THE CAR JOURNEY from Canberra airport to the parliamentary tri­angle is a necessary trip for Federal politicians. One route heads south along the Monaro Highway, passing Canturf, suppliers of the lawn that carpets the Parliament House roof. Canturf’s rotating roadside promotional signage features cringe-worthy puns. In April 2017, Canturf erected a sign suggested by a Gundaroo farmer – ‘Putin the seed and it comes up Trumps’ – in reference to Russian digital manipulation of the 2016 US election.

Driving south a few more clicks, you can find one of the long-forgotten sites of Russian espionage that affected an Australian election sixty-five years ago.