"The seeming incompetence and half-heartedness of the Commonwealth Police can only be understood in the light of the confused and contradictory signals coming from the Government, not only on the problem of draft resistance, but on the Vietnam issue as a whole." "For Gough Whitlam and the Labor Party waiting in the wings, it's yet another signal that it's time." "It's pathetic." "They're making them into heroes." "The Government's handling of the economy..." "What does that make us?" "We're just the fucking idiots who went." "Not just idiots." "I've seen posters." "Legalised murder, they call it." "We're murderers." "Want to get something to eat?" "No." "Le will bring something back." "What's this place she's working at?" "A drycleaners." "Nah, she's right." "Three half-days, half-nights a week." "She wants to get out and about a bit, does she?" "The money doesn't do us any harm." "I want to do this place up and I can't by myself." "What do you mean, "wants to get out and about a bit"?" "She's happy." "You sure?" "It's almost like you're wanting me to start shitting myself about her." "I know something happened between you and Lien." "You never told me about that." "There's nothing to tell." "I thought there was something going on between us." "I was wrong." "I can't do anything from the waist down." "You know that, don't you?" "So there's not all that much that happens in that department." "But we love each other, mate." "I've got no doubts about that." "None." "It's me." "Do you think you'll be able to sleep?" "I doubt it." "Got room in there for one more?" "Certainly not, Megan." "I could watch you doing that for hours." "You always were a perv." "Looking forward to waking up in the same room two days in a row." "We'll win." "Polls are really solid." "I don't know." "There's always a big swing-back at the last minute." "Soon as people think Labor might win, they rush back to what they know." "Mm-mm." "Not this time." "Even Dad thinks Gough's going to get in." "In fact, I reckon he might even vote for them." "Oh, come on!" "No!" "It's true." "He's half human now." "Partly it's his new girlfriend." "She really stirs him up." "What does he think of that?" "Oh..." "I think he even likes it." "Are you sad?" "About what?" "About what's happened with your parents?" "Oh, I suppose." "In a way." "Probably for something that never really existed anyway." "If Phil and I hadn't been around, they probably would have split up years ago." "It'd be incredible if Gough did get in, wouldn't it?" "How do you mean?" "Well, just think of all the people that have got together through this." "They're not gonna sit around and go back to normal just because conscription finishes and we pull out of the war." "Yeah." "If that energy could be kept going..." "Oh, the '70s could be amazing." "Move it!" "Other room!" "Let me go!" "Stop!" "You're a fast bastard, aren't you?" "You'll be charged with assault!" "Yeah, and you can be the witness, eh, love?" "At least let me get my clothes on." "Good that he sleeps." "He worries about hospital." "Next operation." "Do you want to stay?" "I'll make you a bed on the couch." "Where does he sleep?" "With me." "I can slide him off into bed without him wake up." "You're dedicated, aren't you?" "What do you want from me, Phil?" "You think I want to go to bed with you?" "I think maybe you should leave." "I don't like you talk like that." "You tell me something." "When did you last see Lien?" "I don't see her after she leave." "How long was she a VC?" "The whole time she knew me?" "I don't know." "I don't know about that." "Oh, you must have known." "The whole village must have known!" "No!" "I come from different village anyway." "Three villages all move into one." "I don't know Lien good." "How come you're not speaking so well now?" "Are you nervous about something?" "I nervous about you." "You make me fear." "You've got nothing to worry about with me." "I'm Laurie's mate." "You're Laurie's wife." "Not like a mate to talk like you do." "About bed." "You don't believe me about Lien." "You're right." "I wouldn't believe anything any one of you said." "Maybe you were VC too." "Why I here then?" "You saw the main chance." "Life with Laurie's a lot better than life with Ho Chi Minh." "Here you get sugar in your coffee." ""Time for freedom"" ""Time for moving"" ""It's time to begin"" ""Yes, it's time"" ""Time for freedom"" ""Time for moving"" ""Time to begin"" ""Yes, it's time"" ""Time for old folks"" ""Time we loved them..."" "Damn thing's shrunk." "Or you've put on weight." "Yeah, I probably have too." "All our socialising." "Don't worry." "You carry it so well." "You're looking distinctly..." "Sexy." "What did Megan say about meeting me?" "She doesn't know you're coming." "You didn't tell her?" "!" "I didn't get around to it." "God, you're a toady sometimes!" "I can understand why your wife walked out on you." "Well, I didn't think there was any point in telling her." "Maybe she wouldn't have come." "From what you've told me about her, she'd be quite up to dealing with the mistress." "God, it's a revolting word, isn't it?" "Is that how you see yourself, is it?" "No." "I was saying it ironically." "Don't be so thick." "Oh, you're a bit fazed by meeting her too." "I've got enough problems with my own relatives, let alone anybody else's." "We'll be right down." "Come on." ""Time for loving Yeah"" ""Time for caring"" ""It's time to move"" ""Yes, it's time" "Time, yes, it is"" ""Time for better"" ""Days to be here"" ""It's time that we move"" ""Yes, it's time."" "Megan." "Hi, Dad." "Oh, this is Monica." "Hello, Megan." "How do you do?" "Have you been waiting long?" "Oh, no." "No, not really." "Your hair looks, um... interesting." "I hardly recognise her." "Makes you look a foot taller." "Or you've just shrunk." "Should we, er... go in?" "How's Serge?" "He'll get the full 18 months just because he made them look like such a bunch of idiots." "I'm prepared to be a character witness, if you like." "Wouldn't look too good in Canberra, would it, Dad?" "Well, it would probably confirm people's opinion, actually, that I'm a closet Red." "Don't flatter yourself." "Mr Goddard." "Yes?" "Good evening, sir." "We'll have a table for you in five minutes." "We did book for 8:00." "I know." "A mistake." "I'm very sorry." "Five minutes only." "Excuse me, please." "Thank you." "Never mind." "When you're department head, you'll be able to sack incompetent maître d's." "That'll be the day." "Mr Goddard?" "Canberra on the line for you." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Oh, Alex." "That's fine, fine." "How's Evelyn?" "She's fine." "I met her in Saigon." "Did you?" "Didn't Douglas tell you?" "No." "I'm sure he didn't tell Mum either." "Typical." "Yes, it is, isn't it?" "It's hard to get much out of him." "Oh, he's always been like that." "It's doing that sort of job." "It makes you secretive about everything." "Yes, politics." "I liked Evelyn a lot." "But I gather things were pretty much over before I came on the scene." "Mmm." "Yeah, they were." "And what was she like?" "You apparently met her in Saigon." "She had the job of showing you around." "Oh!" "That woman." "Oh." "What did you think of her?" "Hmm, she's alright." "She's a lot younger than him, isn't she?" "Yeah." "And very attractive." "Hmm." "He's done well for himself." "Hmm, probably won't last." "She gets exasperated with him, I think." "She's got him fairly well worked out, though." "Good for her." "Oh, God." "I can't help feeling twinges of jealousy." "Pathetic, isn't it?" "Well, you shouldn't." "What's there to be jealous of?" "He is your father." "You're much better off without him." "Sometimes I feel you're almost patronising me." "Well, if I am, I probably learnt it off Dad." "You're so rude!" "How come I got two such rude...?" "...such a rude daughter?" "I don't understand Phil." "I don't see why he couldn't even just... just telephone." "We don't know... anything about him." "He's a stranger." "Shortly we'll be talking to a peace activist..." "Hello, mate." "G'day." "Amongst calls for political asylum..." "Thanks." "You're a breath of fresh air." "Just had my mother here for two hours." "What's wrong with her?" "She just gives Le a hard time." "I don't mind." "You should." "How are you feeling?" "Panicked, mate." "It's the fifth time and it doesn't get any easier." "It's getting knocked out that worries me." "When you're dreaming, you still know you're alive." "But these anaesthetics, you go out completely - you're dead." "Guess what?" "I got to vote." "They wheel the ballot box around here." "First time I ever got the chance." "Who'd you go for?" "None of the bastards." "That, er... new fast bowler Thomson was showing some form yesterday." "Mmm, strange action." "A lot of pace though." "I reckon he could have a future." "Oh, got some fresh supplies for your sugar habit." "Thanks." "When does it get under way?" "First needle in a couple of hours." "Makes you dopey." "Could you go and ask the nurse for some orange juice, eh?" "Thanks." "I want you to take her home, mate." "She won't want to go, but last time when I was coming out of it, they reckon I was swearing about nogs and carrying on about all Christ-knows-what." "It's like there's this cesspit in the back of your mind." "The anaesthetic pulls the plug, it all comes pouring out." "You don't mind?" "Of course not." "Now, as I told you earlier, we have peace activist Megan Goddard with us, who is in fact..." "What, a close friend, is that fair to say?" "...of draft resistor Serge Sheltema who, many of you will remember, narrowly escaped Commonwealth Police while being interviewed on the current affairs program 'This Day Tonight' only to be arrested shortly after." "Thanks for coming in on election day, Megan." "Oh, thanks for having me." "Now, as you know, we're not allowed to talk politics because of the media blackout, but perhaps you can first tell me how Serge is." "Well, Serge and six other men are currently serving 18-month jail sentences under the National Services Act and I can tell you, he and the other men are certainly hoping for the right result tonight even harder than I am." "It's definitely no picnic in prison." "Of course, one of the big things for him is the possible effect of the prison conviction on his job prospects, because Serge holds an economics degree and an 18-month jail sentence doesn't exactly look good on the curriculum vitae." "How about your relationship?" "I mean, how was that affected by his life on the run?" "Well..." "I think that both of us more or less agreed that it had to be kept in the background while this was going on and hopefully it will be over in a few hours." "Yes, well, we are limited to what we can say on the air." "If you'd like to contact Megan or contribute to our discussion you can phone us now on 324 6984." "I'd like to say that I was in the Second World War in New Guinea." "But if I was up for conscription today," "I'd be doing the same as your mate because it's a different ball game, this war." "Yes, I think that that is an important point to make." "And thanks, Bob from Manly." "Next up, we have a Vietnam veteran." "Hello, Tom from Matraville." "I'd just like to ask Miss Goddard what she thinks of Australian troops in Vietnam now." "Megan?" "Um..." "I understand that you were over there yourself, Tom?" "That's right, as was a good friend of mine who's in Concord Repat Hospital this afternoon for his fifth major operation to remove some shrapnel from his spine." "What would you say to him?" "Um..." "I think that that many soldiers who served in Vietnam went believing that they were doing the right thing." "But I think the issues of Australian and American involvement are much clearer now." "I don't really give a stuff what you think." "I'd just like to know what you'd say to my friend who's in a wheelchair now because he was an Australian who believed in obeying Australian law." "I..." "I would say that it's very difficult for any of us who didn't go through what you and your friend experienced over there to, um... to understand how you feel about everything." "But, um, probably what you went through also makes it very difficult for you to understand our feelings." "We are not against our troops in any way." "We want them safely back because we believe that it is a brutal war that's not Australia's war and that's not America's war either." "Well, we seem to have lost our friend from Matraville." "I'm sorry." "That was my brother." "Here at Canterbury they're on the track..." "Yes." "...for the Port Hacking Handicap in which there are two scratchings..." "OK." "I call back." "There hasn't been a great deal of confidence about..." "Thank you very much." ""And at the moment, Dugling and Callid..."" "He's in the operating theatre now." "There's been some support for Silver Blue with Peter Cook in the saddle." "It's my sister." "You don't know where I am, alright?" "What do I say?" "Just that you don't know where I am." "Hello." "How's Laurie?" "We heard he's in hospital." "Yes." "Um..." "Phil was on the radio this afternoon, on talkback." "I heard." "I know that... that he doesn't want to see me, but I was wondering if you'd be able to give him a message?" "Um... if you could tell him his... his mother really needs to see him and his father's coming down from Canberra tonight." "It'll just be the family." "I've..." "I've written down the address." "And if you could tell him that..." "I'd love to see him." "OK." "I'll tell him." "Thanks." "I hope that your husband's operation is OK." "Did you hear?" "Yep." "You should go." "No way." "...Dugling is confirmed as 3-1 favourite, just shading Callid at 4-1" "I don't have a family anymore." ""And Yorkshire is nabbing two points from 12s to 10s."" "They're about to go to the barrier, we'll be back shortly for the broadcast of the a field of nine candidates." "Whitlam's well up already." "God, look at McMahon!" "Hmm, he's always a slow starter." "That electorate's notorious." "...the feet of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Gough Whitlam." "Mr Whitlam is well ahead..." "I'll go." "Oh, hi, Dad." "Phil hasn't shown up?" "No, not yet." "I'm sure she'd give him the message, though - the Vietnamese woman." "She was really nice." "Come through." "Hello, Douglas." "Hello." "How are the figures?" "Oh, looking good, so far." "Who'd you vote for?" "Ah, that's why we have a secret ballot." "I bet he voted for Gough." "Do you see yourself as a Prime Minister of Australia?" "I haven't thought about it." "I... you know, really haven't." "It's just so hypothetical that it's not worth talking about." "Mr Whitlam's going to get my enthusiastic support and he will be, I think, one of the great Prime Ministers." "Mr McMahon once predicted that you would succeed Mr Whitlam as Leader of the Labor Party." "Well, Mr McMahon's predictions have been so abysmally wrong on everything else that it's almost certain I won't succeed Mr Whitlam, I'd reckon." "If I'm going to, I'd much prefer to have a more reliable source than Mr McMahon." "You want a drink?" "Settle you down." "Alright." "I have one." "And then I go to the hospital." "Alright." "Why don't you like me?" "Who says I don't?" "The way you look at me." "You're Laurie's wife." "If you weren't here, he'd kill himself." "But sometimes you look at me like you want to hurt me." "I show you something." "It's hard to hurt me now." "Who did it?" "You never told us." "Soldiers." "What soldiers?" "Does it matter?" "Americans." "Then after I would have joined VC like Lien." "But Laurie took care of me." "And now he's hurt, he needs me." "I thought Lien needed me." "Lien had no war with you." "Everything she told me was a lie." "I trusted her." "There's nothing I trust now in the world." "She had no choice." "What do you mean?" "Her family took in her eldest sister's children." "Parents killed by plane." "Her mother... she is shot." "Accident." "Accident by soldiers." "Always an accident." "So there is her grandmother, the two children and Lien." "Her other sister go to work in a bar." "She sends money back." "When Lien finds out what she does she cries." "And then... her brother he is killed." "You lay his body out in the village to see who cries out." "But she must stay silent." "Village broken." "Family broken." "No honour left!" "Whole country filled with screaming." "No choice." "She love you." "But no choice." "I wonder if they're letting Serge watch this." "Look, McMahon's still in trouble in Lowe!" "No, he's picking up ground now." "Looks like we'll be needing champagne." "Will you be celebrating?" "In a way." "This Government's run its course." "Run out of ideas." "I got a bottle of champagne." "For if Phil came." "So, how are you?" "I'm fine." "How's Monica?" "She's good." "I'm sorry I didn't explain that you knew each other." "For some reason, I just assumed you'd realise it was her." "I'm not a mind reader." "She's coming down tonight, on the late plane." "I guess you should go and meet her." "And you're planning to go to Italy, Megan tells me." "Perugia." "They have a language course." "Great." "Great." "You were always terrific at languages." "Translating, were you thinking?" "Perhaps." "Or an interpreter." "I could probably line you up some good contacts there." "I've got some quite good contacts myself, thanks." "I did actually talk to people in Canberra too, you know." "Yeah." "This is stupid." "How are you really?" "Oh, well, um had some bad patches of feeling sorry for myself, but... but doors are, uh, opening up." "Well, the funny thing is, um I don't think I want to stay in Canberra anymore." "I've had a lot of ups and downs." "I missed you terribly at first, for a long time." "But I've had lots of time to think about things, and basically, I think I'm pretty good now." "Probably best I've been for years." "I'm glad." "I just wish we hadn't lost Phil on the way." "It wasn't us, it was the war." "Neither of us managed to help, even to know what was happening to him." "I don't think we can blame ourselves for that." "Don't you?" "I wish I felt the same way." "I wish they'd hurry up and do it." "It's OK, Laurie." "It's finished." "Hi." "Did I yell out or swear?" "No, you were very good." "Pity." "Nurses reckon I make 'em make 'em made 'em blush last time." "Shh." "Don't know if I want to." "There's someone else here?" "It's Phil." "Can he talk?" "Yes." "You came through, mate." "Good as gold." "He can talk." "But he's got no face." "You got no face standing over there, Phil." "Shh." "Have a sleep now." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Mr Whitlam has obviously won, and he's won a handsome victory." "There can be no doubt about the trend in NSW and Victoria, and they show a decisive majority for him." "I congratulate him..." "In the next few days, everything will change." "There'll be no more conscription." "We'll be out of the war." "Yes." "And it'll only be a matter of time for the Americans." "God." "It's incredible." "Although, I don't think it'll end the misery for the Vietnamese." "At least we'll be leaving their country to them." "Yes." "Our going in there certainly made the agony that much greater." "But I can't imagine the communists are going to be magnanimous victors." "Here he is - the Prime Minister elect." "Well, thank you, gentlemen." "Hadn't you better go and meet your friend?" "Yes." "I can give you a lift." "Well, thanks, I'm OK." "I've got a hire car from the airport." "We'll walk you down." ""Tentatively, in NSW and Victoria."" "These are the policies which we had put in the last parliament and throughout the campaign we didn't diverge from them." "We weren't distracted from them, and we are very much reassured by the response that the public gave to our program, and as expressed by all my colleagues and myself." "And we are, of course, very much aware of the responsibility with which the people have now entrusted us." "Well, it's been marvellous seeing you both again." "Yes, it's good to see you looking so well." "You too." "Phil." "It's me." "Sort of." ""I came upon a child of God"" ""He was walking along the road"" ""And I asked him, Where are you going?"" ""And this he told me"" ""I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm"" ""I'm going to join in a rock'n'roll band"" ""I'm going to camp out on the land"" ""I'm gonna try and get my soul free"" ""We are stardust..."" ""We are golden"" ""And we've got to get ourselves"" ""Back to the garden"" ""Do-do, do-do-do-do-do Do-do, do-do-do-do-do"" ""Do-do, do-do-do-do-do Do-do, do-do-do-do-do"" ""Then can I walk beside you?"" ""I have come here to lose the smog"" ""And I feel to be a cog"" ""In something turning"" ""Well, maybe it is just the time of year"" ""Or maybe it's the time of man"" ""I don't know who I am"" ""But, you know, life is for learning"" ""We are stardust"" ""We are golden"" ""And we've got to get ourselves"" ""Back to the garden"" ""Do-do, do-do-do-do-do Do-do, do-do-do-do-do"" ""Do-do, do-do-do-do-do Do-do, do-do-do-do-do"" ""By the time we got to Woodstock"" ""We were half a million strong"" ""And everywhere there was song"" ""And celebration"" ""And I dreamed I saw the bombers"" ""Riding shotgun in the sky"" ""And they were turning into butterflies"" ""Above our nation"" ""We are stardust"" ""Billion-year-old carbon"" ""We are golden"" ""Caught in the devil's bargain"" ""And we've got to get ourselves"" ""Back to the garden.""