But Pete Vickers was in no mood to be placated. ‘And in the meantime,’ he said, planting his hands on his boss’s desk and leaning forward in order to punch every point home, ‘the man’s character is being assassinated, his reputation besmirched, his family slandered. It’s a bloody disgrace.’

Realising little was to be gained by further interruption, Jim said nothing, better to let Pete get things off his chest. ‘Besmirched’, he mused, what an interestingly old-fashioned choice for a young bloke. But then he’s a writer, and a talented one at that.

Pete took the older man’s silence as a sign of encouragement and, raking a hand through his unruly hair, he plonked himself down onto one of the two hardback visitors’ chairs. ‘I want to write a feature about this kind of discrimination, Jim,’ he said earnestly. ‘As a matter of fact, I want to make it a bloody exposé! The treatment of Tony is only the tip of a very large iceberg that a lot of people don’t know about.’

‘Oh yes,’ Jim said warily, he could see where this was leading.

‘It’s going on all over North Queensland, this sort of thing,’ Pete continued. ‘And the Northern Territory, too. Decent people being treated like the enemy, dragged away from their families, shoved in internment camps for no reason at all. The government has no right to do that!’

Jim wanted to say, ‘Well they do, actually,’ but resisted. ‘I agree it doesn’t seem fair, Pete,’ he said instead, ‘but in actual fact there is a reason. This country’s on the brink of invasion and we here up north are at the very coalface. The local population’s justifiably terrified. They want to see their government take every precaution possible. And you’ve got to understand also that the government has to be watchful for any potential collusion with the enemy. They can’t afford to take chances. They need to be wary.’

‘They don’t need to be bloody inhumane!’ Jim’s attempt at reasonable argument had only reignited Pete’s rage. ‘The ignorance of the government and the military – and therefore, might I add, the general populace over whom they hold domain – is beyond all belief!’ he exclaimed. ‘Did you know that after Darwin was bombed, all full-blooded Aborigines were rounded up and moved into army camps to be used as labour and kept under observation?’

Jim didn’t say a word. Yes, he had heard that.

‘The government and the military apparently believe that if we’re invaded, Aboriginal sympathies will lie with the Japanese rather than with white Australians. Now how fucking stupid is that!’

Jim remained silent. Which only egged Pete on.

‘And did you know that right here in Townsville, Colonel Murray of the Volunteer Defence Corps ordered that in the case of invasion, Aborigines were the first ones to be shot!’