DO YOUR DAMNEDEST

What would you risk for the truth?

In 1907, a Tasmanian gardener named James Kirkwood stood in the Zeehan Police Court accused of defaming one of the most colourful politicians in Australia–King O’Malley.

The allegation was extraordinary. The trial attracted widespread public attention. Under oath, Kirkwood refused to withdraw a single word.

The magistrate dismissed the case, but in doing so made a remarkable admission: after hearing every witness, he could not determine where the truth lay.

More than a century later, that mystery remains.

Inspired by a true story, Do Your Damnedest follows James Kirkwood from his childhood in Scotland to the rugged mining towns of colonial Tasmania, tracing the experiences that shaped a man of unwavering principle. It is a story of family, faith, hardship, friendship, politics and conscience, culminating in one of the most intriguing and little-known legal battles of Australia’s early Commonwealth.

Richly researched and grounded in historical fact, this is more than the story of a famous politician. It is the story of an ordinary citizen who believed that integrity mattered–and who was prepared to stake his reputation upon it.