Hilton Home Page 

 

 

Who Bombed

The Hilton?

 

Army Man's Letter

 

 

Pederick or

Ananda Marga? 

 

The Hilton

Inquest

 

 

Special Branch

Uncovered

Who Bombed the Hilton?

Terry Griffith, one of the policemen injured by the Hilton Hotel bombing, believes ASIO (Australia's national secret service organisation) and the NSW Special Branch did the bombing. The information he has gathered suggests strongly that they arranged for the bomb to be planted and then to find it in front of the Australian and world media. This tactic would have halted strong public demands to close down Special Branch and reduce ASIO's security powers. However, due to an apparent timing mishap, the garbage men arrived to empty the bin before the bomb squad, and it exploded in the garbage truck. The Security Forces then pinned the crime on Ananda Marga to cover their mistake.

At the Hilton bombing inquest Griffith alleged that the private secretary of an unnamed Australian senator told him that he had spoken to an ASIO agent who had said ASIO were involved in the bombing. He said an army bomb disposal vehicle was waiting in the city at the time of the explosion (12.40 am) and Special Branch were observing the hotel from nearby, as part of a prearranged action.

Griffith also gave evidence suggesting that even the then Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, may have known about the bungled attempt.

He also said that a man called William Reeve-Parker had told him that an army officer had admitted planting the bomb by switching rubbish bins 24 hours earlier. A statutory declaration by Reeve-Parker was shown at the Hilton bombing Coroner's inquest.

A Special Branch officer told Griffiths that his colleagues were observing the Hilton when the bomb went off and had tried to warn the police who were guarding the hotel on regular duty with a phone call. Griffiths said that he inferred the warning call had been an "attempt to save our lives," but that it also revealed security force involvement in the bombing. A police switchboard operator's notebook confirmed the fact that a call was received.

Recently I met Keith Burley, the army man in charge of the sniffer dogs during the CHOGM meeting. He felt it most likely that ASIO and Special Branch were behind the bombing. Two weeks before the meeting he was told to get his dogs ready. Then just before it started he received a phone call saying they would not be needed which he said was highly unusual. He was certain that if his dogs had have been allowed to search the area they would have detected the bomb "from 100 yards away!" ASIO would have known this and so it is believed ASIO/Special Branch stopped him in order that they could find the bomb and claim credit. He said he traced the call not to bring the dogs, back to the Prime Minister's security office, which is ASIO! (see "Army Man's Letter" link)

Keith believes the explosion was caused by a high tech plastic bomb, something only people highly trained in explosives could use or have access to. Other bomb experts confirm this. They claim that a small group like Ananda Marga would not have access to such technology or have the skills to use it.

Questions unanswered include:

  • Who called off the sniffer dogs and why? These dogs were specifically trained to detetect any and all kinds of explosives. There would not have been any explosion had they been allowed to have done their job as originally arranged.
  • Who ordered the police on duty outside of the Hilton not to allow the rubbish bin which had the explosives to be emptied by garbage men for three days? (Unfortunately a new police shift was not told this and allowed the garbage men to empty the bin which resulting in the bomb exploding.)

    This one bin was the only bin in Sydney not emptied by the garbage men. It stood outside the entrance to the Hilton Hotel for three days, over flowing with rubbish and where world leaders passed each day!