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An embarrassment for Hawke

At first it seemed like a standard spy story. Last April, six weeks after sweeping to power, the government of Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke expelled Valeri Ivanov, a Soviet diplomat, for espionage. To the government's embarrassment, however, the story refused to leave along with the diplomat. Two weeks ago, Special Minister of State Mick Young resigned when it was learned that he had talked to a lobbyist about confidential Cabinet security committee discussions concerning David Combe, a former Labor official who had become friendly with the Russian. Moreover, it was widely believed that similar information had been leaked to others by some one even higher-ranking than Young. Last week the identity of that person was revealed: Hawke.

The Prime Minister made the revelation himself before a Royal Commission appointed by his government to investigate the Ivanov-Combe connection and Australia's national security. It was the first time an Australian Prime Minister had ever testified in such a hearing. From a green-padded, tubular steel chair in the witness box in a converted government office in Canberra, Hawke responded to questions for four grueling days.

He admitted that in April he had told two Canberra lobbyists that the government was about to ban official contact with Combe, and asked them not to enter into a proposed partnership with him. The request, Hawke insisted, was legitimate because it was aimed at denying Combe any indirect access and thus at maintaining the "integrity of the government." Two days later, contact with Combe was formally banned.

Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock took the offensive immediately after Hawke's admission last week. He charged that the Prime Minister's "behavior has been shown to be grossly improper." Hawke reacted sharply, saying he was "disgusted" that Peacock would make such allegations at a time when Hawke, because he was giving testimony at a hearing, could not respond. Hawke asserted that Peacock's charges amounted to defamation and protested to the commission about the opposition leader's statement. Peacock received a warning.

The Royal Commission, which began sitting on June 1 , is expected to continue its deliberations for several more weeks. So far, the spreading spy scandal has already claimed three casualties: Ivanov, Combe and Young. After last week's revelations, Australians were wondering if there might not be others. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.