worse than that?’

  ‘It means there will be no parliamentary scrutiny, which might unfortunately mean my conspiracy theory is right.’

  ‘Big call that, Gordon.’

  ‘I know it is, and I feel ashamed even thinking about it, but what else could be happening? There is no need to put this money through while the government is in caretaker mode – where’s the scrutiny of the parliament?’

  ‘That’s true, but the money was always going to be spent, it was clearly in this year’s budget.’

  ‘Yes, but spent over a period of three years, not all in one payment like it is proposed now.’

  ‘The opposition has no issue with it – it’s also their policy.’

  ‘Did they vote against it in the senate?’

  ‘No,’ Nigel responded, surprising Gordon.

  ‘Then they are ignorant of what could be going on. What a stupid and careless thing to do.’

  ‘They really didn’t have any option. If they voted against the bill they would be hurt politically because the punters are now expecting their money from the government before Christmas.’

  Gordon dropped his pen and fell back into his chair. ‘Greed knows no boundaries when it comes to self-interest.’

  ‘Do you honestly believe the government is doing a job on us?’

  ‘There’s just too many coincidences, too many questions.’

  ‘Why would Gerrard want to do it? What’s in it for him?’ Nigel queried.

  ‘Maybe he has a deal with the Indonesians for some personal benefit, maybe it’s money.’ Gordon was yet to make a mark on the pad. ‘Why is Mrs Gerrard travelling abroad? Why does he want everyone in the parliament tomorrow?’

  ‘Why do you think?’

  ‘Well, if my fantastic conspiracy theory is correct, Gerrard is about to announce his retirement as prime minister and scurry off to some exotic place with funds made possible by the president of Indonesia.’

  ‘Preposterous!’ Nelson exploded. ‘I would advise you to be very careful who you discuss that ridiculous idea with.’

  ‘I suggested it to Messenger. Now after this amendment, maybe he might finally share the idea with his colleagues and actually do something.’

  ‘What do you expect him to do?’

  ‘Convince his leadership group to vote against it, I suppose.’

  Gordon did not have high hopes.

  ‘The opposition signed an agreement not to initiate a formal vote, so the money will go through the house tomorrow on voices and that will be that,’ Nigel said. ‘How can they vote against it in the house when they voted for it in the senate?

  ‘I can’t allow this swindle to happen, Nigel,’ Gordon whispered, feeling defeated. ‘Not on my watch.’

  ‘What can you do?’

  ‘The opposition can block it, and they should. I also provided background to the media.’

  ‘You are a servant of the parliament, Gordon, you can’t be playing with the political pro
cess like this; it’s against everything you stand for.’

  ‘I’m ultimately a servant of the Australian people, and I must protect their democratic institutions by stopping those who would take advantage for their own benefit. If I don’t do something about this, then my years here will have been wasted and I will have achieved nothing. I will be nothing.’

  ‘That’s a little extreme, Gordon, don’t you think? Anything I can do?’

  ‘No.’ Gordon paused for a moment. ‘Ultimately, it is the speaker who will need to act, so if you could discuss your concerns with the president of the senate, maybe he will speak to her.’

  ‘I don’t have any concerns,’ Nigel responded forcefully. ‘It seems you may be seeing things others do not, and I remain troubled you are sheeting this home to Gerrard virtually on your last day.’

  ‘My attitude toward Gerrard has nothing to do with it,’ Gordon snapped Nigel looked askew. ‘Are you sure?’

  Gordon did not respond.

  ‘He has given you hell over the years, and like a trooper you have stood and taken it all. Are you absolutely sure you are not seeking retribution on him in this unbelievable scheme you seem to have plotted?’

  ‘Maybe.’ Gordon closed his eyes and searched for any doubt. ‘There is something wrong, I just know it.’

  ‘Have you any evidence at all?’ Nigel demanded.

  Gordon paused as he wrote the word evidence on his pad. ‘No, not really.’

  ‘Mate, if I were you I would let it go,’ Nigel counselled. ‘Sure, the process of the bill is strange, and yes there are some quirky things happening around the parliament, but these funds for Indonesia have been approved by both sides of the parliament, and now it is just a timing issue, that’s all. Let it go.’

  ‘Thanks Nigel, but I can’t.’ Gordon replaced his handset without saying goodbye, thinking about his friend’s advice. He sat doodling on his pad, his head resting on his hand, thinking through possibilities. He reached into his desk drawer and retrieved a phone, punching in a message.

  NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT. VOTE DOWN THE MONEY.

  ‘Anita? Sorry, did I wake you?’ Messenger was keen to share his news. ‘You may have stumbled upon something. The senate has amended the money bill.’