AUKUS, Telstra, the AFP, and the China Wheat Betrayal

One Continuous Pattern of Secrecy and Institutional Failure

For most Australians, AUKUS is just another defence deal wrapped in political spin. For me, it is something far more familiar. I have lived inside the machinery of government secrecy. I have seen how institutions behave when they believe no one will ever hold them to account. And I know that once a bureaucracy discovers it can hide the truth, it never stops.

AUKUS is not an isolated event. It is part of a long, unbroken pattern.

The Telstra Surveillance Scandal

And the AFP Investigation That Went Nowhere

During my COT arbitration, Telstra secretly monitored and recorded my private and business telephone conversations — including two calls with former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Telstra admitted this to the Australian Federal Police on 14 April 1994.

The technician responsible, based in Portland, not only intercepted my calls but also passed my private numbers and information to a man known only as “Micky.” To this day, he has never been questioned or held accountable.

When I tried to access the documents proving what Telstra had done, Telstra threatened me. They warned that if I continued assisting the AFP, they would withhold all relevant FOI material — the very evidence I needed to support my claim.

Neither the arbitrator, Dr Gordon Hughes, nor the second administrator, John Pinnock, ever investigated why Telstra was supplying my business records to “Micky” or anyone else. They simply let it pass.

This is the culture I recognise in AUKUS: secrecy, evasion, and a refusal to answer the most basic questions.

The China Wheat Betrayal

When Telling the Truth Cost Us Our Jobs

Decades earlier, I was part of the deck crew of the Hopepeak, the British ship whose seamen were sacked for refusing to stay silent about Australian wheat shipments to China being diverted to North Vietnam. Wheat given on humanitarian grounds was feeding the very forces killing Australian, New Zealand, and American soldiers.

We exposed the truth. The government tried to ruin our lives.

That betrayal taught me something I have never forgotten: when powerful people are embarrassed, they do not correct the wrongdoing — they punish the whistleblowers.

The Missing Documents

And the Ombudsman’s Long Hunt for the Truth

When 56 fax‑header documents went missing from the arbitrator’s and TIO’s offices — including two connected to my calls with Malcolm Fraser — I asked for them to be returned. They “could not be found.” This was before Telstra submitted its defence on 12 December 1994.

Where did that evidence go? Why did the arbitrator and John Rundell refuse to accept responsibility for the loss?

When they would not assist, I contacted the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Ms Philip Smith appointed the Director of Investigations, who searched for these documents from May 1994 to February 1997. Even GAB Robins International became involved, sending loss assessor Tony Morgon to my property in Cape Bridgewater to interview me for hours.

In the end, I received only 80% of the costs I incurred chasing FOI material — nowhere near enough to appeal my award. COT Case Ann Grams spent $600,000 appealing hers and still lost, as do 98% of Australians who attempt to appeal arbitration awards.

In Australia, unless you know the judge, you do not win.

AUKUS — The Same Pattern, Just on a Larger Scale

This is why I raise AUKUS. Not because it is new, but because it is not.

The secrecy surrounding AUKUS is the same secrecy that surrounded:

• the China wheat betrayal

• the Telstra interception scandal

• the corrupted COT arbitrations

• the AFP investigation that was never allowed to run its full course

• Robodebt

• Pink Batts

• the French submarine debacle

• the NDIS rorts

• and countless other failures buried under bureaucracy

Different governments. Different decades. Same behaviour.

A bureaucracy that has lost its way — and lost sight of the people it is meant to serve.

Why These Cases Are Linked on Absentjustice.com

I have championed the AUKUS issue for the same reason I have never let go of the China wheat affair: because the pattern is undeniable. The system is not failing just the COT Cases — it is failing all Australians.

And unlike many scandals, the COT Cases can be proven. The documents exist. The timelines exist. The evidence exists.

That is why I have brought all these stories together on absentjustice.com: to show the pattern, to expose the culture, and to make it impossible for future governments to pretend they didn’t know.