Sydney Hilton Hotel Bombing

Not to be confused with the Sydney Opera House Work-In

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred in 1978 when a bomb exploded in a bin outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. At the time the hotel was the site of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regional offshoot of the biennial meetings of the heads of government from across the Commonwealth of Nations (a group of 53 states formerly part of the British Empire). Many have alleged the bombing was done by the ASIO.

Evidence of a Conspiracy

• There was a continuous police presence outside the building since the previous morning. This would have prevented anyone placing a large bomb into the rubbish bin while the police were there.
• The driver of the garbage truck, Bill Ebb, stated that the bins would normally be emptied several times each day, but police had prevented three earlier trucks from emptying the bin that contained the bomb even though it was overflowing with rubbish.
• The garbage bin had not been searched for bombs. Searching bins is normally a high priority, and is specified in New South Wales police permanent circular 135.
• Army dog handler Keith Burley said that his dogs could smell very small quantities of explosives, and were expected to be used for the event. He said they were unexpectedly called off a few days prior without explanation.
• The entire truck and all bomb fragments were dumped immediately afterwards at an unrecorded location. This prevented forensic evidence, such as the type of explosive used, from being gathered. (This was compared to the detailed evidence retrieved from the Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded at 30,000 feet.)
• William Reeve-Parker provided a statutory declaration that an army officer had admitted planting the bomb by switching rubbish bins 24 hours earlier. Reeve-Parker denied knowledge of who the officer was, although he "had helped his son". Reeve-Parker was never called as a witness at the coronial inquest.

• The officer-in-charge of police immediately after the bombing, Inspector Ian MacDonald, claimed there had been a "cover-up".
• Former Attorney General of New South Wales Frank Walker and Federal Government Senator Gareth Evans had been told by a CSIRO (Australia's science agency) scientist that under pressure from ASIO they had made two fake bombs in the week prior to the bombing. The bombs were designed not to explode but could do so in a garbage truck compactor.
• The principal private secretary of a federal senator was told that the bomb squad was waiting nearby at this early hour of the morning. That would suggest that they knew about the bomb. The government would not permit people from the bomb squad to be called as witnesses to the inquest.

• Sgt Horton stated that he saw an occurrence pad entry that showed the warning call was received at 12:32, 8 minutes before the bomb exploded. It was not relayed instantly to the police out front. At the inquest four other versions of this pad were shown, each timing the call at 12:40.

See Also

• Juanita Nielsen - a missing woman from the 1970s who's murder is likely linked to a police cover-up in Sydney.

References

Taken from the Wikipedia page of the same name