On writing

Well, I spent my anniversary evening attending a public meeting at Parliament House, run by the National Capital Authority, who approved the ASIO HQ building. It was hard to get a seat because I showed up at the last minute and you were supposed to book early. About 200 earnest citizens, and seven even more earnest NCA officers at a table on the stage of the theatre.
All terribly serious, and I felt rather odd because I was turning their well-meaning efforts into farce with shots in the night, love scenes in taxis and so on.
But I got some good material. Nothing dramatic, but I’ve got a fund of good lines I can use in later scenes.
I’ve also got a better understanding of how the approval process works. But the bottom line is that if the Commonwealth Government wants to do something badly enough, the wishes of the local population have no effect.