Forty-one years ago, in October 1980, I was discharged from the Australian Federal Police. I had only served for four months with the AFP. Before that I had spent eight years as an agent with the Federal Narcotics Bureau.

It has taken decades to finally tell my story but this year my book, Operation Jungle, was published. I had hesitated to set out my experiences for fear of retribution and because of my many failed attempts to have my story accepted by official sources. I also had a deep desire not to relive what I’d been through, and I’d lost materials that corroborated my version of events in a bushfire.