From The Octopus, Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro
by Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith
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The functions of the American Pine Gap installation in Australia include the receipt and transferral of information from spy satellites, the interception of phone calls from Europe, and the relaying of messages to the American nuclear submarine fleet. Gough Whitlam, the Labor Party candidate elected prime minister of Australia in 1972, was concerned about the cozy relationship between the ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, and the CIA, and that ASIO had gone rogue. This in turn caused concern at the CIA. Ted Shackley is said to have gone "paranoid" and to have ordered a diminution of the information made available to them, while Ray Cline mentions "a period of turbulence to do with Alice Springs." Fear the curtailment of their Australian operations due to an approaching renewal date for the Pine Gab base, the CIA flexed their muscles, and perhaps a couple of tentacles. On November 8, 1975, a message of protest about Prime Minister Whitlam was sent by Theodore Shackley to the head of ASIO. On May 11, 1975, the CIA and OSS-connected Governor General of Australia John Kerr removed Whitlam as the head of government, using constitutional pretext. According to CIA analyst Kevin Mulcahy, the CIA effort was headed by Milton Wonus, a friend of Nugan Hand Bank's (and possibly the CIA's) Bernie Houghton. (Kwitny).
p. 90-91