The Royal Commission on Espionage was a
royal commission established on 13 April 1954 by the
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
pursuant to the
Royal Commissions Act 1902
The Royal Commissions Act 1902 is an Australian Act of Parliament which authorises the Australian Governor-General of Australia, Governor-General to initiate an investigation, referred to as a Royal Commission. Royal Commissions are a major indep ...
to inquire into and report on
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
in Australia. The establishment of the commission followed the defection of Soviet
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
Vladimir Petrov (the "
Petrov Affair
The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954. The defection led to a Royal Commission and the resulting controversy contribu ...
"). Officially titled Third Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, it was revealed that Petrov was in fact a
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
in the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
and in charge of espionage in Australia.
Background
In 1954, after the instability caused by the death of
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, Petrov made contact with ASIO and offered to provide evidence of the espionage efforts in exchange for political asylum. Over the next few months, ASIO and Petrov exchanged information and his escape plan through
dead drops. On 3 April 1954 Petrov defected to Australia, with his wife following on 20 April 1954 after having been freed from Soviet guards by police at
Darwin airport
Darwin International Airport is the busiest airport serving the Northern Territory and the tenth busiest airport in Australia. It is the only airport serving Darwin.
The airport is located in Darwin's northern suburbs, from Darwin city ...
.
Commission
On 13 April 1954,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
announced to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
the defection of Petrov and the existence of documents pertaining to Soviet espionage in Australia.
He also announced the establishment of the commission. Petrov's documents were shown to the commission, though they have never been made public. Over the course of the commission 119 witnesses were also questioned, notably two staff members of 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 the f ...
. The staff were represented by the leader of the party
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
himself.
Evatt would later call the commission a political play by the
Menzies Government
Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges.
Derivation and history
The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
to secure a victory in the
1954 election.
Among the documents Petrov gave to the commission were two key documents labeled ''H'' and ''J''.
Document ''J'' was a document written by prominent Australian communist
Rupert Lockwood
Rupert Ernest Lockwood (10 March 1908 – 8 March 1997) was an Australians, Australian journalist and communist activist.
Lockwood was born in Natimuk, Victoria, Natimuk to newspaper proprietor Alfred Wright Lockwood and Alice Francis. He became ...
. Lockwood considered the Soviet Union allies against the alleged rising fascism and Japan and the United States attempts to
imperialise Australia. ASIO believed the documents were simply propaganda, while Evatt believed that the document had been altered to name three members of his staff.
Document ''H'' was written by Evatt's secretary of staff Fergan O’Sullivan. It consisted of
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
accounts of members of the 1952
press gallery {{Short description, Parliamentary reporters
The press gallery is the part of a parliament, or other legislative body, where political journalists are allowed to sit or gather to observe and then report speeches and events. This is generally one of ...
, and was given to the Soviets by O'Sullivan under the pretense of helping them plant pro-Soviet articles in the press. In fact, the document was used to identify potential agents.
Findings
The principal findings of the commission were that the "Petrov Papers" were legitimate, that the Soviet Embassy in Canberra had been used for espionage between 1943 and its expulsion in 1954, and that only known Soviet collaborators were communists.
At the time the commission was considered by many on the left to be a
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origin ...
show trial.
1998 claims
In 1944 Allied "
Ultra
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...
" estimates of Japanese troop strength were being sent to Tokyo from Australia; initially thought to be from the Chinese attaché Colonel Wang, they were traced to the Soviet Embassy (which did not have access to Ultra information) by the ''Harbin Special Spy Report''. In 1998 it was claimed by
Desmond Ball
Desmond John Ball (20 May 1947 – 12 October 2016) was an Australian academic and expert on defence and security. He was credited with successfully advising the US against nuclear escalation in the 1970s.
Background
Des Ball attended the Aust ...
and
David Horner
David Murray Horner, (born 12 March 1948) is an Australian military historian and academic.
Early life and military career
Horner was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 12 March 1948. He was raised in a military household—his father, Mur ...
that they were given to the Japanese by the Soviet consulate in
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
, Manchuria as Stalin wanted to delay an American victory over Japan until the Soviet Union could participate. The information was from
Evatt’s staff, and enabled Japan to reinforce troops on Leyte (which
MacArthur's G-2
Willoughby had underestimated), and led to a longer and costlier battle for Leyte.
See also
*
Petrov Affair
The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia, concerning the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a KGB officer, from the Soviet embassy in Canberra in 1954. The defection led to a Royal Commission and the resulting controversy contribu ...
*
Vladimir Petrov (diplomat)
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov (russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Петро́в; 15 February 1907 – 14 June 1991) was a member of the Soviet Union's clandestine services who became famous in 1954 for his defection to Australi ...
*
Petrov's Bridge
*
Australia–Russia relations
Foreign relations (russian: Российско-австралийские отношения) date back to 1807, when the Russian warship ''Neva'' arrived in Sydney as part of its circumnavigation of the globe. Consular relations between Aus ...
References
{{Commonwealth of Australia Royal Commissions
Espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
Menzies Government (1949–66)
Legislative intelligence oversight
Communism in Australia
Espionage by country
Australian communists
Defection