82 lines
3.5 KiB
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82 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown
*Not to be confused with the [Sydney Opera House
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Work-In](Sydney_Opera_House_Work-In "wikilink")*
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The **Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing** occurred in 1978 when a bomb
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exploded in a bin outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales,
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[Australia](Australia "wikilink"). At the time the hotel was the site of
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the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a
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regional offshoot of the biennial meetings of the heads of government
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from across the Commonwealth of Nations (a group of 53 states formerly
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part of the British Empire).
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## Evidence of a Conspiracy
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- There was a continuous police presence outside the building since
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the previous morning. This would have prevented anyone placing a
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large bomb into the rubbish bin while the police were there.
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- The driver of the garbage truck, Bill Ebb, stated that the bins
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would normally be emptied several times each day, but police had
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prevented three earlier trucks from emptying the bin that contained
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the bomb even though it was overflowing with rubbish.
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- The garbage bin had not been searched for bombs. Searching bins is
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normally a high priority, and is specified in New South Wales police
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permanent circular 135.
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- Army dog handler Keith Burley said that his dogs could smell very
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small quantities of explosives, and were expected to be used for the
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event. He said they were unexpectedly called off a few days prior
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without explanation.<sup>\[2\]\[7\]</sup>
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- The entire truck and all bomb fragments were dumped immediately
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afterwards at an unrecorded location. This prevented forensic
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evidence, such as the type of explosive used, from being
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gathered.<sup>\[2\]</sup> (This was compared to the detailed
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evidence retrieved from the Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded at
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30,000 feet.<sup>\[2\]</sup>)
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- William Reeve-Parker provided a statutory declaration that an army
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officer had admitted planting the bomb by switching rubbish bins 24
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hours earlier.<sup>\[5\]</sup> Reeve-Parker denied knowledge of who the
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officer was, although he "had helped his son".<sup>\[5\]</sup>
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Reeve-Parker was never called as a witness at the coronial inquest.
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- The officer-in-charge of police immediately after the bombing,
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Inspector Ian MacDonald, claimed there had been a
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"cover-up".<sup>\[2\]</sup>
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- Former Attorney General of New South Wales Frank Walker and Federal
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Government Senator Gareth Evans had been told by a CSIRO scientist
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that under pressure from ASIO
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they had made two fake bombs in the week prior to the bombing. The bombs
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were designed not to explode but could do so in a garbage truck
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compactor.<sup>\[3\]</sup>
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- The principal private secretary of a federal senator was told that
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the bomb squad was waiting nearby at this early hour of the
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morning.<sup>\[5\]</sup>
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`That would suggest that they knew about the bomb. The government would `
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not permit people from the bomb squad to be called as witnesses to the
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inquest.<sup>\[6\]</sup>
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- Sgt Horton stated that he saw an occurrence pad entry that showed
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the warning call was received at 12:32, 8 minutes before the bomb
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exploded.<sup>\[6\]</sup>
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`It was not relayed instantly to the police out front. At the inquest `
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four other versions of this pad were shown, each timing the call at
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12:40.
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## See Also
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- [Juanita Nielsen](Juanita_Nielsen "wikilink") - a missing woman from
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the 1970s who's murder is likely linked to a police cover-up in
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Sydney.
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## References
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<references /> |