Though you would never know it from reading The New York Times obit of former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who passed away yesterday at the age of 98, the CIA likely played a central role in the effective coup that removed Whitlam from office in 1975. In today's post Snowden world, it wouldn't shock anyone perhaps--but it's important to remember that the spying, dishonesty, illegality and crimes perpetuated by the government's intelligence agencies, usually at the behest of the White House, stretch back decades. Two key words are missing from the obit: Pine Gap.
The short version: in 1972, Whitlam won election at the head of the Australian Labour Party (ALP). Part of Whitlam's campaign reform agenda was rooted in a determined effort to make Australia far more independent of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, both economically and diplomatically.
In November 11th 1975, the Governor General of Australia John Kerr dismissed Whitlam. It was effectively a coup, if entirely (still) legal under Australian law--the Governor General serves at the will of the monarchy of England.
There are a set of factors that fed into the dismissal. But, a central piece was Pine Gap.
Pine Gap is a top-secret communications and spy center operated by the National Security Agency in coordination with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). It is located about 20 kilometers from Alice Springs in the very sparsely populated Northern Territory of Australia.
The CIA/NSA/ASIO were deeply concerned that Whitlam would terminate the 1966 agreement that allowed the NSA to operate Pine Gap. And, in my opinion, it would have been much harder for Kerr to act had he not had the encouragement of either the intelligence officials who oversaw Pine Gap AND/OR the officials in the U.S. and the UK who viewed Whitlam as a danger.
The existence of Pine Gap was not revealed for the first time by Edward Snowden. It was information broadly described in James Bamford's 1983 book, "The Puzzle Palace"--the first in-depth look at the NSA (whose acronym that we now are so adept at repeating, at the time, jokingly was said to mean "No Such Agency").
Here is a piece of how the coup unfolded, per long-time journalist John Pilger:
Pine Gap's top-secret messages were de-coded in California by a CIA contractor, TRW. One of the de-coders was a young Christopher Boyce, an idealist who, troubled by the "deception and betrayal of an ally", became a whistleblower. Boyce revealed that the CIA had infiltrated the Australian political and trade union elite and referred to the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, as "our man Kerr".
In his black top hat and medal-laden mourning suit, Kerr was the embodiment of imperium. He was the Queen of England's Australian viceroy in a country that still recognised her as head of state. His duties were ceremonial; yet Whitlam - who appointed him - was unaware of or chose to ignore Kerr's long-standing ties to Anglo-American intelligence.
The Governor-General was an enthusiastic member of the Australian Association for Cultural Freedom, described by Jonathan Kwitny of the Wall Street Journal in his book, 'The Crimes of Patriots', as, "an elite, invitation-only group... exposed in Congress as being founded, funded and generally run by the CIA". The CIA "paid for Kerr's travel, built his prestige... Kerr continued to go to the CIA for money".
In 1975, Whitlam discovered that Britain's MI6 had long been operating against his government. "The Brits were actually de-coding secret messages coming into my foreign affairs office," he said later. One of his ministers, Clyde Cameron, told me, "We knew MI6 was bugging Cabinet meetings for the Americans." In interviews in the 1980s with the American investigative journalist Joseph Trento, executive officers of the CIA disclosed that the "Whitlam problem" had been discussed "with urgency" by the CIA's director, William Colby, and the head of MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield, and that "arrangements" were made. A deputy director of the CIA told Trento: "Kerr did what he was told to do."
In 1975, Whitlam learned of a secret list of CIA personnel in Australia held by the Permanent Head of the Australian Defence Department, Sir Arthur Tange - a deeply conservative mandarin with unprecedented territorial power in Canberra. Whitlam demanded to see the list. On it was the name, Richard Stallings who, under cover, had set up Pine Gap as a provocative CIA installation. Whitlam now had the proof he was looking for.
On 10 November, 1975, he was shown a top secret telex message sent by ASIO in Washington. This was later sourced to Theodore Shackley, head of the CIA's East Asia Division and one of the most notorious figures spawned by the Agency. Shackley had been head of the CIA's Miami-based operation to assassinate Fidel Castro and Station Chief in Laos and Vietnam. He had recently worked on the "Allende problem".
Shackley's message was read to Whitlam. Incredibly, it said that the prime minister of Australia was a security risk in his own country.
The day before, Kerr had visited the headquarters of the Defence Signals Directorate, Australia's NSA whose ties to Washington were, and reman binding. He was briefed on the "security crisis". He had then asked for a secure line and spent 20 minutes in hushed conversation.
On 11 November - the day Whitlam was to inform Parliament about the secret CIA presence in Australia - he was summoned by Kerr. Invoking archaic vice-regal "reserve powers", Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister. The problem was solved.[emphasis added]
Boyce, who has been released from prison, more recently repeated similar claims earlier this year:
"Whitlam was viewed as an Australian Ho Chi Minh," Mr Boyce says. "He was taking Australia into socialism. You couldn't mention Whitlam's name without the spooks in there just looking nauseated. He was a threat. He was viewed as a threat to the program."
When Kerr dismissed Mr Whitlam, there was "jubilation" and "relief" within the CIA, Mr Boyce claims.
More recently,
Pine Gap has been central to coordinating drone strikes:
Central Australia's Pine Gap spy base has played a key role in the United States' controversial drone strikes involving the ''targeted killing'' of al-Qaeda and Taliban chiefs, Fairfax Media can reveal.
Former personnel at the Australian-American base have described the facility's success in locating and tracking al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders - and other insurgent activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan - as ''outstanding''.
A Fairfax Media investigation has confirmed that a primary function of the top-secret signals intelligence base near Alice Springs is to track the precise ''geolocation'' of radio signals, including hand-held radios and mobile phones, in the eastern hemisphere, from the Middle East across Asia to China, North Korea and the Russian far east.
I happened to see Whitlam in 2012 as he was bring brought in his wheelchair to a memorial for his wife Margaret--who was, in her own right,
a beloved figure in Australia. Rest in peace, Gough Whitlam. Let us not rub from history the nefarious deeds that prevented him from continuing to democratically govern.