Summary heading

A6282 – Folders of newspaper cutting relating to the Royal Commission on Espionage

Function and purpose

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 final report was submitted to the Governor General on 22 August 1955, and tabled in the Federal Parliament the following month.

The items in this series consist of folders of newspaper cuttings relating to the Petrovs’ defection and the subsequent Royal Commission on Espionage. They were created and maintained by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and in the main cover the period from when Vladimir Petrov was granted political asylum in Australia (April 1954) until the tabling of the Report of the Royal Commission on Espionage in Parliament (September 1955). Only a few clippings date from after that period. Most cuttings in items 1-12 are from NSW and ACT newspapers, although there are also clippings from political publications like Tribune and Century. Item [13] is entitled ‘Operation Cabin 12 Press Cuttings (South Australia) and consists entirely of Adelaide newspaper cuttings from April – May 1954. (‘Operation Cabin 12’ was the ASIO code name for Petrov defection). Item [14] contains only articles written by the Petrovs themselves under the title ‘The Petrovs’ own story’ and published by the Sydney Morning Herald / Sun Herald in September / October 1955.

Physical characteristics

Each item in this series (except item [13]) consists of newspaper cuttings affixed with adhesive tape to foolscap-sized sheets of paper secured together by a file pin between two pieces of pink cardboard. The file number and contents date range has been written onto the front cover in biro. Small blue stickers reading ‘Assessed by Archives Section’ have been attached to the top right hand corner.

Item [13] also consists of newspaper cuttings affixed to foolscap-sized sheets of paper. However, these are housed in a proper blue cardboard binder with green spine covering. On the front cover, a typed white label gives the following information: ‘Operation Cabin 12 Press Cuttings (South Australia)’, while the mastheads of the following newspapers have been pasted beneath it: The Advertiser, The Sunday Advetiser, The South Australia News, The SA Sunday Mail and The Adelaide Truth. The front cover also bears the date ‘27/7/54’ and a blue ‘Assessed by Archives Section’ sticker.   

System of arrangement and control

Each item’s contents are arranged according to date, and items 1-12 were numbered by ASIO in chronological order. Items [13] and [14] were not similarly numbered, and these additional control symbols were imposed by the National Archives. 

Relationships with other records

There are several other series of records relating to the Royal Commission on Espionage that were created and maintained by ASIO. These include A6283 – Correspondence files, multiple number series (Royal Commission Section).

The Royal Commission on Espionage Secretariat also accumulated newspaper and press cuttings relating to the Royal Commission. The two main series are A6225 – Folders of newspaper serials relating to the Royal Commission on Espionage and A6226 – Volumes of newspaper cuttings relating to the Royal Commission on Espionage. There are other newspaper cuttings, copies of Tribune and transcripts of radio broadcasts about the Royal Commission in the Secretariat’s own correspondence file series – A6213.

Series history

This series was transferred into Archival custody from ASIO in 1984. The items were originally accessioned under AA1984/536.

Arrangement and description work was undertaken on the series in May 2005 as part of a broader Collection Development project covering multiple series related to the Royal Commission on Espionage. As a result of this work, the series registration was amended, and the series note re-written. Item level entries in RecordSearch were also updated. Since all 14 items were registered individually in RecordSearch, A6282, WHOLE SERIES (barcode 273861) was cancelled as a duplicate registration.  

Publication note

End notes