Blood at Yellow Water (9 page)

Jake outlined the issues as succinctly as he
could. There were concessions to be given by both sides. On
tariffs, it was proposed that Japan immediately phase out all
tariffs and quotas on food and agricultural products coming from
Australia. In return Australia was to remove all tariffs on imports
into Australia of Japanese vehicles and automotive parts.

On investment, both countries were to agree
to remove impediments to investment from the other and to enter
into an investor dispute settlement mechanism. This would remove
the limits on Japanese investment in Australia mining developments
such as the 49% limit currently on Japanese ownership of the Jabiru
mine. Similarly, both countries would agree to remove restrictions
on services provided by the other in their respective countries, in
particular on education.

The breadth of the proposal clearly took the
delegations by surprise and there was much consternation by both
sides after Jake had finished his explanation. But then P.M. Murray
intervened and said that he expected officials of both sides to
work hard to negotiate an agreement on the basis of the Plan. This
would mean convincing some key players in both Australia and Japan
to endorse the plan, particularly some major industry groups and
corporations. Koshi stood up and endorsed Murray’s sentiments.

The meeting continued on into late
afternoon, re-generated by the new focus. It then broke up to allow
for intensive consultations with representatives of industry
groups.

Jake hoped fervently the Plan would work and
knew that the sticking point would be to get the Japanese farming
interests to agree to a rapid withdrawal of its tariffs on
Australian food and agricultural imports. With the Japanese system
of working by the committee process of consultation he knew that it
would be a long night for the Japanese delegation. He also knew
that Murray would have to get the Australian Cabinet to agree to
the removal of foreign investment restrictions on Japan investment
in areas as sensitive as land and uranium development. But the
defining issue would be the outcome of the negotiation on the
submarine contract. There was going to be a lot of lobbying work
behind the scenes if the Plan was going to be approved.

Jake was heading back to his room when his
mobile phone rang. He was surprised to hear his father’s voice.

“Hi Jake, sorry to bother you, have you got
a minute?”

“Sure Dad what’s up?”

“It’s Lizzie’s brother Barry, he’s been
arrested and they’re holding him in the cells at the Jabiru police
station. She didn’t want to worry you but I thought you might be
able to help out. I’ll pass the phone over to her.”

“Hi Jake I’m sorry to bother you but Bill
insisted I talk to you,” Lizzie came on the line, clearly
upset.

“That’s O.K. What on earth happened?”

“He’s been beaten up and arrested by the
police at the mine site for supposedly causing disruption. He said
it’s all trumped up, he didn’t do anything. Could you go down there
and try to sort it out?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll go down there but I’m not
sure I’ll be able to do anything.”

After getting a few more details from
Lizzie, Jake hung up, cursing under his breath. He had plenty of
work to do that evening but felt obligated to go to Jabiru and see
if he could contact Barry. He jumped into the four wheel drive and
drove the short distance to the Jabiru township, pulling up outside
the police station. The station was a small square building in the
main street. Jake walked up to the door which had a sign saying the
office was closed. He could see a light at the back so he rapped on
the door. Nothing happened so he knocked again this time very
loudly. Eventually he heard footsteps and a young burly constable
opened the door.

“Sorry mate we’re closed, you’ll have to
wait till tomorra morning.”

“Look, my name is Jake Stafford and I want
to visit Barry Buckstone who is locked up here. He’s a friend of
mine and I must talk to him.”

“Sorry mate, no visitors allowed till the
morning.”

“Look all I want is five minutes with him.
I’m with the Australian Government and it’s important I see him
now.” Jake flashed his security badge from the conference.

The constable, whose name was Angove,
appeared confused as he saw Jake’s pass.

“Orright , but you’d better be quick. I’ll
have to check you out for weapons.” He patted Jake down and led him
through to the office to the holding cell. The cell was just a
small room with a two-foot square opening on the door which served
as a window. The constable yelled out through the window.

“Barry, you’ve got a visitor.”

When he received no answer, the constable
peered through the window.

“Christ, he’s lying on the floor.” Quickly,
he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. They both rushed in
to see Barry spread out face down on the floor, clearly unconscious
and with a huge lump on the side of his skull. He also had some
cuts and bruises to his face and arms. Jake checked his breathing
and the pulse under his neck. He was breathing shallowly and his
heartbeat was steady but weak. He and the constable rolled him onto
his side and checked his airways.

The constable said “I’d better call Sergeant
Barker and let him know what’s happened.”

“No you won’t, you’ll call for the ambulance
right now. This could be serious by the look of that lump on the
side of his head,” Jake replied angrily.

“But he looked fine when I last checked on
him; he had some cuts and bruises but he was talking O.K.”

Jake lost patience. “Just ring the bloody
ambulance or do you want another case of a black death in
custody?”

Constable Angove picked up the phone and
rang for an ambulance. He then rang his sergeant. They tried to
make Barry comfortable while they waited, loosening his clothes and
shoes. In less than ten minutes the ambulance arrived and two
officers quickly checked Barry over and gave him oxygen. Sergeant
Neville Barker came bustling in shortly after and was quizzing the
constable as to what had happened. Barker, one of only a handful of
aboriginals to make the rank of sergeant in the NT Police Force,
had been in charge of the Jabiru Police Station for three years and
knew Barry.

“It looks like he’s passed out after taking
a heavy blow to his head. We can’t take any risk with head
injuries. We’re going to have to take him to Darwin Hospital
straight away,” said one of the ambulance officers.

“But he’s locked up for been involved in the
riot at the mine,” argued the sergeant.

“Doesn’t matter, he’s got to be checked out
properly for any brain damage” retorted the ambulance driver as he
and his colleague lifted Barry onto the stretcher.

As he was placed on the stretcher, Barry
stirred and opened his eyes.

“Christ what’s happened?” he said as he
tried to sit up.

“It’s O.K. Barry, you’ve had a hit to your
head and blacked out,” replied Jake, putting an arm on his shoulder
as the ambulance man gently pushed him back.

“Jake, what are you doing here?”

The sergeant barked, “Yeah, who the hell are
you?”

“Your sister asked me to check on you when
she heard you’d been locked up. It’s just as well I did because the
constable and I found you lying unconscious on the floor.”

Jake followed the stretcher out of the
police station and watched as Barry was lifted into the back of the
ambulance. He was starting to get some colour back in his face.
After he was settled into place, Jake climbed into the back of the
ambulance and crouched alongside him.

“Do you feel like telling me what happened?”
Jake asked.

“Look, it was a set-up. It was meant to be a
peaceful protest. We were chanting our anti-mining slogans outside
the wire fence at the mine when one of those dickhead anti-nuke
protesters threw a rock at a security guard whacking him on the
head. The guard retaliated by grabbing the dickhead and then
someone else threw another rock. There was a lot of pushing and
shoving and it got out of hand. Suddenly, a whole mob of coppers
appeared flaying us with truncheons and pushed us all back,
knocking a few heads in the process. I copped a stick right across
the back of the head and went down like a bag of spuds. Then a guy
from the mine sprayed us all with a fire hose and everyone
scattered leaving me lying there semi-conscious. The coppers
dragged me into the back of the paddy-wagon and locked me up in the
cop shop. I thought I was O.K. but I started getting woozy. Next
thing I knew I was lying on the floor in the cell.”

The ambulance officer said “We’re all set to
go,” and asked Jake “are you coming with us?”

Barry replied “No need for you to come Jake,
just let Lizzie know where I am. She’ll arrange for a lawyer to fix
this up and let my wife know what’s happened. Thanks for your
help.”

Jake jumped out of the back of the
ambulance, pulled out his camera phone and took a photo of Barry.
“I’ll send this photo to Lizzie so she’ll know you’re O.K.”

“What about you Sergeant, are you coming?”
asked the ambulance officer.

“No, the silly bastard doesn’t need a police
escort. But there could be charges so I’ll get the boys in Darwin
to keep an eye on him.” He waved the ambulance off and walked back
into the station, motioning Jake to come with him.

The sergeant introduced himself. “What’s
your interest in all this, fella?”

Jake explained the reason for his visit to
Kakadu and how he came to know and call on Barry.

The sergeant listened intently occasionally
interrupting with questions.

“O.K., I’d appreciate it if you stay away
from here in the future and keep quiet about what’s happened. We’ve
got enough on our hands with the protesters over the mine opening.
The media were all over the protest yesterday and we certainly
don’t want them getting any word of an aboriginal found lying
unconscious in gaol and being carted off to hospital in
Darwin.”

“No problem, Sergeant, I won’t be saying
anything to anyone. But is Barry really in trouble here? He doesn’t
seem the violent type. ”

“I know Barry and I’d be surprised if he was
one of the ringleaders in the attack on the security staff,” Barker
admitted. “We’ll look at the surveillance video and see who the
real culprits are. There seemed to be some professional protesters
there and it looks like someone tipped off the media to be there at
the right time. If Barry’s not involved in the violence he’ll be in
the clear.”

“Thanks for that Sergeant. If that’s all,
I’ll be off”

“O.K. but keep a lid on this,” repeated the
sergeant as he waved Jack off.

Relieved, Jake pulled out his mobile phone
and rang Lizzie. At first Lizzie was horrified, but then calmed
down after Jake explained that Barry seemed to be recovering. She
indicated she would arrange for a lawyer to handle any charges. She
thanked Jake profusely as she hung up.

Feeling hungry and realising he was going to
be too late to eat dinner back at the resort, Jake looked for a
take-away café but could only see a pizza shop. He walked into the
shop, studied the menu on the blackboard and ordered a pepperoni
pizza. He looked around the shop and the only people inside were a
group of Japanese who were sitting at the tables eating pizza. Jake
noticed that one of them had a bandage around his head and assumed
that they were part of the anti-nuclear protest lobby. One of the
Japanese women had her back to him but her long hair tied in a
ponytail and slim body shape looked familiar. She turned around and
he could see her profile.

“My God, it’s Shoni!” he cried out,
completely shocked.

She looked round in surprise. “Oh, Jake!”
She jumped up from the table and put her arms around him, much to
the amazement of the Japanese group.

Completely taken aback Jake asked, “What are
you doing here, Shoni?”

She blushed. “Come with me Jake, I can
explain.”

She pulled him by the hand leading him out
of the shop onto the footpath. She looked him straight in the
eye.

“Jake, I’m here with the protesters. I told
you my grandparents’ lives were destroyed by the explosion at the
uranium plant at Fukushima. I’ve been a member of the anti-nuclear
association in Japan for many years. I’ve made friends with many
people in the group and wanted to support them while I was in
Australia.”

“But why didn’t you tell me you were coming
up here? I have no problem with you being opposed to nuclear
energy.”

“Because you are with the Australian
Government and I thought you might want to stop me protesting. And
you could get into trouble with your superiors if you were seen to
be associating with a protester.”

Jake said angrily, “So you were staying at
Daly Waters because you were on your way to the protest. You were
lying to me!”

“No Jake, I’m not lying to you. I have a job
at Daly Waters for two months, I like it there and I’m going back
there after the mine opening. Everything I told you is the truth. I
just didn’t mention I was going to the protest for a few days
because I thought you wouldn’t like me being involved.”

“I’m not sure whether to believe you or
not.”

She looked up at him, tears starting to fall
down her cheeks.

“Please don’t think badly of me Jake. I care
for you so much.”

“If you really care for me, you will go back
to Daly Waters immediately. There is danger here. Did you get
caught up in the riots today?”

“Yes, we were sprayed by a fire hose and our
leader was hit in the head by someone throwing a rock.”

“Well it could get a lot more violent. I
have heard a rumour about a possible terrorist attack. You and your
comrades should get out of here.”

Shoni looked shocked. “All right Jake. I
can’t leave now but I promise to leave first thing tomorrow
morning.”