DISTORTED TRUTH
The Death of Local Shops Australia
There were a thousand things that came from nowhere, difficult, small, resonances of things that had been. pasts that had been dwelt upon too much. Time that came curling around into small dark corners. Pasts. Faces. Loves that had disappeared. Moments which were barely created before they disappeared. Fragile. Bitter. An anger that could curl the tails off ants. A boy aughing as he squashed insects. An intelligence hiding. A truth gone. There came a point when it wasn't worth arguing. That the story told might as well be the story that survived, "because nothing will save the Governor General".
He was on the move, as he had been for years now. Other people created their lives. He destroyed his. There were times when an ancient colony would try and break through the walls. But he barely had the heart to hear them anymore. All had gone. Old friends had disappeared. Michael had left the country with little intention to return. He was saddened by familiar signposts that were disappearing. He had always wanted to come from a village, but there was no village. Not in this place of suburbs and closed doors and silent streets. Not in this place where he was old and no longer sought after. Where post and position had disappeared.
Where the hallucinatory screach of summer cicadas was all that could be hoped for.
This place where he couldn't find the heart to move on.
THE BIGGER STORY:
To those listening closely enough, it might have sounded like a thinly-veiled threat.
As the royal commission into the first Rudd government's home insulation program began on Monday, its counsel assisting noted there was an ''armoury of coercive powers'' available to force reluctant witnesses to give evidence.
But Keith Wilson, QC, added he was hopeful such force would not be necessary.
It may have been the biggest clue yet that former prime minister Kevin Rudd and then environment minister Peter Garrett are due for a stint in the witness box, willingly or not.
Since the $25 million royal commission into the $2 billion-plus scheme was announced by the federal government last month, speculation has been rife about who would be called, but neither Commissioner Ian Hanger, QC, nor Mr Wilson would name any parties issued notices to appear.
The names on the list will not be publicly available until closer to the hearing dates, which are expected to be in March and April.
The royal commission can summon a witness to appear before it and there are very few grounds on which a person can refuse. Failure to comply could result in either a fine or imprisonment.
Mr Rudd launched the scheme in 2009 as a way of staving off the global financial crisis.
Three Queenslanders and one man from NSW were killed while installing insulation during the life of the program and many more were injured. Up to 220 house fires have been blamed on poorly trained installers operating while the scheme was in place and established insulation businesses suffered financial losses.
Mr Rudd apologised for the deaths in July this year, following findings from the Queensland state coroner that the rushed implementation of the program had contributed to the deaths of Matthew Fuller, 25, Rueben Barnes, 16, and Mitchell Sweeney, 22, between October 2009 and February 2010. Marcus Wilson, 22, was also killed.
The government has asked Commissioner Hanger to ''focus on how the actions of the [Rudd] Australian government may have contributed to those deaths, injuries and financial loss and damage to businesses''.