CAIRNS, A CITY AT WAR WITH ITSELF, PART 7

"It's a war zone, a bloodied, frenzied war zone! I've never seen anything like it in Cairns!" shrieked the Cairns radio station shock jock in his talk-back show.

"I'm looking at images sent to me on my mobile phone by someone who is down there, right now, at the front of the Cairns Regional Council offices, and I tell you, there are people with blood pouring down their faces everywhere. I tell you, I have never never never seen anything like this in Cairns before!" The shock jocks voice took on a shrill tone, fired by unchecked excitement. "This is all Councillor Mingin's work!!"

Driving down Sheridan Street, Councillor Brad Buttonworth, the Division 10 representative, listened to the talk back program with a mixture of disbelief and mounting horror. Somehow he doubted Mingin was at fault, although he knew the big fellow was powerfully built and still worked out regularly with weights. Suddenly his mobile phone buzzed. A text message had been sent.
Intuiting it could be urgent, he pulled his car over to a park alongside the Cairns State High School and read the message. "CEO ADVISES ALL COUNCIL MEETINGS CANCELLED TODAY. DO NOT ATTEND COUNCIL OFFICES. REPEAT DO NOT ATTEND COUNCIL OFFICES." For a few seconds, Buttonworth hesitated. Pulling out of the parking zone, he continued down Sheridan Street. He would park his vehicle somewhere in the city, he thought, and walk down to the Council Offices. He had to see what the hell was really going on.
As he continued, the radio shock jock was saying, "The people down there are saying that it was a peaceful demonstration, and suddenly this thing, this aboriginal Councillor, Mingin, just started laying into people, breaking noses, bustng lips. There is someone with broken ribs, another with head injuries.....".

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Constable Ryan Lake was driving Councillor Skye Lovelady down Spence Street towards the Council Offices, and both were listening to the Cairns radio station's talk back program. "I don't believe Mervyn would throw the first punches," Skye said to Ryan. "This can't be true, it can't be!"
Ryan only shook his head and declined to comment. He had been a copper for only a few years, enough time not to trust third party analysis. He slowed his car and pulled up behind another vehicle. A long line of vehicles were stationary down Spence Street. Up ahead, Ryan could see the familiar strobes of flashing blue lights. The police were at the Cairns Regional Council offices, and, judging by the sheer amount of blue lights, they had arrived in force.
"We're going home," he announced, taking in the situation with a hard glance. "It isn't safe for you here!"
"But I'm a Councillor!" Skye protested. "We have a meeting today....."
"I don't care if you're the Queen of fucken Sheba," Ryan retorted angrily. "You are not going in there or anywhere near the place! There's a fucken riot going on!"
Skye looked at Ryan with alarm. Her first instincts were to argue with him, to retort angrily at his manner, yet she knew. She knew. She knew the people of Cairns had been so fired up over the Mt Whitfield issue that it had come to violence. Part of her mind tried arguing that it was a nightmare, that none of this, her beloved cat being killed, someone trying to drive her off the road, someone breaking into her unit, and now this - it was all so surreal. It just couldn't be happening here in Cairns. Cairns! But it was. It was. In God's name it was!! Dully she leaned forward so that Ryan could not see the tears falling. She did not feel Ryan putting his arm across the seats and gently rubbing her back.

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Shakily, Councillor Dom Piper raised his head, disguised with an old hat of his wife's pulled firmly down on the crown of his head, and peered out the window of his range rover. He was at the front of the Council public car parking zone, and immediately adjacent to the riot. When he saw the fighting, struggling, shouting crowd, he let out an involuntary moan of terror.

There was a break in a crowd of fighting men, and he spotted with disbelief, Enzo Bomboniere, the Division 3 Councillor, being assaulted by several men. The slightly built Italian Australian was no match for the three enraged men, and even from where he sat cowering his his car, Piper could see the blood rushing from Bomboniere's mouth and nose. He was staggering under the blows and buckling, but still the men kept at him.

Piper moaned again and felt his bottom lip trembling like blubber. Hastily he ducked his head down, but in the process he noticed something in the seat behind him. Margie's golf clubs!
Without thinking, he leaned back and pulled one club out. The thought of it being a weapon filled him with courage. He grasped it firmly. As he felt the steel handle, he could feel himself calming down. He took some deep breaths and whispered to himself. "I'm a man, not a mouse. If I don't do something to help Enzo, they will kill him. I'm a man not a mouse!"

His voice grew louder. Stronger. "I'm a man, not a mouse. I'm a man, not a mouse." It was calming. He kept on saying it. So saying, he opened the car door and holding the golf club before him, ran to help Councillor Bomboniere who was lying on the ground being kicked by the three men.

Holding the golf club aloft, he swung as hard as he could at the three men, collecting one instantly in the chest. The man staggered back, reeled and fell on his knees. Piper swung again collecting another man in the face causing a plume of dark red blood to gush forth. The last man who was standing rock still, frozen with indecision, he rammed up his crotch with the golf club. The man screamed and bent over, also falling to his knees.

Standing over and straddling the prone body of Councillor Bomboniere, Piper held the golf club threateningly in front of him. Men were pressing around, but staying at a distance. He tried shouting above the noise. "I'll hit anyone who comes near!!!"

He lunged the golf club at one man who stepped a bit too close, but then there was a strange red gas everywhere. He could see it spreading amongst the crowd and suddenly he could hear the sounds of coughing, of throats gagging. He felt his own eyes sting, then his throat constrict. His chest felt tight. He couldn't breathe! He opened his eyes briefly, then had to shut them tight again! The red gas was redder, thicker. He could scarcely breathe! Tears started streaming from his eyes, even though he had them shut. He could hear gutteral choking sounds all around him and when he opened his eyes as wide as he could, he could see people falling to their knees trying to breathe. Gradually, he sank to his knees, lying as close as he could to help protect Enzo who was also making strangulated choking noises. He grabbed Enzo's hand and tried to say, "It's alright mate," but no sound came out. His throat and larynx felt paralysed. He concentrated on his breathing, trying to get as much air as he could into his lungs.

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Councillor Brad Buttonworth had parked his car at a local shopping centre and had walked briskly to where the Police had set up a roadblock in Spence Street. "Stay away Sir!" cautioned a young police officer. "We are not letting anyone through!"

Buttnworth held up his identification card. "I'm a Cairns Regional Councillor," he announced, "and we have a meeting today. I am expected to be there."

The young police officer looked momentarily confused and he hesitated. "I'll just check with my superior," he said. "Hang on a tic will you?"

As he turned away, Brad walked past, ducking down and crawling on hands and knees past the police vehicles. Police called out him but he ran, ducking weaving past police and spectators to see the riot outside the Council offices. He could see a large cloud of reddish gas amongst the rioters, could hear them making choking sounds, could see people with blood pouring from them.
Sickened, he stood and gaped. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think Cairns would see this. It looked like a battle zone! A man and a woman were approaching him. He looked at them dazedly, wanting them to say something, say that it wasn't real. That it was a nightmare!
"He's one of them fucken greenie fucken bastards whose taking the jobs from us!" said the woman pointing a finger at him.
"Is he then?" roared the man rushing at him with his arm fisted. Buttonworth stood, frozen with shock. Suddenly, materialising out of nowhere, a stout, freckle faced police woman appeared in front of Buttonwroth, putting herfelf directly between the charging man and the Councillor. "Stop, or I will taser!" she screamed. The man kept on charging, and there was a sudden flash as Constable Ruby Frome fired 50,000 volts into the mans legs. He collapsed instantly onto the ground. The woman screamed. "You fucken dirty fucken cop bitch!" she shrieked at Constable Frome. "Get back! Get back!" screamed the police officer at the woman. Buttonworth watched as almosty in slow motion the woman kept on coming, screaming obscenities at the police woman. There was another flash and the woman too, fell to her knees. Buttonworth could never recall what happened next because he fainted.

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At a unit in Edmonton, Councillor Doug Dunnysmore lay back contentedly on a couch, languidly puffing away on a cone. He was listening to the radio shock jock's account of the riot and trying to imagine the sheer violence and horror of the riot, an event unprecedented in the history of Cairns. "Fucken hell mate," said his mate Pedro, lounging on a chair and smoking a cone himself, "You did the right thing by pissing off quick smart hey!"

"Yeah," said Dunnysmore slowly. "Not my scene man, know what I mean?".
"Yeah man," replied Pedro blowing out a circle of smoke.

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From the first floor of the Cairns Regional Council office building, a man and a woman were standing close together filming the riot. No-one in the Council knew who they were, apart from the Mayor, Colonel Cush. Most assumed they were journalists from a local television station.
They had arrived the evening before, specifically to advise the Mayor of Cairns Regional Council not to proceed with any business dealings with the Chinese Shanghai Hangyang Corporation.
They were ASIO agents, and neither had ever witnessed such a violent confrontation in Australia, ever. Determinedly they kept on filming, watching as ambulances arrived. They zeroed in on two men in particular. One man held a bloodied golf club firmly wrenched in one hand and despite the efforts of the ambulance medics, would not let go of it. The other man who was slightly built and who had a distinctive Southern European appearance, appeared to have broken limbs and looked in a bad way. The couple filmed as many faces amongst the crowd as they could, noting how the capsicum spray had turned everybody's face a bright red as blood rushed back to it. The crowd was now silent with the effects of the capcicum spray.

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Colonel Cush, the Mayor of Cairns Regional Council, was in his office with his Deputy Mayor, Councillor Bob Horseman. Both were drinking scotch and water heavily.
"Fucken idiots," growled Cush.
"Yeah," mumbled Horsey.
"At least they got that fucken Eyetie bastard, Bomboniere," Cush said undisguised relish.
"Hope they killed that cunt of a Piper too."

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To be continued..................