Synopsis: Old Cockatoo

Set mainly in the New South Wales (Australia) country town of Wellington during the period 1900 to 1914. The overall storyline is this progression:

Joe McCallister grows up on his uncle's horse property in Scotland. Large and awkward as a child, he lives in extreme poverty with his widowed mother. He is treated as little more than a slave by his uncle and suffers many beatings. At 15, and unable to withstand further abuse, he leaves to find a better life. Reluctantly he must leave his mother behind. His burning ambition is to return to her with enough money to ensure she has her own home and income.

He finds the fastest way to earn money is in the prize-fighter's ring. More than merely earning money, however, he finds he is also given status and a self-respect he has never known. While in Wales and fighting for the British Heavyweight Championship, he meets and falls in love with Anna, the woman who will be his wife.

He returns in triumph to Scotland only to find his mother has died of pneumonia. He marries Anna and she falls pregnant. His guilt over his failure to help his mother and his oppressed and impoverished childhood sees him relentlessly pursuing the world heavyweight crown (bare knuckles).

While in contest in Denmark, however, he almost kills a man. Afraid he will one day also be killed, Anna tries to convince him to give up his quest. Out of love for her he does so. Anna gives birth to a son. She names the child in honour of Joe McCallister's mother, Melanie. As it is a boy, however, she spells the name, Melleney. The family emigrates to Australia and buys a small property in Wellington, New South Wales. Anna gives birth to a second child, another son, David.

Joe McCallister pursues the only trade other than boxing he knows, that of horsebreaker. His heart, though, is not in it. He becomes resentful that he was not able to pursue his dreams. He foresees a hard and impoverished life ahead of them, a repetition of his earlier life. He becomes cruel (though never to Anna). As a result the family business suffers, beginning to fail. Joe takes to the bottle. His mind becomes unstable.

While drunk, he has a chance meeting on a country road with Rosemary Lee and her child, Nicky, on their way into the township. In his mentally disordered state, he perceives Rosemary as Anna. In a fit of resentful rage he rapes and murders her.

The child, Nicky, is found by Niels Nielsen, an elderly Danish immigrant. He and his wife, Helle, adopt the child. On receiving the official news of the adoption, Niels travels to town in order to have a celebratory drink. He meets Joe McCallister in the bar, and notes a broken heel on his boot which is similar in shape to markings found at the murder site. A fight ensues and Niels is killed.

Due to the circumstances of the fight, Joe McCallister is given the lesser charge of manslaughter. While he is imprisoned, his eldest son, Melleney, takes over as head of the family. With the assistance of a neighbour, John Hawthorne, Melleney becomes a proficient horsebreaker and the family prospers once more. John Hawthorne and Anna fall in love. Anna, however, will not desert her husband because she realises the degree of his sacrifice in giving up all he had and coming to the new land. After all, was she not the one who convinced him to give up his quest for a better life?

Joe McCallister returns. He and Melleney are now competitors for family leadership. Melleney is forced to leave. He joins a troupe of travelling boxers. He grows to adulthood a hardened and embittered man. He returns and he and his father fight, Joe McCallister winning with considerable ease. As he holds Melleney's head underwater in a horse trough, it seems he will kill his son. He looks at Anna. He realises how he has degenerated. He releases Melleney, and allows him to win the fight. Believing his father meant to kill him, Melleney strangles Joe McCallister, but his younger brother, David, pulls him away.

The family continues on in an uneasy truce between father and sons. Joe McCallister's dreams and self-respect have been shattered. He retreats within himself. While travelling to town in order to watch a visiting troupe of boxers (the troupe Melleney was a member of) John Hawthorne is observed by Melleney and Joe McCallister to be hiding in the bush. He is planning to see Anna. Joe McCallister and his sons continue to town - Melleney is not aware that his father has also seen John.

David fights at the troupe in order to get enough money to leave home. He loses, and Melleney is forced to fight in a rigged bout in order to win David's money back. During the fight his violent psychosis re-emerges.

Nicky, now a young woman, is in love with Melleney. She accidentally meets with Joe McCallister. They are both aware that he killed Nicky's mother. Joe McCallister lets her go. He breaks down and David takes him home. Melleney and Nicky make love for the first time. Melleney returns home. En route he discovers his father lying injured in the bush. His neck has been broken and he is dying. Melleney abandons him and returns home. David returns home later. He explains that his father and he had an argument on the way home, had parted company, and he had gone back into town. Melleney says nothing.

Anna reveals to Melleney that during the fight with his father years ago, his father let him win. Melleney's guilt is compounded. Although the circumstances are altered, Joe McCallister's guilt over a parental death has been reborn. The next day a search is mounted for Joe McCallister. His body is found. At home the brothers quarrel over respect for their deceased father. A fist fight ensues. It is then revealed that David, while travelling home from town, was confronted by his father over the matter of John Hawthorne. His heart broken, Joe McCallister had set off to have revenge on Anna. David gave chase and during the ride there was a fall, and Joe McCallister's neck was broken.

David, though not for the same reasons, deserted his father just as Melleney was soon to do. Like Melleney, his guilt is deep.

The family is broken. Anna leaves to be with John Hawthorne. Melleney attempts to leave for Sydney (though we are not sure that he does). David is left to run the property. World War 1 is imminent.