Chrysalis begins with life in the exciting happy times of the early seventies in regional Australia. Then, the edge of a cyclone hits Toowoomba in early 1974, threatening local businesses and homes.
Errol Cosgrove and his housemates soon have an organised army of volunteers, including off-duty police, to help the city's citizens.
In the aftermath of the cyclonic storm, Errol is targeted by the dreaded Queensland Police Special Branch - for the simple crime of publicly insulting an ineffective police inspector.
A local detective is incensed by the covert police action taken against Errol. With his girlfriend's help, the detective begins to unearth the astonishing extent of deep political and police corruption, not only in Queensland but also New South Wales and Victoria during the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in high drama with three investigative commissions resulting in high level arrests, dismissals, resignations and jailings.