Peter Robert Woolnough Barbour (5 October 1925 – 7 November 1996) was an Australian

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way ...

and diplomat. He was also the

Director-General of Security The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Australia's national security agency. The Director-General, through ASIO, has overall responsibility for the protection of th ...

leading the

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is Australia's national security agency responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated vi ...

(ASIO) from 1970 to 1975.

Early life

Barbour was born in Geelong, Victoria into a family of educators. He was schooled at

Scotch College, Adelaide Scotch College is an independent, Uniting Church, co-educational, day and boarding school, located on two adjacent campuses in Torrens Park and Mitcham, inner-southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1919 out of the earlie ...

and

Geelong Church of England Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

. His father was warden of the University of Melbourne Union, and Barbour commenced in residence at

Trinity College, Melbourne Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victori ...

in 1947, while undertaking studies in Latin and German at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

before joining the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Following his army service, he returned to Melbourne University to study a Master of Arts in German, but was recruited into ASIO in April 1951 before he completed the degree.

Intelligence and diplomatic career

Barbour's early work at ASIO saw him posted to the Netherlands and Italy as an immigration official, to prevent Communists migrating to Australia. In 1959, he was posted to ASIO's Canberra office as head of counterespionage. His role in entrapping the Soviet diplomat and KGB agent Ivan Skripov gave a boost to his career, and he became head of the Canberra office in 1964, Deputy Director-General in 1965 and in 1970 was promoted to Director-General. Barbour is the only Director-General of ASIO to have been appointed from within the organisation. At the time of Barbour's appointment, ASIO was seen by many Australians as politically compromised, and had been passing information to the Menzies government regarding suspected Communists and Soviet agents associated with the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. The day after the election of Labor's

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

as Prime Minister in 1972, Whitlam's soon-to-be appointed

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...

(ASIO's responsible minister), met with Barbour to inform him in no uncertain terms that the agency's days of autonomy and lack of ministerial and parliamentary oversight were over. The ensuing strained relationship between the Whitlam government and ASIO culminated when Murphy raided its Melbourne headquarters on 15 March 1973. Barbour was dismissed by Whitlam on the 17 September 1975. the Whitlam government announced that Barbour was to be posted to the United States as Australian Consul-General in New York. In 1978, he took a consular role in Los Angeles, and from 1981 to 1984 he was appointed Australia's Ambassador to Venezuela. The reasons for Barbour's sudden dismissal by Whitlam were never officially explained. Confidential documents released by the National Archives in 2008 revealed that Barbour's dismissal was by bipartisan agreement between Whitlam and Opposition Leader

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

, and had been recommended by Justice Robert Hope as part of the Hope Royal Commission into the intelligence services. In a record written by Barbour he said that Whitlam pointed that "morale in the Organisation SIOwas poor and that there were unsatisfactory administrative aspects", Whitlam also pointed to Barbour's relationship with his secretary "who had accompanied imon a recent overseas trip". Barbour's successor,

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

, wrote in his memoirs that Barbour's sacking had followed a lengthy overseas trip with his "beautiful Eurasian secretary" to ostensibly review overseas intelligence agencies, but for which Barbour had failed to produce any reports, suggestions or information of benefit to the agency."Secrets of the '70s: Spy Head Rolled in Australia's Cold War", ''The Canberra Times'', 28 May 2008.

Personal life

Barbour married Penelope Elizabeth Nuttall on 10 March 1951 at the Trinity College Chapel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Peter 1925 births 1996 deaths Directors-General of Security Ambassadors of Australia to Venezuela Ambassadors of Australia to Colombia Consuls-General of Australia in Los Angeles Intelligence analysts Australian Army soldiers Australian Army personnel of World War II People educated at Geelong Grammar School People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) University of Melbourne alumni People from Geelong Consuls-General of Australia in New York