There had of course been rumours, but the reality, jointly announced by the police chiefs of all Australian states and territories, was more bizarre than the wildest of them. Their statement, issued at ten o’clock on the morning of June the nineteenth, read: ‘No instances of any criminal activity occurring after midnight on June 15th have been reported to any Australian police force. The matter is under investigation and the public will be kept advised.’

However, news of the next development did not come from the police chiefs. Headlines in the following morning’s papers proclaimed ‘CRIMINALS ON STRIKE’. Another document had been released to the media, this time by an organisation claiming to represent the nation’s lawbreakers and calling itself the Federated Burglars and Allied Villains, or FBAV. The communiqué stated that members, in a majority decision, had decided to withdraw their services until they had achieved the goal of getting a ‘fair go’ for crime.