This is a story of the casual criminality that is required to navigate the bureaucracy and business in general. Sometimes this is necessary for the system to operate, sometimes a mere convenience, sometimes for financial gain or even just a helping hand for another human being.
The story covers the sloth, incompetence and pure evil of the Civil Service and their interaction with private business. It tells of what really happens in the inner workings of private businesses and their interaction with their overlords in intimate detail. This is a story seldom, if ever told, because those that know don't write, and those who write don't know. It covers the wonderful world of dodgy finance and operating a large business without capital. It is a story of human endurance and persistence and eventual victory of a sort.
The story begins with a description of life in rural Queensland about thirty years after the original white settlement, covers the construction of major infrastructure when rural industries were expanding rapidly and the early years of the iconic mineral industry at Mount Isa. The author knew well at least eight men who spent a considerable stretch in jail and can say that none of them were bad men and at least three were men of higher moral standards and love of their fellow man than the general population. This is in contrast to some of the very senior public servants with whom he crossed swords, who were pure evil and grossly incompetent to boot.