SBS - Persons of Interest documentaries

watched the 2nd of this 4 part series last night...the series uses archival footage of film shot by ASIO and interviews a couple of ex spies and people who were spied on in the 60s and 70s...

last night's program looked at the Monash Labor Club in the the late 60s ...major focus was on oppposition to Australian involvement in the Vietnam war and support to for the NLF...a sidelight was the Att-Gen organised a raid on ASIO - motivated by the assistance ASIO was providing local Croation background terrorists

one highlight for me was that a team mate from one of my cricket clubs featured...this guy looked and still looks Groucho Marx's twin...and pretty much played cricket as one would expect Groucho to have played it.

episode 3 next Tues at 8.30 focuses on Aboriginal activism and the establishment of the tent embassy in Canberra.... should be more interesting footage and interviews

horace wrote:

one highlight for me was that a team mate from one of my cricket clubs featured...this guy looked and still looks Groucho Marx's twin...and pretty much played cricket as one would expect Groucho to have played it.

Jeff Moss?

nice try WW...JM was a fine player, tho I would have thought it unlikely that ASIO would have spied on him.

no my mate carried his bat as if it was a fountain pen about to leak ink everywhere

I am not surprised your old cricket club attracted the interest of ASIO at that time!

'Rusted On Communist Sympathisers funding Jane Fonda's next trip to Hanoi Cricket Club' was always bound to excite the attention of ASIO in the 1960's and 70s. You're lucky you weren't all shot.

If only

lardbucket wrote:I am not surprised your old cricket club attracted the interest of ASIO at that time!

'Rusted On Communist Sympathisers funding Jane Fonda's next trip to Hanoi Cricket Club' was always bound to excite the attention of ASIO in the 1960's and 70s.  You're lucky you weren't all shot.

Even if they'd printed up the pamphlet and gave it away at Collingwood home games, I'd have been surprised if ASIO could find it let alone know what to do with it once they had it.

aye qmy...ASIO does not come out well from the docos...some of the incompetence was laughable...but the mean spiritedness was a bit depressing...putting a stop on former anti Viet War activists getting jobs as teachers because they were a risk to national security was a bit depressing ...the ex ASIO agents interviewed were sad blokes..

one of the blokes spied on was Jim Bacon - the late former Premier of Tassie

recommended viewing

Wouldn't most ALP and Trade Union leaders have been on the list?

I wonder how much money was wasted in that exercise.

aye...lots of ASIO film of ALP pollies inc my favourite - Tom Uren as well as any unionist that was not spying for ASIO or working for Santamaria...Lib pollies would also use ASIO to try and get dirt on ALP opposition members...Yes it was a waste of money and some people had their careers wrecked...a couple of mates did time for anti conscription activities courtesy of the feds...but the worst thing ASIO did was to support the local Ustascha extremists and their training camps...some of the young Croatian trainees committed terrorist acts in the then Yugoslavia

I think the Aboriginal activist featured concedes he could see why ASIO might have had an interest in him.

The tent embassy was a sad case. It's only form of financial support was from the sales of a song, and when this became known pressure was applied to radio stations not to play it.

he is a top bloke...despite the heaps of flaws we all have...I will watch the show with great interest

Still hoping for a hint of your young self?

When I was doing my mini blitz of Defence Force bases in the eighties, I spent a day at the sub squadron. After a tour of their underwater warfare school a grizzled old Chief took me and some young officers for a few beers at the pub below the place. (Spivs might know it if it's still there. On the shores of South Head) He introduced us to a favourite game of submariners and proceeded to talk loudly, with a slur, about a fantastic new weapons system, which I with my limited knowledge of techo shit knew to be totally outrageous.

% minutes into the spiel we were joined by a young bloke who was soon plying us all with drinks (claimed to be a sub groupie who had a big win at the races or something). When he left I asked the chief WTF that was all about and he said,

"New ASIO recruit baiting. He'll send his section mad for the next few weeks trying to work out WTF I was talking about."

bwhahaha...very good story...my young self was an even greater horrorhead than the current model...will be interested tho to see if I am in the background of any of the film...never applied to see if I had a file

woops

Horrie? Was that the sound you getting shot?

ASIO were so inept they could barely shoot film let alone people