"You like it rough, don't you?" "Say it." "I like it rough!" "I like it rough." "Listen, Daddy." "You're filthy, you know that?" "Oh, shit." "What could possibly so important this hour?" "I don't know." "That's why I'm checking." "Ah, fuck." "Skiddy?" "Worse than Skiddy." "When did texting take pre-eminence over actual live human intercourse, I wonder." "It doesn't matter where you are these days... meeting, dinner with friends, back of a limo rooting another man's wife." "Someone gets a text, that's it... everything on the planet has to stop and give way." "Yes?" "Yes!" "Ah, yes." "The reply to the reply." "I'll just be one second." "Marvellous." "Push me over." "I can't reach." "I'll just be one second." "If this fuckwit had phoned instead of texting, you would have said, bugger it, he can wait until morning." "But oh, no." "He texted." "Just as surely as God would have to Moses had Moses been able to get good reception up on Mount Sinai." "Let it be known and proclaimed throughout the land that in this brave, new, broadly banded world, conversation is now officially a second-class citizen." "Are you sure I can trust him?" "Yeah." "Claude, it's cool." "He's a mate." "Remember the bloke who was busted desecrating Rookwood Cemetery last year?" "The one who pissed on all those graves?" "Come on." "The poor man had a terrible urinary-tract infection." "Anyway, he owes me, big-time." "Oi!" "You forgot something." "What?" "Your lifeline." "Mate, I'm busting for a pee." "You must know somewhere." "The man seen here passionately kissing the New South Wales Premier has been identified as criminal barrister Cleaver Greene." "Why do they always say it like that?" "Criminal barrister, for God's sake, not a CRIMINAL barrister." "Get the em-PHA-sis right, for God's sake." "Your Honour, what sort of madness is this that here and now, in the 21st century, in this palazzo of justice we call Court 11C, we three men are debating the right of a woman to choose her own clothes?" "The tyranny of misogyny, Your Honour, must be consigned..." "Mr Greene, are you daring to suggest that wearing a burqa is an expression of your client's feminism?" "With due respect, Your Honour, my client doesn't wear a burqa, she wears a niqab." "The difference being?" "The former is, to all intents and purposes, a body bag." "The latter, a simple veil." "Be that as it may, Mr Greene, the jury and the court both have a right to be able to scrutinise the disposition of any witness." "Mr Forsythe, is there anything else?" "Yes, Your Honour." "There was the matter of the video confession." "That appears to be pretty straightforward." "Mr Greene?" "Your Honour, I would submit that this video footage is full of unsubstantiated and uncorroborated assertions by my client's husband, who sadly, is unavailable for cross-examination, having blown himself to kingdom come." "Your Honour, the video clearly implicates Mrs Mohammed in the conspiracy to blow up Parliament House." "Alright." "Let's take a look." "By our actions, the people of Australia will know the power of our faith." "Your parliament is no more, having been razed from the ground." "And the dogs within - your prime minister, your foreign minister... they're gone too." "Such is the consequence of joining infidels of America and other enemies of Islam and killing the brothers and sisters of Iran, Iraq, sorry... and Afghanistan." "I go to paradise a martyr where adorned virgins will meet me." "Jesus, what a dickhead." "If I was the mufti responsible for his conversion," "I'd hang my head in shame." "If I was the mufti responsible for his conversion," "I'd have told him to give Scientology a crack." "Where's he hail from, Ken?" "He's an Albany boy, born Michael Francis Coorey." "Irish-Catholic mother, Lebanese-Catholic father." "Full Marist Brothers catastrophe." "Odd jobs." "A brief stint panel-beating." "Found Islam somewhere along the line, and ended up in Yemen, where he became Yousef Mohammed and met Zuharah, now known either as Mrs Mohammed or the accused." "He didn't even have the right fucking parliament!" "Looks like your girlfriend dodged a bullet there, Cleave." "Ah, yeah." "Yeah." "Tell us, Cleave... the Premier, she a moaner or a screamer?" "Order." "Order!" "Order." "The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat." "The Premier has the call." "Thank you, Mr Speaker." "As I was saying," "I deeply and sincerely regret the pain... this indiscretion has caused." "I ask that, at this difficult time, my family's privacy be respected." "The task at hand is to rebuild this State, Mr Speaker." "The task at hand is to rise again from the ashes left by those opposite, who seem to have nothing to offer the people of this great State other than gossip and debasement." "The Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for Police," "Transport, Infrastructure, Racing, Gaming," "Climate Change and Environment and Ethnic Affairs." "The Premier calls it an indiscretion, Mr Speaker." "She calls it a mere indiscretion." "I wonder what her husband, the Attorney General and Police Minister, thinks about that." "Do you think it was just an indiscretion?" "Order." "Order." "Order!" "You see, Mr Speaker, it's not just a matter of the Premier betraying her family." "It's not just a question of her lack of decency and integrity." "The fact that the Premier would have an extramarital affair with someone like Cleaver Greene is something else altogether." "Order." "Cleaver Greene..." "Order." "..is a dishonest low-life who spends his days defending society's scum and his nights carousing with them." "Greene is defending a terrorist." "Alleged terrorist." "Hello!" "His story, Mr Speaker, is a disgraceful and tawdry tale of dishonour and deceit, as is the Premier's." "Shut up!" "He's got a lovely speaking voice, hasn't he?" "Sue." "I'll sue." "I will sue the bastard for defamation." "You can't make parliamentary privilege." "It's an abuse of the privilege, is what it is." "What can you do about that?" "Well, I'm going to... um..." "Nicole!" "Sorry you had to go through that." "It's just politics." "You think I should resign?" "I wouldn't be Robinson Crusoe if I did." "They're not going to make you leader, if that's what you're thinking." "You know how you poll." "If I resign now, it's either Stevie or Bill." "It could be Karen." "Long shot." "And if it is Stevie or Bill, you're rooted too, so..." "You need me, and I need you." "It's like we're reaffirming our vows." "Come." "Premier, Attorney." "Premier, Attorney." "Yep." "So, how bad is it?" "We're fine with blokes if focus groups are anything to go by." "Get a little bounce if anything." "And women?" "Depends." "If it was for love, you're fine. 71%." "And if it was purely sexual?" "You're a skank. 90%." "And I should be?" "Standing by your woman, Cal. 76%." "OK." "So I guess it's genuine love, then?" "And forgiveness." "Love and forgiveness it is." "Thank you, gentlemen." "So, you utterly reject the Shadow Attorney General's characterisation of you as a low-life, do you, Cleaver Greene?" "I do." "I refute it in its entirety." "The Shadow Minister for Toasters, Lobotomies and Nasal Hair," "Harry - sorry" " David Potter, hid like the coward he is under the cloak of parliamentary privilege when he made those obscene remarks about me." "If Mr Potter really had the courage of his so-called convictions, if he had any intestinal fortitude whatsoever, he would repeat that scurrilous filth outside the protection of parliament." "Cleaver Greene is a dishonest low-life who spends his days defending society's scum and his nights carousing with them." "His story, Mr Speaker, is a disgraceful and tawdry tale of dishonour and deceit, as is the Premier's." "Oh, it is on." "It is on, mofo!" "I am taking you down for Queen and country, and maybe a little beach house down the South Coast." "Ah, Jesus Christ." "What?" "For God's sake, don't be such a dickhead." "You sue him, you play right into his hands." "What are you talking about?" "Your life and character under a microscope in a defamation case?" "That's exactly what he wants - a chance to flail you alive." "You'll lose, and end up having to pay his costs." "Are you going to get that?" "Cleaver Greene's chambers." "And it's flay, not flail." "Just one moment." "Flay." "Sorry?" "Sorry?" "I have had it with your sorries." "From day one, this whole fucking relationship has just been one long series of sorries." "I want you out of this house, and I never, ever want to see you again." "Do you hear me?" "I need a safe haven." "I'm not sure this is the place right now." "What's the matter?" "Is it Todd?" "He's been screwing some waitress." "The husband was waiting for me when I got home." "Jesus." "How long..." "Since before we even met, it would seem." "Really?" "The whole time?" "If you give me as much as an I-told-you-so, I swear to God..." "Hey, Todd." "Hi, Cleave." "I want you to leave now, Todd." "No." "You don't want me to do that." "Yeah, I do." "I made a mistake, OK?" "I am sorry." "Stop saying sorry like it means something." "I tried to end it with the other girl." "Cleave, really, I did." "There's no point." "She's heard it all before." "It's the truth." "The thing is, she..." "She kept threatening to hurt herself." "So you're the real victim in this situation, are you, Todd?" "Well, yes, I believe I am." "Where the fuck is your imagination?" "At least Cleaver respected me enough to make an effort with his bullshit." "I really put in." "He told me the two Asian girls I found him comforting were Aung San Suu Kyi's cousins." "Somehow, she saw straight through it." "At least we had a few good years." "Is that the benchmark for a happy marriage these days, a few good years?" "What was I thinking?" "I meet another lawyer who loves to party." "Do I run a mile?" "No." "I marry the bastard three months later." "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." "Correct." "Don't tell me you've become one of them." "One of who?" "One of those smug arseholes who says 'correct' because they're so up themselves they think they can own a..." "Oh, darling." "I see you've been rooting the Premier." "Political protest, darling." "At heart, I'm really an activist." "Is that you, darling?" "Mum?" "Dad?" "Hi, mate." "What's going on?" "It's not what it looks like." "Your mum lost a hearing aid down the back of the sofa." "The thing is, darling, it turns out that" "Todd's been..." "He's been busted." "There's a shock." "Zuharah." "Kids." "Sorry we're so late." "Please come in." "Sounds like someone's having fun." "That is where I conduct my business." "Please." "They can't make me take my veil off." "Yes, they can, Zuharah." "You're the accused." "They'll do it forcibly if necessary." "One, two, three." "Don't say anything." "It is God's will I wear it in public." "Well, unless you can call God as a witness..." "I'm not sure he'd have standing as an expert in this State." "You two think you're so clever and superior, don't you?" "We mean no of fence, Zuharah." "Please don't patronise me." "You are nothing but a couple of hypocrites." "Oh, really?" "Especially you, Mr Greene." "Tell me, what will you be wearing at my trial?" "You will be prancing around the court in a black gown and a white wig, will you not?" "And you think my veil is silly?" "At least it serves a purpose." "Look, I take your point, but the judge is going to want to see your face and so will the jury and so do I, to be perfectly frank." "I'm defending you on a very, very serious charge." "If I'm going to sell you to a jury," "I need to get to know you, Zuharah." "The whole point of the veil is so that men like you can't get to know me." "Men like me?" "Men who seduce married women in limousines." "Tell me, Mr Greene, do you think you and the Premier would be in this ugly mess if she had been dressed as a married woman ought?" "You were charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act." "If you're found guilty, you'll go to jail for the rest of your life and you'll see your daughters for a couple of hours a year." "You have to help me to help you." "Understand?" "I am a good Muslim." "You support jihad?" "Do you know what the word jihad actually means?" "Struggle." "We all struggle spiritually, gentlemen." "Violent jihad on the other hand is the work of the devil, not God." "Islam preaches peace." "I do not want my daughters to grow up in a world where they are taught to hate." "OK." "So maybe you can tell us why large quantities of hydrogen peroxide, propanone and ammonia were delivered to your house in your name." "How does someone like her end up marrying such a tool?" "The man got lost on the way to the wrong parliament." "She's smart." "She's kind of hot." "Am I allowed to say that without getting fatwa-ed?" "Maybe it was a spiritual thing." "Or maybe he was her ticket out of Yemen." "You know how Ken's going to play it." "The Musical." "It'll run for a decade, and Zuharah's the star." "Zuharah Mohammed." "Christ." "Four guilty votes just in the name." "Hey, have you spoken to Scarlet again about Maxy's birthday?" "Yep." "And?" "Still a no." "Christ, your wife's a ballbuster." "What does she want from me?" "Have you told her I've already..." "Bought the present?" "Yeah." "More?" "He's going to go nuts." "Where's it all going to fit?" "There's got to be some room for the guests." "This morning I mapped it all out." "We're fine." "Vino?" "No." "I'm good, thanks." "I've culled the audition tapes for the clowns down to five, but we need to look at that tonight 'cause we're cutting that way too fine." "Darling, this is a seven-year-old's birthday party." "You've done nothing else for three weeks." "It's like you're planning the invasion of Afghanistan." "If only I had." "Don't you think it might be just a little over the top?" "I want to make it perfect for him." "OK?" "OK." "So." "Cleaver asked me to ask again." "Feel free to ask, but risk disappointment." "OK, I won't." "Honey, don't be like that." "It's not easy for me." "We're teetering on the edge of tranquillity and you want to bring Cleaver back into our lives?" "He's had some bad luck." "Bad luck?" "Darling, slipping down the stairs and breaking your leg is bad luck, not getting busted having sex with the Premier in the limo owned by a guy who gets his kicks out of pissing on the graves of dead nuns." "After everything that's happened, if I'm prepared to forgive him, to forgive and forget..." "OK, don't do it for him, do it for me." "Please?" "He'll be on his best behaviour, I promise." "The Premier - are you in love with her?" "Oh!" "I, ah..." "Are you a love rat?" "A love rat?" "A love rat!" "Ladies and gentlemen, my client, Mrs Mohammed, looks like a terrorist, doesn't she?" "She sounds like a terrorist." "Even her name is the sort of name you might reasonably expect a terrorist to have - Zuharah Mohammed." "Now, I know you are all good, decent, fair-minded folk, but over the last decade or so, our suspicion of Islamic people has blossomed, for want of a better word, into an irrational but genuine fear." "During the course of this trial, you are duty-bound to ignore that fear." "Ignore her clothes." "Ignore her skin colour." "Ignore her name." "And I would ask you instead to focus on the facts." "My client is a loving mother of two beautiful young girls." "She is a devoted sister and aunt, she's a deeply spiritual woman and she is a small businesswoman of some repute in South-Western Sydney." "Mrs Mohammed, what sort of individuals attend your essential oils and beauty treatment salon?" "It is a service exclusively for Muslim women." "I should say it is not so much a salon as a room in our house." "Sounds very discreet and innocuous." "It is, Mr Forsythe." "What prompted you to start up this business?" "My husband was unable to find work." "We needed the money." "Mrs Mohammed, I put it to you that in conjunction with your husband, you set up your business as a means to obtain, without raising suspicion, the chemicals required to make lethal explosive devices." "I deny that." "You had regular deliveries of hydrogen peroxide, ammonia and propanone made to your house in your name." "That is correct." "Large quantities, sometimes." "It is more economical to buy in bulk." "Where were the chemicals kept?" "In a padlocked steel cabinet inside a locked room." "We have children." "The chemicals were, for all intents and purposes, your property, were they not?" "Yes." "You were the one who made the bomb." "That's not true." "I reject violence, as does God." "Mrs Mohammed, you've seen the video your husband made before he set out on his journey of mass destruction." "Objection." "Apologies, Your Honour." "Mrs Mohammed..." "I've seen the video." "It was taken in your house, was it not?" "It was." "You can tell by the tapestry hanging on our living-room wall." "You were behind the camera, were you not?" "No." "Then who was?" "We have a tripod, Mr Forsythe." "Mrs Mohammed, propanone is also known as acetone, is it not?" "It is." "Why in the devil would you need acetone in a beauty salon?" "Acetone is nail-polish recover." "Oh, I see." "And what about ammonia?" "Surely that can't be good for the skin?" "Ammonia is a common and highly effective cleaning agent." "And I imagine a reputable salon proprietor such as yourself would be keen on trying to maintain quite a pristine working environment." "Yes, I do." "And what about hydrogen peroxide?" "Hair bleach." "A lot of my clients are very self-conscious." "According to to Exhibit B-17, 33 litres of hydrogen peroxide were dispensed over one two-week period." "That would suggest a lot of heads needed bleaching, Mrs Mohammed." "Yes, Your Honour." "It's not just their heads, you see." "What do you mean, it's not just their heads?" "Well, there are other body parts that may perhaps be transformed by the use of hydrogen peroxide." "Really?" "What parts, Mr Greene?" "Well, one doesn't want to be indelicate, Your Honour." "Indelicate?" "Would you please speak frankly to the court?" "Very well." "I am reliably informed, Your Honour, that there is currently available a very popular procedure called anal bleaching." "Yes." "Well, thank you, Mr Bleach, ah, Mr Brown." "Ah, Mr Greene." "This might be an appropriate time." "All rise." "Red!" "The house looks lovely." "The house looks lovely." "Red." "Red, the house looks lovely." "I could blame our respective workloads, but the truth is..." "I have been emotionally absent from our marriage for some time." "I must take my share of the responsibility." "I felt alone." "Um, I'm a woman who's always loved to love." "And this strange man, Cleaver Greene, came into my life, and I felt a need, a longing." "As if all you've ever longed for was a nasty shag." "Spun a web of words." "I..." "I fell deeply in love with him." "Bring me a bucket." "So it was torture emotionally." "I was full of guilt and... remorse." "When I told Cleaver I had to break it off, he threatened to go public about it." "Oh, yes?" "He put me in an impossible position." "What?" "I was blackmailing you?" "Oh, right, yeah, I was blackmailing you." "This tragedy has somehow brought us closer than we've been in many years." "Red?" "The house looks lovely." "Cleaver." "You look great." "Thank you." "Present table's outside." "Drinks are out there too." "I was wondering if we could have a little chat." "Oh?" "Well, it's been a while." "Today's not the best day." "Of course." "Before entering the castle, you must be wearing one of these." "There can be no more than two persons in the castle at any one time." "What I care about is what kind of job the Premier's doing, not who she's screwing." "There remains the question about her judgment." "It's a bit like Clinton and Monica Lewinsky." "Yes." "And you're Monica, Cleaver." "Yes, yes, I got that one." "You're the girl underneath the President's desk." "I imagine it was a thrill at the time, but has it not left a stain on your soul?" "People are entitled to their own private lives." "Correct." "I'm not about to judge you." "I'm not about to judge the Premier." "I say, live and let live." "But you do know there's a spiritual dimension to all this." "Infidelity is a mortal sin." "Correct." "The two together, we're going to shake them about and the birthday boy's going to give it a blow." "One, two..." "You've been so good." "Happy birthday." "That was terrific, mate, thanks." "Well done." "Cheers." "They're a lovely bunch of kids." "You fancy a beer?" "Ah, I shouldn't." "But what the hell, yeah." "You wouldn't happen to have any vodka, would you, mate?" "Sure." "Great." "Be back in a minute." "I mean, sometimes, sometimes, they don't give you anything." "I'm not just talking about a tip, right?" "And it's not like I'm charging a fortune." "Am I, Bernie?" "No, mate." "And it was a really great show." "I'm not just another idiot actor trying to make ends meet." "I give these kids the best two hours they've ever had in their lives, their entire fucking lives." "Hey!" "Wait - no, no." "Mind your language." "There's kids." "You should hear the way some parents talk to me." "Wait for it." "'I would have thought that you'd brought your own water.'" "My own water, mate!" "Mate, do I know you?" "Ah, no." "Have we met at the circus?" "You're that bloke that's been rooting the Premier." "Language, mate." "You a Tory, mate?" "Not since I had my haemorrhoids attended to." "Cleaver." "How the fuck can you look at yourself in the mirror?" "What?" "After what she's done to this State." "Language!" "She's raped it, that's what she's done." "Language, mate!" "Be that as it may." "Be what as it may, mate?" "Alright, you want the truth?" "Cleaver, don't." "Yes." "Right-wing chicks are hot." "Don't." "I beg your pardon?" "Much hotter than left-wing chicks, and you know why?" "Because right-wing chicks are aggressively carnivorous, self-reliant, Ayn Rand acolytes who understand the value of the moment." "They get that sex is something in and of itself beholden to nothing and no-one." "As a consequence of that understanding, they're less inhibited and therefore hornier." "Left-wing chicks, on the other hand, they're vegans who want a holistic experience." "They're all about context." "They talk about an orgasm like it's a pet spaniel." "Consequently, the moment's ruined." "This, Mr Clown, is the real reason why the Left has carked it, because the Right is constantly procreating while the Left is grooming a dead dog." "My mother was a communist." "Oh, so you're adopted." "Just go." "The clown was drunk." "It was torture emotionally." "I was full of guilt and remorse." "When I told Cleaver I had to break it off, he threatened to go public and ruin my career." "He put me in an impossible position." "It was fantastic, dirty sex." "Pure and simple." "That's how she wanted it." "No infatuation, no longing." "No love." "It seems incredible to me people are buying her crap." "The press has done nothing but call the Premier on all her broken promises." "Every day in the papers you've got a list of them, yet now because of a couple of Academy Award-worthy performances from the Premier and Mr Streep, suddenly she's Abraham Lincoln." "Here's the real scoop." "The Premier and her husband can barely stand being in the same parliament together, let alone the same bed." "Do you have any proof?" "Well, the Premier is a big fan of the text message." "BIG fan." "As am I, I have to say." "I'm scrolling through my messages as we speak." "Here's one from the 4th of this month." "Quote..." "'Skiddy boring punters to death at dinner in Newcastle." "Hook up?" "Urgent need to get down and dirty.'" "Then she signs off - 'XXX-rated.'" "Shit." "Do you know who Skiddy is?" "Shut up!" "Skiddy is the Premier's husband, the attorney-general and police minister of this State." "She calls him The Skid Mark behind his back, or Skiddy for short." "How's that for terms of endearment?" "Are you saying that is a text message to you from the Premier?" "Yes." "I am absolutely saying that, and I am saying I've got dozens like it." "You sent him dirty texts?" "Jesus fucking Christ!" "Has Shane Warne taught you nothing, Claudia?" "Claude!" "Claude, I'm not sure there's a way round this." "Of course there's a fucking way around this." "There's always a fucking way around everything because that's what we do." "That's how we spend our time... consume our careers and lives finding ways round things." "Do you remember when you told me to run, Cal?" "You were groping my arse at Nick's birthday." "I thought it was all about the ideas back then." "Fuck." "Seemed so obvious how to make other people's lives better." "The next day I said, sure, I'll run." "And you left Grace and we got married." "That's the last time we talked about ideas." "From that day on, it's just been running and winning and running." "Well, you've got to be invited to the dance, darling." "I've been invited to the fucking dance, Cal." "I'm queen of the fucking prom." "And I haven't had a chance to do a single move of my own." "I've just been running and winning." "What happened to the ideas?" "It's too late for ideas." "I know." "I'll deal with Greene." "Good." "I never attempted to blackmail the Premier." "I never threatened to go public about our relationship." "I never threatened her in any way at all." "She's lying." "She never tried to break it off, and I never said I would go public if she did." "You don't have a case for blackmail." "Like I said, nobody's charging you with anything at this point." "These are simply preliminary inquiries." "I actually wouldn't mind being charged, Murph." "I actually would like to see this whole fucking nightmare played out in court." "You know why?" "I'd win." "Because I have the texts." "OK, this is not my phone." "What do you mean?" "It's not my phone." "Sure you picked up the right one when you came through security?" "Pretty crowded down there." "You're fucking kidding me?" "Relax, Cleave." "If your phone is here, we'll find it." "You sure that's your phone?" "Yes." "And the texts?" "What do you reckon, Barney?" "All gone." "Every one of them wiped." "Pricks." "This is Cal McGregor." "Calm down." "Fuck!" "Mate!" "Write me an affidavit in support." "Support of what?" "You're the only other person who's seen the texts." "I haven't seen them, you told me about them." "I read them out to you." "I didn't see them." "I can't say I saw them." "You don't believe me?" "It's not about that." "Mate, I've got a conference." "Buddy!" "I'm being attacked by every level of the system right now." "I will happily put on an affidavit saying what you told me, but I cannot and will not perjure myself." "You know the texts exist." "I'm not asking you to lie." "Yes, you are, Cleaver!" "You just don't get it, do you?" "I've got a conference." "Come." "This just came for you." "Ta." "Latte?" "Ah, no." "No, I'm good." "My father never came to any sports days." "He never showed any emotions let alone affection." "He was like this iceberg." "I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you really think this has something to do with your father?" "Sorry?" "'Cause, let me tell you, it has nothing to do with your father." "Doesn't it?" "No." "Nor does it have anything to do with Scarlet's mother." "Those are sideshows, Barney." "Really?" "These are my notes on you guys." "All our sessions - couples and one-on-one." "I did an audit this morning." "And?" "Barney, I've never said this before in my life to a patient, a colleague, anyone." "In fact, I could be deregistered for what I'm about to say." "But forget Mummy and Daddy, OK?" "The problem you and Scarlet are confronting, both as individuals and in terms of your marriage is so absurdly obvious, I don't know what else to say." "Go on." "It's Cleaver Greene." "Jesus Christ." "She's in freefall, mate." "I've never seen anything like it." "57% of the New South Wales public think that Cleaver Greene is more trustworthy than the Premier?" "That can't possibly be right." "Not only that." "69% think that the blackmail allegations are politically motivated." "So, what are my options?" "Dump Claude, and you'll get an eight-point bounce." "When you say dump her, do you mean politically or personally?" "Both." "Which I could only do if I was shocked to find out that Cleaver's side of the story was the truth." "Shocking though that would be." "Shocking." "Shocking." "It's not enough to get you the leadership, but it's enough to give you wiggle room with Stevie or Bill if you want to hang onto AGs and police." "It's a pity about not pursuing the charges against Greene." "That's the one thing I was looking forward to this week." "G'day, Stevie." "How are you, mate?" "I've just happened upon a file of text messages between Claude and Cleaver Greene, and quite frankly, I'm at a loss as to what to do with them." "Well, I'd be grateful for advice, mate, because there's every possibility that tomorrow you could be premier." "So, Dr Fisher, how would you describe this mixture of materials?" "Lethal as a combination, obviously." "And what can you tell us about the mechanical components of the bomb?" "Pretty standard, really." "Basic shrapnel." "Nails, primarily." "It's not usual in such a case to find evidence of remote detonation, but that's always a possibility." "I'm sorry... you found evidence of potential remote detonation?" "Yes." "Is that usual in such a bomb?" "I mean, my understanding is that in cases like this, the bombs are usually self-detonated." "Sometimes there's a failsafe." "If the bomber is incapacitated, the detonator can still be triggered by somebody else." "So, Dr Fisher, could this remote detonation have been triggered by a mobile-phone call?" "That's a common method, yes." "Get Zuharah's mobile bills." "Dr Fisher, if the objective was to blow up Parliament House, this was an amateurish joke of an attempt, wasn't it?" "I would never describe such intentions as jokes." "How big was the bomb, Dr Fisher?" "For anyone else to have been seriously injured or killed, they would have to have been standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr Mohammed." "Really?" "Then the damage to Parliament itself would have been..." "Negligible." "Mr Greene?" "One moment, Your Honour." "Very well." "No further questions, Your Honour, but at this point, I would like to tender my client's mobile-phone records for the relevant period." "You'll note that my client sent no text messages on that morning and made only one phone call, apparently to her dentist to make an appointment for one of her daughters." "This doesn't preclude the possibility that Mrs Mohammed purchased another SIM card in order to detonate the bomb." "Then, Your Honour, we would be keen to see evidence of such a purchase." "Your Honour, I seek an adjournment so we can make proper inquiries." "Your Honour, what inquiries?" "You can get a SIM card with any packet of breakfast cereal these days." "The things are a dime a dozen." "And you will recall, Your Honour, that my client's home was raided." "Her computer and documents have been seized." "The Crown has had ample opportunity to furnish us with such evidence if it did exist." "It clearly does not." "I agree, Mr Greene." "There are no witnesses, ladies and gentlemen." "My client's only possible substantive connection with this crime is that she purchased chemicals which may have been used to make the bomb, chemicals, I might add, which any of us could purchase this very afternoon." "But do you know what the worst thing is about the prosecution's case?" "It is a case that is rooted in prejudice." "Had Mr Mohammed not converted to Islam, but had it have been old Mike Coorey who'd blown himself up on that day, this case would would never be tried as terrorism." "This would be a case about a sad, mentally ill guy who'd gone postal." "The forensic evidence proves beyond reasonable doubt that had Mr Mohammed walked down Macquarie Street with a cricket bat, he would have been better placed to take life." "The device in Mr Mohammed's backpack was only ever going to kill one person." "Mr Greene?" "Yes, Your Honour." "I was merely restating the point that the device that Mr Mohammed was carrying was patently inadequate for its alleged purpose." "This just arrived, marked 'private and confidential.'" "And we've just heard, Greene got the terrorist off." "'Course he did." "Thanks." "We're very pleased for you." "Excuse me." "Hi, mate." "Yeah." "It must be a gratifying and rare experience to have a genuinely innocent client acquitted." "You're no terrorist, that's for sure." "This was just plain, old-fashioned murder, wasn't it?" "I beg your pardon?" "You sent your husband out on a mission that could only ever have one result." "Not only was there barely enough explosive to kill him, but you were able to detonate it before he hit Macquarie Street." "Whatever he believed he was doing, there was only ever one target, and that was your husband." "The genius of it!" "The bit I love is the gall of it." "Playing to our prejudices, hiding a big crime inside a much bigger crime, knowing you'd be labelled a terrorist instead of a husband killer." "An absurd fiction, Mr Greene." "Here you were, stuck with this moron who wanted to blow people up, filling your daughters' heads full of ideas you despised." "An insufferable fool who you couldn't divorce." "I had a great-uncle who used to say there was only one way to truly end a marriage." "But I'm sure Western society has come to a more sophisticated and happy means of settling such matters." "Thank you, Mr Greene." "Please send your account to the house." "My best wishes to your family." "Mr Speaker, I have here transcripts of text messages between the Premier and Mr Cleaver Greene." "They are dated and timed." "I seek leave to table these transcripts so that the Premier may respond." "Might I add that these are every bit as shabby as one might have expected." "Every bit as shabby, Mr Speaker." "Have a look, Premier." "They're all here." "They're in your own words." "No?" "No?" "She won't even have a look." "Won't even have a look." "Resign!" "Resign!" "Resign!" "Here?" "I'm pulling the plug, mate." "On what?" "You and me." "What did I do this t..." "Mate, the clown got pissed." "Cleave, it's too hard." "This is Scarlet, isn't it?" "Yes, in part." "It's me too." "I've come to a fork in the road." "Or a knife in the back, maybe." "Or a runcible spoon up the arse." "Getting theatrical's not going to help." "If I have to choose between you and my family," "I will choose my family." "I don't see why there has to be a choice." "Alright, we've had our ups and downs." "Is that some sort of joke?" "Cleave, it has to be this way." "Cal?" "Hey, Cleave." "Been awhile." "Don't feel that long." "Jesus, you're a slippery bastard." "Every time I..." "What can I do for you, Skiddy?" "The drug squad's received a tip-off suggesting there may be a trafficable amount of a prescribed substance somewhere in this vicinity." "And by vicinity, I mean this apartment." "And by prescribed substance," "I mean the 50 bags of coke I've just hidden here." "They should be here in about ten..." "Maybe nine minutes." "So if I were you," "I'd probably do the first few bags I found, 'cause they're going to be your last." "Fuck!" "This is what we've come to." "These people are robbing us of meaning and they have to be stopped." "I borrowed a bit already from the Foundation as a loan." "I haven't had a chance to pay it back." "There's a chance I'll be wading in the brown stuff." "Sally's looking good, isn't she?" "Sally's a neighbour." "She's strictly a no-fly zone." "Are we clear on that?" "This is nonsense." "I wonder if you'd think that if suddenly your children were seized from your home and tortured and butchered before your very eyes."