Reply #15: A good time to remember the CIA's role in overthrowing Gough Whitlam's [View All]

[Minstrel Boy]

Labour government in 1975.

Whitlam was shocked to learn the extent of the CIA's operations in Australia, and how deeply embedded it was in Australian intelligence. He wanted to get to the truth of the top secret Pine Gap installation near Alice Springs. Its lease was coming up for renewal, and the Agency had doubts that Whitlam would extend it.


Gough Whitlam

Pine Gap

People at the highest levels were concerned about what Whitlam might do to the long-standing Australian - U.S. relationship. CIA Director until 1975, William Colby, in his book Honorable Men, ranked the Whitlam government as one of the major crises of his career, comparable to the 1973 Yom Kippur (Arab-Israeli) War, when the U.S. had considered using nuclear weapons to help Israel win the war.

Many others in the intelligence community were concerned, including Ted Shackley, head of the East Asia Division of the CIA, who was said to be paranoid about Whitlam; and James Jesus Angleton, head of the CIA's Counter-Intelligence section, who despised the Labor government.
http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/20%20Years%20of%20Cover-Up1.html

To Australian Intelligence, CIA's Shackley cabled:

CIA FEELS THAT EVERYTHING POSSIBLE HAS BEEN DONE ON A DIPLOMATIC BASIS AND NOW ON AN INTELLIGENCE LIAISON LINK THEY FEEL THAT IF THIS PROBLEM CANNOT BE SOLVED THEY DO NOT SEE HOW OUR MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE GOING TO CONTINUE

THE CIA FEELS GRAVE CONCERNS AS TO WHERE THIS TYPE OF PUBLIC DISCUSSION MAY LEAD. THE DG SHOULD BE ASSURED THAT CIA DOES NOT LIGHTLY ADOPT THIS ATTITUDE. YOUR URGENT ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS TO THE REPLY WHICH SHOULD BE MADE TO CIA.

AMBASSADOR IS FULLY INFORMED OF THIS MESSAGE.

As Shackley's cable indicated, there were several other CIA men working under cover in Australia. Their identities had not been revealed by Whitlam, but by the media. Nevertheless, there was no way for Shackley and the CIA to know how much Whitlam knew, and how much he would reveal to the public, especially about Pine Gap, but also about other CIA activities in Australia. Shackley may have already known that Whitlam had begun to look into CIA matters in Australia.

By revealing what he knew already, Whitlam had telegraphed his intentions. He had to be stopped.

Whitlam did not have the opportunity to present the proof he had about CIA involvement in Australian politics to Parliament on November 11. He was dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at 1:10 p.m. that day.

What may be nearly as unfortunate as the Dismissal of an elected government is the timing of Whitlam's revelations about the CIA and Anthony. Labor Minister Clyde Cameron, wrote in his diaries, "Once his allegations hit the headlines, the sources dried up immediately." Whitlam had moved too soon.
http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/articles/20%20Years%20of%20Cover-Up2.html