Goodbye Paradise

Goodbye Paradise is a 1983 Australian film directed by Carl Schultz. The plot centres on Queensland's Gold Coast in the early 1980s, when a disgraced former cop, Michael Stacey (Ray Barrett) writes a book exposing police corruption, does an investigation resulting in two murders, exposes a religious cult and watches the army begin a military coup. Cast Ray Barrett as Michael Stacy Paul Chubb as Curly Guy Doleman as Quiney Kate Fitzpatrick as Mrs. McCreadie Lex Marinos as Con Robyn Nevin as Kate Don Pascoe as Senator McCredie Janet Scrivener as Kathy John Clayton Production The idea of doing a Raymond Chandler-type story set on the Gold Coast came from Denny Lawrence. His original idea was to have an ex police officer working as a private investigator who investigated a quasi-religious commune run by a charlatan that ended with the deaths of many of the communes' followers. Then the Jonestown Massacre happened and Lawrence backed away from this idea. He then pitched the idea to Bob Ellis, who liked it and the two of them agreed to work together. They always envisioned Ray Barrett in the lead role as the private eye Stacey and the three of them got some money from the NSW Film Corporation to go up to Surfers Paradise for a week to research and write the script.