Peter Barbour
Australian security intelligence director
| Peter Barbour
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Intelligence officer; intelligence director |
| Known for | Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 22 January 1970 – 28 September 1975[1] |
| Predecessor | Charles Spry |
Peter Barbour led the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) as director-general of security, from 1970 to 1975.[1]
Office held
| Office | Start | End | Predecessor | Successor | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation | 22 January 1970 | 28 September 1975 | Charles Spry | Frank Mahony | [1] |
Early intelligence work
Peter Barbour joined the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation after initially being considered as a recruit for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. David Horner records his posting to The Hague in 1953 and training with MI5 in London, in a period when ASIO’s training arrangements were still largely ad hoc.[2]
Relations with the Whitlam government
Reporting on John Blaxland’s official history, Paul Daley wrote that Peter Barbour maintained informal contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency after Gough Whitlam ordered a break in those links in 1974. The account attributes Barbour’s decision to his belief that severing the relationship would harm Australia’s intelligence interests. Daley also reported Blaxland’s conclusion that the ASIO files did not establish the more extensive allegations of CIA involvement in Whitlam’s dismissal.[3]
Barbour was followed by interim director Frank Mahony in September 1975, according to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s own chronology.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Directors-General of Security, archived 12 February 2010, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ David Horner, The Spy Catchers: The Official History of ASIO, 1949–1963, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2014, chapter 7.
- ↑ Paul Daley, Asio chief defied Gough Whitlam’s order to cut ties with the CIA in 1974, The Guardian, 16 October 2015, accessed 8 November 2026.