"Driver's license?" "You know you was ten ks over back there?" "Where you headed?" "Been drinking today?" "No worries." "Just need you to blow into this." "Keep going." "Yep." "Step out of the car, please." "I said step out of the car." "Hey!" "Hey, fellas, you wanna settle down there?" "Oi!" "You mob!" "Morning, mayor." "Sally." "Usual?" "Thanks." "Morning, Josh." "Maureen." "Heard there was a bit of silly buggers down here last night." "Nothing too serious, I hope." "Just the usual." "How're you going?" "Oh, I'm keeping busy." "There's... just shit going on with the blackfellas out at broken river." "You know, they're drinking, fighting, whatnot." "So..." "I've got enough to keep me in and out of trouble." "I bet you do." "Josh, there's something I've been meaning to let you in on." "Furnace creek's applied for a new expansion license." "For where?" "Everywhere, just about." "Well, the whole goldstone catchment, anyway." "Fuck, that's bloody big." "Top you up, Josh?" "Yeah." "Thanks, Sally." "Yeah, it's a very big deal for all of us, and I mean all of us." "But it's complicated." "Needs blackfella approval, and there's a mile of bright red tape." "What do you want from me?" "Well, I know you don't like to get too involved in things, but just keep your eyes and ears open, and if you feel any heat, especially from broken river, let me know." "We got Tommy from the land council on our side, but we don't want anyone further complicating things." "Yeah, no worries." "Good." "Also, you might want to know." "A stranger blew into town last night." "A detective." "And get this." "He's a blackfella." "What, Indian black or African black?" "No, I mean blackfella black." "Near as I could tell, anyhow." "What's he doing here?" "Ain't too sure yet." "Well, find out." "Hey." "Apple?" "'Course." "And Josh?" "Remember." "No worries." "Mmm." "Mmm." "Yeah, I know." "What are we paying' em a fortune for?" "We should have had a contract two fuckin' weeks ago." "Look, if this thing falls through, blame the fuckin' lawyers." "No, I'm just saying if it did." "Okay." "Okay." "Gidday, Josh." "Johnny." "You want a soft drink?" "Beer?" "No." "No, thanks." "Jeez, I hope the boys weren't too much trouble." "I've pretty well had a gutful at this point." "Yeah, no, you know what they're like." "Look, I don't have the time for it anymore, so if you can't fix it," "I'll have to start charging people." "Come on, Josh." "Mate, you know as good as anyone with no mine, there is no pub, there's no Josh, there's no fuckin' goldstone." "Without furnace creek, we'd be a bloody piss stop on the highway to nowhere." "You know, just like when the blackfellas were in charge." "You... you heard of the new expansion license?" "Look, you've always been a good supporter, Josh." "You know, always been looking for ways to show my appreciation." "But this one's major league, mate." "We're talking a few hundred million dollars worth of gold, probably more." "I just need to know if we can count on ya." "Looks like a lot of trees there, Johnny." "Oh, mate, that's just for starters." "How about... how about i look after it for ya since it's, you know, it's your first time and all." "Look, I better get back to it." "All right." "Yeah." "You have a good one, eh?" "Yeah, you too." "Hey, old man." "I was looking for Maria." "Maria." "Who are you?" "My name's Jay." "About six months ago, your phone was used to call a police hotline." "It was about an Asian-looking girl in the desert." "Did you make the call?" "And is this her?" "Could be." "Where'd you see her?" "Under that first tree, heading out to town." "And what was she doing?" "Sittin' in the shade." "Did she look like she needed help?" "Who's that?" "Oh, that's Tommy." "Big land council boss." "Yeah, what?" "Well, fuckin' deal with it." "Well, get onto Josh." "Ask if he knows anything about him." "Right?" "Good evening, sir." "Please, sit down." "I'm Anne, but you can call me pinky." "How long you been in town, pinky?" "A few days." "I cruise in for a few weeks and then I cruise out, just like you guys." "Are you married?" "Not anymore." "I hear ya." "Got kids?" "A beautiful girl." "Yeah, she passed away last year." "I'm sorry." "Are you a single girl, pinky?" "Yeah, most of the time." "You hear of things happening out here?" "Are you a cop?" "Sometimes." "I've heard... stories about girls getting caught up in stuff." "But you should know by now that all roads lead to furnace creek." "There's nothing else out here." "I do know one thing for sure, and that's this land ain't no place for a young girl." "I'll be gentle." "Maybe next time." "There is..." "No..." "Next... time." "Fuck!" "Jeez, you don't mess around, do ya?" "Sgs." "They meant business." "You wanna make a statement?" "Are you gonna tell me what you're doin' out here?" "I know you ain't out here on no holiday." "Who sent ya?" "Missing persons." "Well..." "I'm gonna tell ya now, there must be some mistake." "We got no missing persons out here." "Seems to me like a big old waste of time." "You should probably just turn that old rust bucket of yours around and..." "Head back to where you came from." "That's for you." "From the region commander." "You wanna argue about it, you can give 'em a call and you can sort it out." "But I'm guessing you don't want any extra attention out here." "Well, I can tell you now" "I ain't got time to be anybody's cattle dog, especially yours." "Anyway..." "Old Ruby rose, she's as mad as hell." "Wants you out of here quick as a snail's fart." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "Best get packin'." "It's all off-grid." "Gas fridge and stove." "It's a bit rough, but should be quiet enough." "What's the old Winchester for?" "Mostly wild dogs." "And whatever else comes out of the desert." "Ferals around here have been mixing with the dingos." "Making some crazy half-breed." "Wilder than the purebreds." "Twice as cunning." "Just a word of warning." "You see, out here..." "Folks don't take too kindly to outsiders." "So if you do want to go lookin' around, just be careful where you step." "There's plenty of snakes about." "Take your hands off your gun!" "Take your hands off your fucking gun!" "Now drop to your knees slowly!" "Put your hands on your head." "Put your hands on your fuckin' head!" "Go." "How're ya goin'?" "You can call me Johnny." "Can I get you a cold refreshment?" "You want a soft drink?" "Beer?" "Do you realize you were... intercepted well within a restricted area?" "You know, it's a fuckin' dangerous worksite out here." "You know, you could have been injured." "Well, even worse than that." "What were you doing out here?" "I just got lost." "You get lost much, detective?" "And what'd you see out there tonight?" "A beautiful sunset." "Oh, beautiful sunset, yeah." "You might wear a badge, work for the crown." "So do we." "The difference is that we keep this country in business." "See, it's all about..." "It's all about standards of living, you know?" "We can't stop the wheel turning for anyone, including you." "So I suggest..." "I suggest that you..." "You get on your horse and ya fuckin' ride out of here while ya can." "Go on." "Drive safe, though." "Drive safe." "Hooroo." "Mayor's invited you to morning tea." "She'll be expecting ya." "What were you doing out at furnace creek last night?" "You just can't go wandering' round like that." "You cross the border at furnace creek, copper or not, they got their rights to kill ya." "You know what goes on out there?" "What are you talking about?" "Talking about a plane full of Asian girls." "It's all done off-site." "They fly in, they fly out." "It's all legal." "You heard of trafficking?" "Jesus, Jay." "Well, how do you know they're not being trafficked?" "How do you know they are?" "Don't make no difference." "That kind of shit ain't my watch." "Belongs to the feds." "Do you know where they keep the girls?" "That ain't your concern." "And why ain't it yours?" "You on the take?" "Part of the security team?" "What?" "You calling me dirty there, Jay?" "That what you're doin'?" "Callin' me dirty?" "Who's letting the grog into broken river?" "It's a dry community and it's soaking with piss." "And it's on your watch." "Askin' or callin', whatever you want it to be." "Brother boy." "Where you from?" "Oh, here and there." "What were you doing up at broken river?" "Just lookin' around." "Well, you see, we got protocols out here." "This is not your country to go walkin' around on." "You're a guest here." "Just like the white man." "You understand, brother boy?" "Mr. swan." "Come on in." "Sit down." "You can call me Maureen." "Milk and sugar?" "Now, Mr. swan..." "Jay, isn't it?" "I'm going to call you Jay." "I heard something about a missing person." "You see, there's not much i don't know about when it comes to goldstone." "Now, out here, Jay, we run a very tight ship, where even the smallest stones can cause mighty big ripples." "And we don't take too kindly to mob who come in and throw stones with no reason." "Young Josh is a good boy." "Took him a while, but he understands how this place works." "So I suggest you keep your head down, keep those waters nice and still." "Yeah?" "Oh, and this is for you." "I was planning to give you just one slice, but I thought, what the hell." "Hope you got a sweet tooth." "Thanks for the little chat." "And if you need anything, just ask." "And I mean anything." "Hey, Josh." "Gidday, Mick." "Looking for a bit of love?" "Oh, not tonight." "Bit of business, actually." "Oh, yeah, what kind of business?" "You got foreign workers here, yeah?" "Yeah, like usual." "They got work visas?" "As far as I know." "Why, is there a problem?" "No, no, no." "No, just an inquiry." "An inquiry?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I want to talk to 'em." "What, now?" "Yeah." "Well, they're busy." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." "Won't take long." "You know, Josh, some people might call this a raid." "Come on, Mick, it's not a big deal." "Excuse us, Mick, Mrs. Lao." "You girls speak English?" "Are any of you girls here against your will?" "Has anybody threatened you in any way?" "Are any of you being forced to pay back money?" "Okay, thanks for your time." "Today here we make history." "Today we guarantee your community's security." "We're talking about infrastructure." "We're talking jobs and training." "Getting those lost kids off the drugs and into full-time jobs." "Look, I know some of you mob are worried about your..." "Your sacred sites and protecting your culture." "But at furnace creek, we pride ourselves on our environmental and our cultural record." "We hold our hands out to walk together down this new pathway to the future with the approval of this new exploration agreement." "Let's just jump to it and I'll invite the broken river council board members to come up here to give their autographs of approval in front of youse all here today." "Thank you." "Jimmy." "Jimmy!" "Hey, old man." "You want a ride?" "Lookin' for that girl?" "Chinese one, eh?" "Yeah, you know something?" "My grandfather saw first white man here." "He come on a camel." "Then the Chinese men come." "They said they all look for the gold stone." "And they follow the same god." "Money god." "I know why you came here." "I know your face." "Just like your father." "What, you knew him?" "He be taken away when he was a young boy." "Then he came back a man and he said he had a son." "Must be you." "See that bird?" "You hit 'em with the car." "Next time you be careful." "Look after him." "Protect him." "They need more time to understand." "But when you need him, they save your life." "They'll find the water, just the middle of nowhere, in the desert." "Clean water, too." "Yep." "I show you something." "What?" "What you really come here for." "Don't worry, not far." "That way." "Hey." "What's wrong?" "Well..." "I'm thinking of gettin' out, Maureen." "I'm thinking to quit while I'm ahead." "Quittin'?" "But Johnny, we're so close." "Old Jimmy walked out of the signing ceremony." "What?" "Tommy told me there'd be no problem with Jimmy." "Yeah, well, he is." "He's a big fuckin' problem." "Already told the suits down south we've got the green light." "Maybe he wants more money." "I'll have a chat to Tommy." "No, no." "He's the type you can't buy." "You know, he doesn't go to church." "Hasn't touched a drop of the grog we've been runnin' out there." "The old ways are in his blood." "Probably hold off until he fuckin' dies." "Maybe we could speed things up." "What do you mean?" "You know what I mean." "Fuckin' shit, no." "No, no." "Johnny, we got so much at stake here, remember?" "Just leave it with me." "I'll do everything." "Okay?" "Okay, babe?" "Hey, Josh." "Back again?" "Yeah, looks like it." "Business or pleasure?" "Pleasure." "♪♪" "Where you from?" "A small town a long way from here." "You?" "A small town, long way from here." "What's your name?" "Mei." "How'd you get here?" "It's a long story." "It's okay." "You can trust me." "You come here much?" "Sometimes." "You don't look like the others around here." "How's that?" "You just look different." "Nah, I'm just the same as them." "Maybe I just didn't start out that way, though." "How did you?" "I don't know." "Didn't do things the way other folks did." "I didn't believe what other folks believed." "What did you believe?" "Doesn't matter." "That boy's long gone." "So why all the questions, Mei?" "So I don't have to answer yours." "Clever girl." "What do you really want, Mr. policeman?" "Need to know what's going on out here." "What do you think is going on?" "Not too sure yet." "The truth can be hard to find out here, especially once the sun goes down." "And when you find the truth, what will you do about it?" " Yeah?" " I got some information." "About what?" "About what the fuck's going on." "Who is this?" "Meetmeout at shadow tree crossroads." "What happened?" "Looks like the old man tanked himself." "How do you know that?" "'Cause I know what it looks like." "Except usually it's the kids." "We had five in the last year." "And I got a witness." "Said he came here fishin'." "Saw old Jimmy swinging from the tree, but... it was too late." "Sadly." "Josh!" "Oh, hope I'm not interrupting." "I was just heading home and I saw the car." "No, you're all right, Maureen." "I just heard about Jimmy." "Shame, takin' his own life like that." "Yeah, I know." "I didn't think he was the type." "Oh, it's often the way it goes." "Ones you least expect." "Yeah." "Is there a problem?" "No, no, just... just procedure." "I record all the suicides we get." "Oh, good." "I want to make sure there's no problems for the family getting a release so they can go ahead with the burial." "Can be really painful, dragging these things out." "Yeah, no worries." "No worries, Maureen." "I'll..." "I'll get Max over in the morning and I'll dress the body." "Should be ready by tomorrow afternoon." "Oh, good, Josh." "Appreciate it." "No worries." "Oh, there's one other thing..." "Don't ya reckon Mr. swan has overstayed his welcome, eh?" "Yeah, I get your drift, but it might not be so easy." "He's here on federal authority." "Joshua." "Since when were you afraid of a little authority?" "Talk later." "I want you out of here, pure and simple." "I did some checking'." "I know why you got sent out here." "Because of the hornet's nest you set on fire back in your hometown." "I've gotta admit, lookin' at you now," "I wouldn't have thought you had it in ya." "Five men ended..." "Pretty much single-handed." "Jesus, you're a dangerous man, Jay." "I guess all that blood on your hands..." "Send anyone to drink." "Ya ever loved anyone?" "What do you reckon?" "I reckon you're too gutless to do a lot of things." "It's probably one of 'em." "Just end in a big fuckin' mess anyway." "I reckon I'll just bypass it." "Yeah, why not bypass the whole fuckin' thing?" "But you already thought about that more than once." "Pulling that glock out of your holster and popping it in your mouth." "Out here, all on your lonesome." "Fuck you, Jay." "Fuckin' bypass." "Like this whole fuckin' country." "You think your missing girl's out there, you go right on ahead." "I won't stop ya." "But you're chasin' a fuckin' ghost, Jay." "You got no witness and you got no victim." "No fuckin' crime." "Belongs to the missing girl." "Where'd you get it?" "Doesn't matter." "It's just a lost passport." "Oh, it's just a lost passport." "What, just like an old man just killed himself..." "On your watch." "You think you or me or anyone can make a difference to any fuckin' thing?" "Think you really cleaned up that town of yours?" "You might have stirred up a bit of dirt, but it's just a matter of time that the dust settles." "Well, at least it's a little bit thinner." "You go out there, guns blazing, they'll probably kill ya." "And all of this shit, it'll just keep goin' round." "And I'll be the one stuck on light duties in some fuckin' hell hole." "I thought you were already there." "♪♪" "Why did you come back?" "Still looking for the truth?" "Or something else?" "I don't know." "Maybe... a lot of things." "All at once." "Why did you choose me from the others?" "I guess something just caught my eye." "What something?" "You sure you are just like the others, Mr. policeman?" "What are you really doin' here?" "What do you think?" "I think you're pretending." "Pretending what?" "To be like the others." "I do what they do." "Makes me no different." "Just like you, do like the others." "Let me help you." "Why do you think I need it?" "'Cause it's in your eyes." "And why should I trust you?" "I'm giving you a choice..." "To be who you wanna be." "Maybe it's me..." "Giving you the choice." "If you need help, press this green button." "And I'll come." "Then what will become of you?" "We are gathered today, my brothers and sisters, to return our brother Jimmy to mother earth." "His life is not destroyed by death." "God has taken him to eternal life." "As we commend Jimmy to god and commit his body to the earth let us express in prayer our common faith in the resurrection." "As Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we too are called to follow him through death to the glory of eternal life with god." "Old Jimmy told me all about you." "He wanted me to give you this." "Your father had two brothers." "That's them at the front there, on the side." "Your father's the one at the end." "What happened to them?" "Government sent people away." "Far away from here." "They must have been with 'em." "There's a lot of families out here won't accept you." "They want to keep everything for themselves." "But old Jimmy wanted you to know that..." "This mob... it's your mob." "This land, you belong to it." "Come in!" "Detective swan." "Cuppa tea?" "Grandchildren?" "Nah, I couldn't have kids." "So I figured sponsors was the next best thing." "I heard you were at Jimmy's funeral." "Just plain terrible what's happening out there." "People taking their own lives." "We lost a bunch of kids last year." "Yeah, I was speaking to Jimmy's daughter, Maria." "She must be devastated." "Yeah, she was saying Jimmy was gettin' pressure." "Really?" "Who from?" "The land council and furnace creek." "I heard you caused a bit of commotion back in your hometown." "Is that right?" "I was just doin' my job." "My daddy was a sheep farmer a long way south and a little bit east of here." "Fifty thousand acres of the most desolate, driest land you've ever seen." "Now, my daddy was a hard man, but my granddaddy..." "He was from a different world." "Nothing my daddy did could ever please that old man." "There was no pleasing my daddy, either." "When I heard he'd hanged himself in the feed shed one October morning," "I couldn't feel any sorrow." "Couldn't find a reason to miss him." "And then it dawned on me." "I was just like him." "Daddy and granddaddy, the three of us." "As hard as that trampled on, dried old earth that we grew up on." "So after skippin' from town to town, marriage number five," "I just let things go." "Decided I just had to look after number one." "Now, I never told anyone that before." "But I reckon you should think about it, Jay, 'cause one day you might wake up and find yourself lonely and old and poor, with nothin' to keep you company but the flies 'cause you left the door half open." "Now, here we are being civilized to one another, but you and I both know things are gonna change sooner or later." "Don't get me wrong." "I like you, Jay." "Just don't take it personal when things turn from ripe to rotten." "'Cause that's how life is, Jay." "Drive carefully." "They biting'?" "Not like they used to." "Nah, it's a shame." "Aren't you gonna count it?" "No, I trust you." "You shouldn't, ya know." "You know that black cop's been talkin' to Maria?" "Yeah, I know." "What he say?" "Nothin' much." "It was more the way he said it." "He's trying to get something out of you." "Well, you won't have to worry about him anymore." "What you gonna do about Maria?" "What do you want me to do?" "Keep her mouth shut." "You're doin' the right thing." "The past is the past." "It's time for your people to move on." "Tommy?" "Are we right?" "What do you want?" "The passport." "I just wanna know where you found it." "I don't want any trouble." "If you just show me where you found the passport," "I'll leave you alone, i promise." "Up there." "I was scratching around and come across it by accident." "You find anything else up there?" "Just rubbish." "Fool's gold." "Seen some fuckin' bikies 'round here, shootin'." " Shootin' what?" " At wild dogs." "Anything that fuckin' moves or doesn't move." "They even fuckin' shot up me fuckin' mail box." "Twice." "Where'd they come from?" "Where do you think they come from?" "Fuckin' furnace fuckin' creek." "Mrs. Lao?" "Yes?" "That's a lot of noodles you've got there." "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions." "Sorry, I'm very busy." "Yeah, no worries." "Won't take long." "Did you ever have a girl out there by the name of zhang Mei?" "I can't remember." "You sure?" "What do you want?" "The truth." "What's really going on out there?" "What's always been going on." "Tommy." "Tommy." "You all right?" "What do you wanna do, Tommy?" "I wanna clean the dust away." "Make it shine again." "I wanna make a statement." "How long's this been goin' on?" "You gotta sign the papers, film people..." "Tommy, how much?" "The man, he wants some money if you don't sign the paper..." "Tommy, what happened with old Jimmy?" "I grab him and I put the rope around him, took him, and I lift him up." "All right." "Hey, Josh." "I want to see the girls." "They're not here." "What do you mean they're not here?" "Bring the fuckin' girls out." "What are you doin' here, Josh?" "Where are they?" "What's wrong with you?" "You know the rules." "When's the next plane?" "Mayor's not going to be happy about this." "♪♪" "You okay there, Maureen?" "Josh, you gave me a fright." "You working on a Sunday?" "Yeah, just..." "Tying up a few loose ends." "What can I do for you, Josh?" "Well, Maureen, I'll just get right to it." "I know you're involved in old Jimmy's death." "You realize what you're sayin', Josh?" "Cut the bullshit, Maureen." "Your hands are all over it and I can prove it." "Just like I can prove you've been on the take with furnace creek." "Josh, I'm just an old woman who likes to bake pies." "I've got 12 sponsor kids, for Christ's sake." "Whoever's got the girls, i wanna meet 'em." "And I wanna meet 'em now." "Which girls?" "Don't fuck with me, Maureen." "Josh, I don't know what's gotten into you." "You're not yourself." "I need you to set it up." "How much do you think your life's worth?" "There's billions of dollars out there." "How do you think that compares with an old blackfella or a lone Asian girl?" "A prostitute, for Christ's sake." "But I guess that's just your style, isn't it?" "A copper who prefers to spend his time with working girls." "Not a good look for a young cop who wants to step up in the world, is it?" "And those hands of yours, they may not be as dipped as some, but they're not squeaky clean either, are they, Josh?" "You set it up, or I'll get the fuckin' feds up here tomorrow." "I'll need some bait." "Tell 'em I want in." "Do you really want in, Josh?" "Your own big slice of the pie?" "Make the call." "Or I will." "Josh." "What's goin' on?" "You tell me what's goin' on." "One sec." "Can you do something for us, mate?" "Yeah, what's that, mate?" "Just grab that shovel over there." "Make yourself useful." "Don't." "Let's go." "You wanna get close, this is how you do it." "Make it nice and fuckin' big." "Nothin' personal, joshy." "Just business." "Hands on your head." "Ah!" "Ahh!" "♪♪" "Are you sure you wanna do this?" "Ahh!" "Where are they?" "Who?" "The girls." "The laundry." "Get on the ground!" "Get on the ground now!" "On the ground!" "On the fuckin' ground!" "Mayor's left town without a trace." "No sign of her yet." "But you're free to go." "The feds have taken over everything." "It's all gone down to the city with the girls." "I'm just waiting to see what happens." "End up seeing any of them wild dogs gettin' around?" "I seen somethin' out there, but I'm not sure what it was." "But I do know it was no bad thing." "You know, growing' up out here in the bush," "I wouldn't change it for anything." "And I mean anything." "But sometimes I can't help but get this feelin' that..." "I coulda been..." "Or I shoulda been..." "Somethin' more than..." "What I turned out." "I tell myself not to listen." "It's just this..." "Small piece inside..." "That's cryin' out to be me." "I'm gonna put in for a transfer." "Somewhere by the ocean." "Need to clean a bit of this dust out of me, Jay." "What about you?" "You headin' home?" "I guess."