Summary heading
A6235 – Report of the Royal Commission on Espionage [version
printed for general distribution]
Function and purpose
Series A6235 consists of one item
only: a copy of the Royal Commission’s final report printed for general
distribution. Dated 22 August 1955 and addressed to the Governor-General, this
item presented the Royal Commission’s findings, including that:
a) the
documents handed over by Petrov were authentic;
b) Soviet
espionage organizations had been operating in Australia for some years;
c) Soviet
espionage activities in Australia were directed from Moscow;
d) employees
of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra had been involved in the conduct, management
and control of espionage activities;
e) the
purpose of Soviet intelligence activities was directed to acquiring
confidential information useful to the USSR and that to achieve this, the
Soviets had been identifying persons who had access to such information and
could be prevailed upon to supply it;
f) certain
Australians had assisted the Soviets in the gathering of such information and
the identification of suitable contacts;
g) there
had been leakages of confidential information from the Department of External
Affairs between 1945 and 1948, but that the Soviets had failed to receive any
information directly or indirectly involving the security or defence of
Australia since 1949.
There are four appendices
attached to the report: Appendix 1 – the final translations of the ‘Moscow
Papers’ and ‘G-Series Documents’, Appendix 2 – a printed copy of the ‘Interim
Report of the Royal Commission on Espionage’ (dating from 21 October 1954),
Appendix 3 – ‘Espionage organizations of the USSR between 1918 and March 1954’
and Appendix 4 – ‘Petrov’s espionage prior to leaving for Australia’.
This version also incorporates
typescript copies of the various Acts and Regulations related to the Royal
Commission, and the Letters Patent under which it was established. An index appears
at the end of the volume.
The Royal Commission on Espionage
was established in May 1954 following the defection of two Soviet diplomats,
Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov. At the time of his defection, Vladimir Petrov
handed over copies of various documents from the Soviet embassy to ASIO. These
documents provided evidence of Soviet espionage in Australia. The main matters
the Royal Commission was empowered to investigate and report on were:
a) the
information given to the Commonwealth by Petrov;
b) whether
espionage had been conducted or attempted in Australia by the Soviet Union, and
if so, how and by whom;
c) whether
any persons or organizations in Australia had aided or abetted such espionage.
The Royal Commission held
sittings in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne between 17 May 1954 and 31 March
1955, and examined 119 witnesses. The Royal Commissioners issued an interim
report on 21 October 1954.
The original, signed copy of the
final Report was presented to the Governor General on 22 August 1955. On about
28 August 1955, the Royal Commission Secretariat was instructed to proceed with
the printing of the report. The New South Wales Government Printer initially
printed 950 copies. The Prime Minister’s Department then distributed copies of
the report (under embargo) to selected newspaper editors, certain office
holders in the Parliamentary Parties, Australian overseas diplomatic missions
and government officials whose duties required them to have a copy (1). The
Report was tabled in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Menzies on
14 September 1955. The general distribution version of the report was made
available to the public immediately after the tabling.
Related legislation
The Letters Patent authorising the investigation and report
of the Royal Commission on Espionage was issued pursuant to Section 3 of the Royal
Commissions Act 1954. The legal and constitutional authority of the Royal
Commission was later confirmed and strengthened by Section 5 of the Royal
Commission on Espionage Act 1954.
Physical characteristics
The general distribution version of the Report is bound in a
grey-blue thin cardboard cover, with the following information printed on the
front cover in black: ‘Commonwealth of Australia 1954 – 1955 REPORT OF THE
ROYAL COMMISSION ON ESPIONAGE 22nd August 1955 SYDNEY 1955. The
names of the three Royal Commissioners also appear on the cover, as does the
price (5 shillings). This volume (including appendices and index) is 483 pages
long, and measures approximately 150 mm x 240 mm.
System of arrangement and control
There was no system of arrangement and control when this
series was transferred to Archives. A single number system has been imposed,
with the one item being allocated control symbol [1].
Relationships with other records
This series forms part of the body of records created by
the Royal Commission on Espionage. These records can be broadly divided into
three categories: the Records of the Royal Commissioners (series A6214 and
A6215), the Records of the Secretariat (A6213) and the records that were
assembled as a result of the Royal Commission’s investigations (exhibits,
transcripts of proceedings and reports etc).
The original, signed copy of this report as presented to
the Governor General on 22 August 1955 is now contained in A6215. Several bound
carbon copies of this original exist. The first has been identified as the
Prime Minister’s copy (A6217). Two carbon copies were made for Justices Philp
and Ligertwood. These were borrowed by the Prime Minister’s Department for
official use prior to the printed version being available (2). The Secretariat
retained two other copies – one for its own records (now in series A6218) and
other for use in the printing of the general distribution version of the
report. This copy was later forwarded to the Commonwealth National Library’s
Archives Division for destruction (3).
A 20-page annexure (entitled Annexure to the Report of
the Royal Commission on Espionage) was submitted to Governor General Sir
William Slim with the Final Report. The annexure contains information from
Exhibits A-J that the Royal Commissioners and various government agencies felt
could not be publicly released. The original copy presented to the Governor
General and signed by the three Royal Commissioners is now in series A6219,
while other copies exist in series A6215, A6220 and A6221.
Finding aids
Series history
Along with other Royal Commission on Espionage records, this
series was received into Archives custody from the Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet in 1984. It was formerly accessioned as AA1984/503. Arrangement and
description work was undertaken in April 2005 as part of a Collection
Development Project involving multiple series of records associated with the
Royal Commission on Espionage. As a result of this work, a single number system
for control was imposed, the series descriptive note updated, and the item
rehoused in an acid free container.
End notes
(1)
‘Notes on handling of Report prior to tabling’. A6213,
RCE/V/12.
(2)
Letter, KH Herde to the Secretary, Prime Minister’s Department
28 Jul 1955. A6213, RCE/V/11
(3)
‘Notes on handling of Report prior to tabling’. A6213,
RCE/V/12 and Memorandum from CP Alpen, Acting Secretary RCE to The Sydney
Liaison Officer, Commonwealth National Library 2 Mar 1956’List of Records
Recommended for Disposal’. A6213, RCE/X/12.
Sources