Did Gough Whitlam Play Us or the US?

13/12/2020

It has been generally accepted that the Dismissal of Gough Whitlam in November 1975 was a “soft coup”. It was the culmination of various tensions between Whitlam and the United States, namely its intelligence communities (and, by extension, our own). One of the oft cited reasons was Whitlam’s purported opposition to the US’ bases within Australia, perhaps the most infamous of which is Pine Gap in Alice Springs. But did Australia’s arguably best Prime Minister actually oppose them as public perception believes?

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My 2019 Reading List

31/12/2019

Admittedly, I thought I had read more books than the ones on this list, but alas it is much smaller than anticipated when I compiled it. I wasn’t expecting anything huge, and 16 books is still a reasonable feat, in my view, but I can’t help but feel a tinge of disappointment that I didn’t get through more. I would, however, suggest that finishing university and keeping up with news events and analysis probably makes up for that. Nevertheless, these are the books I read this past year, with a few thoughts looking back on them and links to piece that refer to them.

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Pine Gap: A Reflection

01/01/2019

(The following first paragraph was added on 02/12/2019): Below I had, at the time, speculated that based on information regarding Pine Gap and the invasion of Timor-Leste, Gough Whitlam’s dismissal in 1975 was likely instigated by the US. With further reading since 1st January 2019, the theory I had strong beliefs in had in fact already been proven – how I didn’t stumble across that at the time, who knows, but the conclusions remain the same. For a quick run-down, YouTuber Friendlyjordies has also since created a video detailing the lead-up to the Dismissal. My tepid concession below that it was only ‘speculation’ can only be excused by a lack of knowledge at the time and my attention on other activities – there was undeniably a coup.

I recently read the book Pine Gap by David Rosenberg, who worked for the NSA and was stationed at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs in Central Australia, for 18 years. The mostly US-run and secretive base has been the centre of numerous conspiracy theories and protests, but David’s book (as he explains his intention to be) dispels a lot of the wild ideas, while confirming the more expected details.

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