| Sydney Hilton bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hilton Hotel, Sydney, Australia |
| Date | 13 February 1978 12:40am |
| Attack type | Bomb |
| Deaths | 2 garbagemen, 1 policeman |
| Injured | 11 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Unknown |
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. Two garbage men and one police officer were killed, with several others injured.
The perpetrators have never been found. Evidence that Australian security forces may have been responsible led to the New South Wales parliament unanimously calling for an inquiry in 1991[1] and 1995.[2] The Government of Australia vetoed any inquiry.
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The bomb, planted in a rubbish bin, exploded when the bin was emptied into a garbage truck outside the hotel at 12:40 a.m. It killed two garbage men, Alec Carter and William Favell. A police officer, Paul Birmistriw, guarding the entrance to the hotel lounge died later.[3] 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. [4]
A coronial inquest was not held until four years later in 1982, although they are normally held within a few weeks. Stipendiary Magistrate Walsh found a prima facie case of murder against two members of Ananda Marga – Ross Dunn and Paul Alister (but not Tim Anderson) – based on evidence by Richard Seary, which was later discredited.[1]
The Hilton bombing charges against Dunn and Alister were soon dropped.[1] But Anderson, Dunn, and Alister had been convicted on different charges of conspiracy to murder Robert Cameron, Sydney leader of the Australian National Front.[5]
It was alleged that Richard Seary, a police informant, convinced Dunn and Alister to plant a bomb at Cameron's home. Anderson was to provide a press release. Dunn and Alister stated that they intended only to write graffiti at Cameron's home and that they had no knowledge of the bomb. Seary was an unreliable witness, having already given discredited evidence accusing Dunn and Alistair at the initial Hilton bombing inquest, being a drug addict and a "mentally disturbed fantasizer".[6] However, there was also some police evidence. The prosecution had strongly associated the matter with the Sydney Hilton bombing.[6]
A Royal Commission, headed by Justice Wood was established into the conviction of the three, and recommended their pardon, and they were released in 1985.[5] (This case did not directly cover the Hilton Bombing.)
Anderson was then re-arrested for the Sydney Hilton bombing, tried and convicted. He was acquitted in 1991 by the Court of Criminal Appeal NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.[1] The Court of Criminal Appeal nevertheless refused to hold that Anderson's verdicts of guilty were unsafe and unsatisfactory, in the sense that the jury ought to have had a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. Instead, it held that the trial had miscarried by reason of the way in which the Crown had conducted it. However, instead of ordering a new trial, the Court exercised its discretion to enter a judgment of acquittal. R v Anderson (1991) 53 A Crim R 421
Pederick had confessed to the bombing and so was convicted without detailed scrutiny of his confession. However, in the Anderson appeal Chief Justice Gleeson said Pederick's account of the bombing was "clearly unreliable".[1] Pederick's later appeal was rejected when he produced no evidence to explain why he had falsely confessed.[7] Pederick was released after serving eight years in jail and stated "I guess I was quite unique in the prison system in that I had to keep proving my guilt, whereas everyone else said they were innocent."[8]
Coronial enquiries were limited in the scope. No person appearing before the coroner has a right to subpoena evidence without permission from the coroner, and in this inquest Walsh rejected all applications.[9]
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.)[10] ASIO had infiltrated the Ananda Marga and were monitoring it.[11]
There were a number of unusual circumstances surrounding the bombing, namely:
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.[1] 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.
Sometime around 1983, police sergeant Ernie Tees visited the offices of publishers Wild & Woolley and asked to see the manuscript for Free Alister Dunn and Anderson by Tim Anderson. Pat Woolley turned him away. 'It's at the National Library.' Several years later, in the 1990s, Richard Seary's father came to the same office where Wild & Woolley had set up its on demand print system Fast Books, and asked about self-publishing his son's 'real story'. He never returned. The manuscript is now at the State Library of NSW.
In 1991 and 1995 the NSW Parliament unanimously called for a joint State-Federal inquiry into the bombing to examine whether there had been an official conspiracy.[1] However, the Federal government vetoed any inquiry, and none has been held.
Before the inquiries it was described in Parliament as the first and only domestic terrorist event in Australia.[1]
Prior to the bombing the security forces had been under considerable pressure. In South Australia, the White inquiry into their police special branch was very critical, and ties with ASIO were cut.[1] New South Wales was about to have a similar inquiry. After the bombing, the NSW inquiry was never held, and the Commonwealth increased support for the anti-terrorism activities of the intelligence services.[5]
A new plaque was unveiled at the site of the explosion in George Street on 13 February 2008, the 30th anniversary of the blast.
Former New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma commended Sydney City Council for restoring the memorial plaque to its original home, and says he hopes there will never be a need for any more.[14]
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