Hawke gives the okay to kick out a Russian
While it had been jokingly
written in the
Sydney Bulletin magazine that Pete Steedman , on being elected to the House of Representatives in l983
, could expect
a “complimentary phone tap” and
an autographed photograph of the Australian Security
and Intelligence Office
chief Harvey Barnett
, Prime Minister
Bob Hawke had only been
in office slightly more
than a
month when he
granted an urgent
meeting with Barnett who
wanted to raise
“ a matter of national security.” Barnett
revealed that ASIO
had bugged the Canberra home of the first secretary at the Russian
Embassy ,Valeri Ivanov , and the
night before Labor
won the election
the KGB man had entertained David
Combe , former National Secretary of the
ALP and a lobbyist . During a long
dinner that went on until late , during
which there had been much drinking, Combe
had been effusive . [ A subsequent
account of the affair,
which threatened the
survival of the Hawke Government
, said
Combe did not
realise that a nest of scorpion(s )–the telegraphic address for
ASIO was listening in , see Steedman
9 in this series. ]
Barnett presented a 40- page
document of the conversation and expressed
the belief that Combe was
being groomed by
the Russian .
The Hawke
Memoirs , William Heinemann ,Australia, l994, covered the Combe-Ivanov Affair in
detail and clearly
indicated that it was felt the explosive issue could see the government turfed
out after one term. Brief
mention was made in the
book about an episode
in which Combe introduced
Hawke to the NT
Chief Minister , Paul Everingham , and lingering on, to the annoyance of the
PM. Unfortunately, the
reason for the meeting was not
explained in the
book, but it probably related to the
ALP’s looming policy on
uranium , which resulted in Everingham “ waging war “ on the
government.
Combe , a hefty fellow, with curly hair and glasses , become
interested in politics while attending
Adelaide University , partly through
friendship with Don
Dunstan , who became the SA premier .
Combe moved to Canberra
in 1973 and became the
youngest serving National Secretary of the party
during the time of the Whitlam Government
After Labor
lost the l975 election, Combe
claimed the Central Intelligence Agency of the
US had been
involved. Combe continued in the
position
of National Secretary until
1981 when he resigned to start the lobbying firm, David Combe and
Associates. A member of the Australia-USSR Friendship Society , in 1982 he and
his wife visited
the country as guests.
The Combe-Ivanov
affair
resulted in the expulsion of the Russian
; the ALP denied Combe
access to ministers
; the Minister for
State , Mick Young , a close friend of Hawke’s ,
resigned his ministry
for “leaking” that the government was going to “kick out” a Russian . It
was subsequently revealed
that Combe's phone was
monitored for further contacts with Ivanov
or other Russians,
as there was the
chance that Ivanov was
not the only KGB officer in town, and he could hand over Combe's grooming to a colleague.
Commenting on
the sensational Combe–Ivanov
case in his regular
column PETE’S
PARLIAMENT in the Victorian Labor Star
newspaper ,Steedman wrote that
there was no doubt the
ALP
had been “set up ” by ASIO. It was
remarkable, he felt, that
the ALP continually
underestimated the “deviousness “ of this
“demented group of junior league James Bonds.” Continuing , he said –
Those of us who have had
contact with ASIO agents over the
years are always repulsed by the level of intellect and the
real anti-Labor paranoia and hatreds they espouse.
They are usually anti-social misfits who use
the position
of power they hold
to work
out their personal problems.
Thousands of pages
of documents do not
find their way to newspaper
offices without connivance. People like Ian
Sinclair (National Party) do not ask seemingly
innocent questions without having
a well researched back up and an ulterior motive. Where did he get
his information from ?
[ Steedman was referring to a National Times series
which seemed to have
been based on inside ASIO
information ; Steedman criticised
PM Hawke for trying to stop further publication by threatening to
taking High Court action
against journalist Brian
Toohey . Sinclair asked inspired
parliamentary questions which indicated he
was well sourced .]
While all the
ASIO revelations were being used against us (Hawke Government ) , we should have been taking the attack
back into the Liberal
camp.
After all, the incidents
reported all happened under the Liberal
Government. Did the Liberals know what was
going on? If
they did, then
they are guilty of misusing our internal security forces. If they
didn’t, they are
incompetent and
had lost control
of our internal security. And if they didn’t,
then ASIO was acting
outside its charter and was
seriously jeopardising our international standing. What
the hell are we on
the defensive about?
In a
short item, The Australian said Steedman had “ gone to bat” for Combe ,the “hapless lobbyist”, and in doing
so revealed that he (Combe)
had been getting a “ share
of flak” from ALP colleagues. Steedman , the
paper said , had reported
he and some 30 colleagues had attended
a dinner with Combe and as the
night drew on some of the comrades “no
doubt through the lateness of the night,were becoming
a bit insensitive to his
position” . Senator Nick Bolkus , South
Australia , was reported to have said it
was about time for an assessment of the role
of ASIO and the secrecy that
pervaded the whole area
of its activities.
The Hope Royal Commission , regarded by
some as a
kangaroo court, treated as such
by a number of cartoonists , was set up
to
inquire into Australia’s security and
intelligence agencies . Steedman said the Commission should demand
to see the secret report of the Petrov
Commission of Inquiry which involved the defection to Australia
of Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary at the Soviet Embassy, Canberra, on April 3, l954. Mrs Petrov was
dragged to a
plane by KGB
couriers at Sydney Airport amid a
crowd of protestors who tried to prevent her
boarding. In Darwin , police officer , Sergeant Greg Ryall , slapped a
beefy forearm across the throat of
one Russian when it appeared he was reaching for a
gun. Mrs Petrov sought asylum
and was reunited with
her husband. It was
claimed that the Petrov Inquiry
had been a Cold War conspiracy against
the ALP and had
helped Coalition
remain
in office for
so long.
The Hope Inquiry found that Combe had indeed been targeted by the Soviets, but there was no proof of intelligence breaches, nor security threat to the country. Commissioner Hope also found that Hawke and ASIO had acted properly throughout .
The Hope Inquiry found that Combe had indeed been targeted by the Soviets, but there was no proof of intelligence breaches, nor security threat to the country. Commissioner Hope also found that Hawke and ASIO had acted properly throughout .
While ASIO had a
network of “spies”, Steedman also had an invaluable source of intelligence . Alerted to longstanding
shortcoming s in
the pay and conditions for
Canberra staff employed as parliamentary
car drivers , in catering and
security, he got
three unions to strongly
take up their
case . His prompt action, typical of Steedman
on all matters ,
impressed . “As
a result , I had a network of 'observers' who could keep
me up to date with all that was happening in the Parliament at all hours
,” said Steedman . Some
fed him juicy bits
about goings on in the capital,
dining room observations and what they heard and
saw in cars
. .
PRESIDENT REAGAN
PATCHED THROUGH
TO STEEDMAN’S OFFICE
The official opening
by PM Hawke of a
new electorate office for Steedman at Mooroolbark
on a hot day became an extraordinary event when
US President Ronald Reagan rang the
office. Admittedly
the most powerful in the world was not
ringing to congratulate Steedman; he wanted to give
Hawke the latest
on the controversial US- led invasion of
the tiny former Caribbean British
colony of Grenada
The claim
was that a proposed
extension of an airstrip on the
island to promote tourism could
be used by Russian-Cuban forces to threaten the stability of Latin America
and even America. Canada
, Britain and the
United Nations condemned the
invasion. It was revealed that British PM ,
Margaret Thatcher, sent President Reagan
a telegram strongly opposing any invasion . Twenty minutes
later , she rang Reagan
to drive home
her advice and
he responded by
telling her that
no invasion was contemplated. Later ,
he admitted that he had “lied“ to the Iron lady as the
invasion was already underway,
but he could not let her know.
Strangely, Hawke
did not mention the
Grenada invasion episode
in his memoirs.
The opening
of Steedman’s office was delayed while Hawke took President
Reagan’s call in
a back room . A newspaper report
said that for 16
minutes international diplomacy was carried out next to
the Honest-To-Goodness barbecue chicken shop .
Steedman stood on a table and told the hot and thirsty crowd of about 400, including
some with anti uranium mining
placards, that the PM was on the
phone to some old man , and would be
out soon to mingle and
bless them.
There were cheers
when
Pete said there was
plenty of beer left to drink. The PM told the media that it was quite clear that the US had no aggressive desire to
go in an impose a situation on the island. During a speech, Hawke referred to
Steedman , wearing a three piece
suit without a tie ,as” my
sartorially elegant friend” . Photographs were taken
of Hawke , fully kitted, standing
, with his arms on Steedman’s shoulders, who
was seated . Steedman
remarked that in that
position he felt like
the ventriloquist’s doll
, Gerry Gee, Australian TV’s first and foremost puppet made
popular by Ron Blaskett
, who
eventually retired after a
“dummy run “ of 76 years.
STEEDMAN ‘ENTERTAINS” HENRY KISSINGER
Former US Secretary of State , Henry Kissinger, visited parliament
in November 1983 and after
being warmly welcomed by some , including Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock , who beamed
and slapped him on the back , sat
and watched proceedings.
A newspaper report said some ALP
members were less receptive to his visit because of the part he
played in the Vietnam War , the conflict having caused “angst “ within the party, and left the chamber . ( Kissinger, with the US
President ,
Jerry Ford , of whom
President Lyndon Baines Johnson had said
could not
think and fart
at the same time , had
slipped out of Jakarata
a few days before
the invasion of
East Timor in
l975, well knowing what was
about to
be unleashed on the
tiny country seeking democracy , and were disliked
by many in Australia and elsewhere. President
Ford also granted a pardon to Richard Nixon for his part in the Watergate scandal .)
Not suited
, his hairstyle once described
as
that of a werewolf,
Steedman rose and said
it had been reported
in Britain the
government had warned that
protestors outside a nuclear missile
base , where 500 women demonstrated under
the banner WOMEN FOR SURVIVAL , could
be shot . He asked
Defence Minister , Gordon
Scholes, if the Australian Government would
contemplate such action against women
protesting at the “American spy base” at Pine Gap,outside Alice Springs, where a party of protesters
was now heading . Minister Scholes denied
such a place existed , saying it was a joint facility run under
Australian laws .
The Sydney Daily
Telegraph provided a
colourful account of
the episode. It said Steedman, dressed
in ” his usual elegance” of black
leather jacket, jeans and high heel boots,
had caused Kissinger’s jaw to sag
.This “peacemonger” and a man with the
ear of presidents and potentates,
had also giggled
gently . Readers were told Kissinger was reputed to earn
$25,000 an hour
on speaking engagement, so as he had been in the chamber for 23 minutes
it was $9568 worth
of very valuable
time . NEXT : Grand plans
for electorate , philosophical statements ,
controversies and the
fateful election .
