Your claims about ASIO are pure conjecture and hyperbole. These turkeys have had precious little success detecting any foreign spies - they actually watch Australian citizens and do bugger all with what they find out, if anything.
Such work should be done by police, not spooks. I grant you they haven't been accused of overtly aiding and committing terrorist activity for political effect like the CIA have but it beggars belief that they have had huge success but cannot talk about it, ever.
The very secrecy of ASIO which you allude to is a problem, not a virtue. If citizens could actually see what ASIO has achieved (if anything), even with a time lag of ten years or even 20 years, then they could say these spooks are worth something, but ASIO has no success track record, ever. Just a waste of taxpayer money.
You say trust me these guys are invaluable, but forgive me for being skeptical. We don't need secret police or spy catchers that cannot catch spies, or root recorders who go around bugging politicians in bed, even if the subjects say interesting things.
Irrespective of how incompetent any government may be, no spook organisation should dare to spy on them. Unless there is an allegation of criminal behaviour of course, but never to simply collect information to damage the members of a government. that is a corruption of the democratic process, that could lead to manipulation of that process, and all paid for by the taxpayers who elected the government in the first place.
Now, if you could convince me that ASIO know what happened to Harold Holt (bugs in the flippers maybe?) then maybe that would be a tiny bit worthwhile.
What you are saying is that ASIO know lots of things, but keep those things private. Well, whoop de doo.
As for Whitlam, he was no leftie as you say. He was somewhat radical in the speed in which his government attempted to effect change (he always had a hostile senate) but never left wing beliefs that some of his party and caucus members had. He was not a loner however - imperious in manner yes, but the night in 1972 when labor won a landslide win, the Whitlam house in Cabramatta was filled with people off the street standing and sitting in every corner of every room, wishing them well and welcome - open doors to all.
Kerr was known to have CIA connections that is true. You neglect the role of that little weasel Barwick - a true elitist whose grave should have been filled with crap instead of good earth.
