Sandra Hogan - With My Little Eye

Nine years have passed since the ASIO men and Dr Rhys Crawley came to interview Joan for their history, setting Sue-Ellen free to talk about the past with her brother and sister. In Canberra, ASIO has built a grand edifice on a site the size of three city blocks to house its rapidly growing staff. These staff, hired increasingly for their high-level technical skills, can gaze out the window at Lake Burley Griffin or at Parliament House. It is a different world from the Cold War ASIO, which had its dingy, secret buildings and its suspicion of computers. ASIO wields great power in the land and everyone knows it. Sue-Ellen cant believe that you can look it up on a website; no one pretends that spies dont exist anymore. Like the Dohertys, ASIO has come out of hiding.

For months now, Mark, Sue-Ellen and Amanda have been collaborating on a special project. They have been making a wedding gift for Marks daughter Cara: a multicoloured crocheted rug. Today they have come to Sue-Ellens house to admire it, draped over the long wooden dining table. Instead of being made in squares, each patch is in the shape of a flower. Every member of the family, including all the children and grandchildren, have crocheted the flowers and have met to sew them together. It is a work of art and a work of love. Nothing half-arsed about it, as Sue-Ellen would say.

After their momentous conversation on the verandah, the siblings have continued to see each other regularly. They dont need to talk about the past anymore and there is no need for reserve with each other, now that they have pieced their stories together into a colourful whole. They have stitched themselves into a family again.

Amandas daughter, Nina, and Sue-Ellens daughter, Phoebe, are there to admire the rug and Nina has some news.

Theyve asked me at uni if I want to apply for work with ASIO, she says. Its what they think Im good for.

Nobody at university knows Ninas family background but her teachers say she has the right skills for the work: good listening skills, an analytical mind, powers of observation and context-specific information, strategic thinking, problem solving, and writing.

What did you tell them? asked Sue-Ellen.

No, of course. Theyve asked me before and I always say no.

Nina intends to marry one day and she wants a full family unit, with both parents around. So, anything but an ASIO career.

Phoebe laughs. She has taken up the other great family interest (other than spying, that is) in design and costume. She has become an interior designer and already has an international reputation.

I cant believe ASIO hasnt asked me to join, she says.

They dont need their interior refit done, says Amanda.

Theyd be like, What did you do last Thursday? Um, I dont know, says Phoebe.

They all laughthe two mothers relieved and secretly amazed that their children can be the people they want to be.

Joan, aged 12, with her mother, Leah Ridgway, in their city clothes for a daytrip to Sydney. They were snapped by a street photographer and took the photo home to mark this special occasion.

Harry Ridgway would not have known his daughters were wearing two-piece swimsuits on this visit to Bondi Beachhe definitely wouldnt have approved. Enjoying this illicit adventure are (left to right): Joan, Clair, a friend, and Bettina. Joan is 13.

The Ridgway family go to town. They are (left to right): Joan, Clair, Leah (the daughter), Harry, Leah (the mother), Bettina.

Dudley, aged 5, at his grandmothers house in Glebe, where he lived while his mother worked in western New South Wales as a station cook.

Dudley proudly shows off the euphonium he played in the Salvation Army band. After the tram accident that took his leg, he received help and encouragement from Brigadier Johns of the Sydney Salvos. Dudley was a loyal member of the Salvos all his life.

Corporal Dudley Doherty, soon after he joined the Supply team in the 5th Base Ordnance Depot at Moorebank, NSW. This photo was taken around the time he first met Joan.

Dudley and Joan on a night out in Sydney in the early 1950s when they were both working for ASIO.

A Sydney street photo of Dudley and Joan during their courting days. Joan has her angry lookpossibly because Dudley arrived late. She had to get used to that, and to not knowing where he was much of the time.

Dudley in his ASIO suit in Sydney. The children recognise this as his yellow tiethe flashiest one he had. He soon learned not to wear it. My job is not to be seen, he told the kids when they suggested he wear more colourful ties.

Agincourt, ASIOs first headquarters, at 12 Wylde Street, Potts Point, on Sydney Harbour, was a place of legend for the Doherty children: a secret building where heroic men and women (mostly men) worked tirelessly to keep Australia safe. Sue-Ellen finally visited it after her fathers death. (ASIO)

The Kaindi apartment building at Kings Cross Road, Darlinghurst, was the site of ASIOs first covert bugging operation. The target was TASS journalist Fedor Nosov, and the faint line in the upper right of the photograph points to his apartment. Mark and Sue-Ellen Doherty were born in the apartment directly above. (ASIO)

The Doherty family lived in this house on Crown Street in Brisbane for seven years, after moving there in 1956. It was a typical house of the times, with chooks in the backyard and a flourishing mango tree.