AUSTRALIAN INTRIGE (CONTD.)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303230001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 14, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303230001-1
AR'T C AFP'EREb
ON PAGE 7---'
TIME
14 FEBRUARY 1983
Letters
Australian Intrigue (Contd.)
I write as the former Governor-Gen-
eral of Australia who in November 1975
terminated the commission of Gough
Whitlam as Prime Minister of Australia
and thereby dismissed his government.
You discussed that event in your issue of
Dec. 13. Your article stated that since the
dismissal, allegations have surfaced that
"the CIA had a hand in Whitlam's fall."
You referred to a recent piece in Foreign
Policy magazine ' in which a Professor
James A. Nathan stated that "a plausible
case is being developed that CIA officials
may have also done in Australia what
they managed to achieve in Iran, Guate-
mala and Chile: destroy an elected gov-
ernment." I do not know what the CIA did
or did not do in those other countries. but
it is totally false to say that it did this in
Australia.
Before publishing your story you gave
me an opportunity to comment, but I de-
cided to continue my longstanding policy
of not speaking to the press about these
events. However, Nathan's article pre-
sents much rumor, gossip and allegation
as fact. As a result of being mentioned in
TIME, his piece has received widespread
circulation in the U.S. and throughout the
world. Thus I have come to the conclusion
that my denial of CIA participation in
any act of mine should be equally widely
published.
My decision to dismiss Mr. Whitlam
was exclusively my pwn, made upon my
sole and full responsibility as Governor-
General. No one else produced it. The CiA
had no part in it.
The Rt. Hon. Sir John Kerr
London
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303230001-1