The 1978 Sydney Hilton Bombing

The Sydney Hilton bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. At the time the hotel was the site of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regional off-shoot of the biennial meetings of the heads of government from across the Commonwealth of Nations.

The bomb was planted in a rubbish bin and exploded when the bin was emptied into a garbage truck outside the hotel at 12:40 a.m. It killed two garbage collectors, Alec Carter and William Favell. A police officer guarding the entrance to the hotel lounge, Paul Birmistriw, died later.[1] It also injured eleven others. Twelve foreign leaders were staying in the hotel at the time, but none were injured. Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser immediately called out the Australian Army for the remainder of the CHOGRM meeting. [2]

In June 1978, members of the Ananda Marga organisation were implicated by a police informant, Richard John Seary, but his evidence has been described as unsatisfactory. A member of Ananda Marga, Evan Pederick, claimed in 1989 that he had carried out the Hilton bombing on the orders of another member, Tim Anderson. Both men went to prison, but Anderson was acquitted on appeal in 1991. Pederick served eight years in prison.

The Hilton case has been highly controversial due to allegations that Australian security forces may have been responsible. This led to the New South Wales parliament unanimously calling for the commonwealth to hold an inquiry in 1991[3] and 1995.[4] The federal government refused to hold an inquiry.

Accusations of conspiracy 
There were a number of unusual circumstances surrounding the bombing, namely:

• The driver of the truck, Bill Ebb, stated that police had prevented three earlier trucks from emptying the bin that contained the bomb which was overflowing with rubbish.[5]
  
• The garbage bin had not been searched for bombs. Searching bins is normally a high priority, and is specified in New South Wales police permanent circular 135.[3]
  
• The entire truck and all bomb fragments were dumped immediately afterwards at an unrecorded location. This prevented forensic evidence, such as the type of explosive used, from being gathered.[3] (This was compared to the detailed evidence retrieved from the Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded at 30,000 feet.[3])
  
• Army dog handler Keith Burley said that his dogs could smell very small quantities of explosives, and were expected to be used for the event. He said they were unexpectedly called off a few days prior without explanation.[3][6]
  
• The officer-in-charge of police immediately after the bombing, Inspector Ian MacDonald, claimed there had been a "cover-up".[3]
  
• Former Attorney General of New South Wales Frank Walker and Federal Government Senator Gareth Evans had been told by a CSIRO scientist that under pressure from ASIO they had made two fake bombs in the week prior to the bombing. The bombs were designed not to explode but could do so in a garbage truck compactor.[4]
  
• William Reeve-Parker provided a statutory declaration that an army officer had admitted planting the bomb by switching rubbish bins 24 hours earlier.[7] Reeve-Parker denied knowledge of who the officer was, although he "had helped his son".[7] Reeve-Parker was never called as a witness at the coronial inquest.
  
• The principal private secretary of a federal senator was told that the bomb squad was waiting nearby at this early hour of the morning.[7] That would suggest that they knew about the bomb. The government would not permit people from the bomb squad to be called as witnesses to the inquest.[5]
  
• Sgt Horton stated that he saw an occurrence pad entry that showed the warning call was received at 12:32, 8 minutes before the bomb exploded.[5] It was not relayed instantly to the police out front. At the inquest four other versions of this pad were shown, each timing the call at 12:40.[7] (It may not have been relayed because police already knew about the bomb and the call was merely a pretext to call the waiting bomb squad.)
  

• Security stripping
  
• lack of normal, established security checks and precautions
  
• Intelligence informants/agents embedded next to the patsy or patsies
  
• Chronological issues
  
• Witnesses who should have been called but weren't
  
• An intel agency rewarded for failure to stop a terror attack (or "assassination attempt" - whichever you prefer) by being granted greater powers and bigger budget. This is a pattern seen time and again with the FBI and CIA
  

Many of these issues were identified by Terry Griffiths, a former policeman who was seriously injured in the bombing, who has called for an inquiry.[3] Barry Hall QC, counsel for Griffiths, argued that ASIO may well have planted the bomb in order to justify their existence.[5] The 1982 Walsh inquest had been terminated prematurely due to the finding of a prima facie case of murder, which was based on discredited evidence by Richard Seary.

The Indian prime minister Morarji Desai claimed that Ananda Marga had attempted to kill him due to the imprisonment of the organisation's spiritual leader, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. (There had been other alleged attacks by Ananda Marga, namely on 15 September 1977 the military attaché at the Indian Embassy, Colonel Singh and his wife, were attacked in Canberra. Just over a month later an Air India employee in Melbourne was stabbed.)[8] ASIO had infiltrated the Ananda Marga from 1976 and were monitoring it.[9]

Stan Dane wrote:Let me guess...the Australian government has certain files associated with this case under lock and key until 2032 for reasons of national security. And is Ian MacDonald still alive, or did he commit suicide by shooting himself in the head with a rifle somewhere in the Outback?

The officer-in-charge of police immediately after the bombing, Inspector Ian MacDonald, claimed recently there had been a "cover-up", to use his words, in the wake of the bombing. He claimed further that New South Wales and Federal police had requested the establishment of secure areas in both Pitt and George streets, but the request had been refused by the Federal co-ordinating body in charge of security, the Protective Services Co-ordination Centre. Despite extensive investigations by Federal and State authorities no forensic evidence has been forthcoming about the types of explosives used in the blast. One has to stop and wonder in sheer amazement that such a statement could be made so many years later. I point to the investigative work done after the Lockerbie tragedy as an example of what can be done when people apply themselves with due care and responsibility. 
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/0/CA256D11000BD3AA4A2564B3001C61ED