CHAPTER FORTY
It was eleven am, Jason had two hours before his meeting with the APP He rang Anita, who was busy at work, asking her to meet him in a coffee shop near her office in the city. She rushed down there to await his arrival, throwing her hair back over her shoulders when his Rolls pulled up at the curb and he approached her.
“Wow, that was quick, I only just rang,” said Jason.
“Oh, I was coming down anyway. What did you want to see me about that couldn’t wait till this evening?”
“I want you to give up journalism and head a cosmetic company we are putting together. We’re calling it Mallita. Do you like that?”
Anita dropped her coffee, spilling it all over herself. A waiter rushed to assist. “Really, me, oh my goodness, I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, try yes or no,” replied Jason. She dried herself off as the waiter placed a fresh coffee in front of her.
“Yes, I have some great ideas on marketing. Women these days are...”
Jason interrupted, “That’s excellent. There was something else I wanted to ask.”
There was a few moments silence. “Go on,” asked Anita as she sipped her coffee.
“I wondered if you’d marry me?” Anita dropped her coffee all over herself and the table, standing with her hands over her mouth. “Well, yes or no to that one.”
She jumped up and down on the spot. “Yes of course, yes!”
The waiter handed Anita a towel. “Will madam be requiring any more coffee to spill?”
Anita hugged Jason. “Yes, I mean no, oh, I don’t care!” she cried amidst the applause of some onlookers.
The Australian People’s Party meeting was an epic affair, going well into the late evening. Members listened keenly to Jason’s ideas, some quite unconventional, some radical, some original. The coming Monday would see Jason take his place in the federal parliament, they still felt this would prompt the government to dissolve and call an election. Beagle had chosen to join Briggs as part of ADAM, Jason was left with no aid. He decided to work alone until one was sent to him. Jason listened carefully while members of the APP gave briefings on their portfolios and their knowledge of government dealings in the house at the time. A further two seats would see the Advance federal government unable to govern. The APP held seventy-two seats in the House of Assembly, the Advance government seventy-six. If two minor party senators directed preference to the APP as senate stood, the APP would have a majority in the Senate. The APP had thirty-six of the seventy-six seats in the upper house, the Advance Party had thirty-eight. The Advance Party government had passed its bills through the upper house with the support of the only two minor party senators elected to it. The Advance Party government was on its knees. Jason’s first target was the two senators.
Thursday the nineteenth of August saw Jason in Canberra. The country’s papers front page carried the story of the corrupt union officials’ case in SA. By four pm that day, he had won the support of his targets. The Advance Party had lost its edge in the senate; one man was bringing down the country’s government. Jason returned to Adelaide.
Friday the nineteenth, the Governor General dissolved parliament and announced a state election for Saturday the twenty sixth of September, five weeks away. The same day Prime Minister Horton launched a scathing attack on Brinkly outside Parliament House in Canberra and in doing so became the APP’s best asset.
“Jason Brinkly is the head of a multi national company that is under investigation for fraud and drug dealing!” yelled Horton. “How a long-haired, guitar-playing, spoilt little boy expects to get into government to further his wealth is beyond us all. In five weeks you will see what the Australian people think of him, when our government is swept back to power.” Horton pushed his way through the media barrage and made his way to his office. Dick Hamilton his adviser followed him; they sat down at the PM’s desk.
“You got that slightly mixed up Les. It was Brinkly and his company that initiated the fraud charges, in conjunction with the police. I don’t know where you got the idea on the drugs; apparently he’s a lifetime campaigner against them. He lived in virtual poverty till his father died a few months ago and he stood down from his company on Wednesday just gone, pledging allegiance to the people. We have run a secret street pool on him in Adelaide. Ninety-nine percent in favour. You really should read your reports and the papers more often. He’s had a haircut as well. Two of the best QCs in the country are part of his empire and I think we may be hearing from them.”
“You trying to tell me I stuffed that up?” replied Horton. Neither the media, nor the country liked Horton’s remarks. Brinkly sold papers and upped television news ratings; the media turned on Horton.
Friday afternoon, Jason was in his Stirling office. A well-dressed mature man looked through the window at him, and Jason pointed to the chair in front of his desk; the man entered. They shook hands; the man was greying around the edges and wore expensive aftershave. “Dan Crowley, political reporter for the Gazette,” he said.
“Pleased to meet you Dan, you said political reporter, why have I never seen you before?” asked Jason.
“We left it to Anita, she had the power she needed to get what we wanted, it was as easy as talking to her.”
“I still don’t see why you’re here now?”
“She left us, you’re marrying her in two weeks, it’s my job now.”
“Oh, of course, how silly of me.”
Crowley got up, stood looking out the window. “Do you mind if I smoke?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
“I’ve been a reporter for thirty years Jason, all over the world. You don’t have any aid or guards here. I watched as scores of people got to your door, then suddenly walked away looking very blank, only certain people were allowed in to see you. I find that very strange, with some of the things you’ve been saying, I thought you would have been assassinated by now. I can’t find anyone who will say anything bad about you, a few cringe in fear at your name. I don’t think you’re silly at all.”
“Perhaps I’ve allowed you to conceive that.”
Crowley sat back down. “Indeed. Tuesday the seventeenth, you took a plane to Woomera with scientist Harry Briggs, whose story we are well aware of. Just prior to that you purchased Australian Defence Arms Manufacturers. The same day Matt Sharp was killed by a bolt of lightning whilst riding a jet ski and talking on his mobile phone on the barrier reef. Don’t know anything about flying saucers do you Jason?”
“The people of the world aren’t ready for flying saucers Dan.”
“We had a reporter undercover with ADAM in ninety-one, he went to Miami with Sharp; he never came back. He never got much to us, only that something really big was afoot in Woomera. The Japanese launched some satellites for them, following that was useless, the Japanese knew nothing. I’d like to get the guy who got him; that reporter was my brother.”
“Maybe that’s already been done.”
“I thought that may be the case.”
“Dan, I know you’re a good, level headed sort of person, I’m at ease with you. You’re also a very responsible newspaper reporter; I expect that of you, if you are to live in my pocket. My main goal is for the people of the world, not only Australia. Something is looming, I wish I knew what.”
“How will I know when to be in the right place at the right time, like Anita always was. You made her one of the most famous reporters in the world.”
“You’ll know.”
“I’ve always wanted to report in Canberra, looks like just a matter of time.”