British Irak in Whitlam ousting?

Press, 28 January 1988, Page 15

British Irak in Whitlam ousting?

By

GINNY STEIN

NZPA-AAP Sydney The claims by an Australian journalist, John Pilger, that the C.I.A. liaised with British Intelligence in the dismissal of the former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, have been backed by the consultant for the programme in which they appeared. William Pinwill, who was press secretary to Whitlam’s Defence Minister, Bill Morrison, in 1975, said British Intelligence’s involvement was definitely a factor in the decision by the former Gover-nor-General, Sir John Kerr, to fire the Whitlam Government. He said he was not concerned by denials of British involvement from both the Prime Minister,

Mr Hawke, and Malcolm Fraser who succeeded Mr Whitlam, as they were not in a position to know.

“Mr Fraser was not in the Cabinet; he was in the Opposition and Mr Hawke was then leader of the A.C.T.U.,” Mr Pinwill said. He said that a sweeping statement Mr Whitlam made in answer to a question without notice in Parliament was what started the ball rolling.

Mr Pinwill claims the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and sections of the State Department wrongfully believed Gough Whitlam was planning to close down the joint defence research facility at Pine Gap if he was still Prime Minister in December, 1975. “Mr Whitlam was asked

about a Soviet base proposal in which he replied none of the bases’ agreements would be extended,” Mr Pinwill said. “He later explained to the then American Ambassador to Australia, Marshall Green, that he had no intentions of ending any agreements, but the C.I.A. didn’t believe it.”

Mr Pinwell said a series of meetings that he had with retired American intelligence officers and diplomats last August — who agreed to speak on the ground that they would not be named — revealed the extent of apprehension.

“It wasn’t so much of a plot to get rid of Whitlam, but the C.I.A. were panicstricken with the way the Whitlam Government was

going,” he said. He said the base in Alice Springs is considered to be the most important for Western espionage outside of the United States and has its unique functions shrouded in absolute secrecy. "The main fear of the C.I.A. was that Whitlam would disclose the secret functions of Pine Gap,” he said. "Whitlam was quite proper in not disclosing its functions.” The C.I.A. also believed that Jim Cairns was outmanoeuvring Whitlam for leadership of the party.

He said the C.I.A. conveyed its concern about the Whitlam Government to MIS and MI6 who channelled information to a top level public servant in Australia who was in direct touch with Sir

John. He said it would never be known to what extent it affected Sir John’s decision, but it was a factor in his decision to dismiss Mr Whitlam and his Government in November, 1975. But Mr Pinwill said the biggest question raised by these allegations is just how the United States Administration received such a distorted picture of the Labour Government. Answers could only be supplied by those senior officials in Defence, Foreign Affairs and the Intelligence Services, who dealt regularly with the Americans. Although he said he knew who was giving the false information he could not .reveal the persons responsible for legal reasons.