Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing took place on 13 February 1978, when an explosive device detonated outside the Hilton Hotel located on George Street, Sydney, Australia. At that time, the hotel was accommodating the inaugural Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regional extension of the biennial gatherings of Commonwealth heads of government.

The bomb had been concealed inside a rubbish bin and exploded at 12:40 a.m. during the bin’s emptying into a garbage truck. The blast resulted in the deaths of two sanitation workers, Alec Raymond Carter and William Favell, as well as a police officer, Paul Burmistriw, who was stationed at the hotel lounge entrance. Eleven individuals sustained injuries. Although twelve international dignitaries were present at the hotel, none were harmed. Following the incident, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser promptly ordered the deployment of the Australian Army for the duration of CHOGRM.

Controversy has surrounded this case due to claims implicating Australian security agencies, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). These allegations led to unanimous resolutions by the Parliament of New South Wales in both 1991 and 1995, calling for Commonwealth-level investigations.

This bombing is widely recognized as Australia's initial act of domestic terrorism.

Prior to the bombing, security agencies were already under examination; South Australia’s White inquiry criticized its police special branch and severed connections with ASIO. Although a comparable inquiry was proposed in New South Wales, it was never conducted following the bombing. Instead, there was an increase in Commonwealth backing for intelligence and counter-terrorism operations.

Accusations of conspiracy

A number of irregularities linked to the bombing have sparked theories of conspiracy:

• During the 1983 Walsh Coronial Inquest, it was observed that police maintained a constant presence outside the hotel from the previous morning onward, which could have prevented anyone from placing a sizable bomb in the rubbish bin during that period.
• The 1995 ABC documentary Conspiracy featured testimony from garbage truck driver Bill Ebb, who stated that bins were typically emptied several times daily; however, police had stopped three earlier trucks from emptying the specific bin containing the bomb despite its overflowing condition.
• In 1991, politician John Hatton declared in parliament that no search for explosives had been conducted on the bin, despite New South Wales police circular 135 designating such searches as a high priority.
• Army dog handler Keith Burley recounted that his explosives detection dogs were expected to be deployed but were inexplicably withdrawn days before the bombing without any explanation.
• The entire garbage truck along with bomb fragments were discarded immediately at an undocumented site, hindering forensic examination such as identifying the type of explosive used. Hatton contrasted this disposal with the thorough evidence collected from the Pan Am Flight 103 investigation.
• In 1983, William Reeve-Parker claimed an army officer confessed to planting the bomb by swapping bins a full day earlier; however, Reeve-Parker was never summoned as a witness during the inquest.
• Inspector Ian MacDonald, who led operations after the explosion, alleged that a cover-up had taken place.
• In 1995, Andrew Tink reported claims that former Attorney General of New South Wales Frank Walker and Senator Gareth Evans had been informed by a CSIRO scientist about ASIO’s pressure to manufacture two dummy bombs designed not to explode but capable of detonating within a garbage truck compactor.
• A private secretary to a federal senator indicated that a bomb squad unit was stationed nearby early on; Barry Hall QC argued this implied their possible involvement. Government authorities refused to permit bomb squad personnel to provide testimony at the inquest.
• Sgt Horton noted an occurrence pad entry recording a warning call received at 12:32 pm—eight minutes prior to detonation—although four alternate versions of this log recorded the call at 12:40 pm.

Numerous concerns were voiced by Terry Griffiths, a former police officer injured in the blast, who advocated for an official inquiry. NSW Attorney General Peter Collins described the incident in 1995 as "a history of half truths, a litany of lies." Barry Hall QC suggested ASIO might have orchestrated the bombing to legitimize their operational existence.

The Walsh inquest of 1982 was cut short after determining there was sufficient evidence indicating murder.

Arguments disputing a conspiracy

Following the bombing, Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai asserted that the Ananda Marga group had attempted to assassinate him in retaliation for the incarceration of its spiritual leader, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. Additional alleged assaults attributed to Ananda Marga included an attack on Colonel Singh, the military attaché at the Indian High Commission in Canberra, and his spouse in 1977, as well as a stabbing incident involving an Air India employee in Melbourne shortly thereafter. Since 1976, ASIO had penetrated and surveilled Ananda Marga. Journalist Ben Hills claimed in 1998 that ASIO withheld critical information that might have supported police inquiries.

Rachel Landers’ 2016 publication, Who Bombed the Hilton?, challenges assertions that law enforcement or security agencies permitted a bomb to be planted in an uncleared bin outside the Hilton. She contends that for such a conspiracy to be credible, numerous independent witnesses—including sanitation workers, an accountant, and onlookers—would have needed to collude or fabricate their accounts.

In 2019, Imre Salusinszky authored The Hilton Bombing: Evan Pederick and the Ananda Marga, which presents Pederick’s confession and argues there is no substantive evidence supporting conspiracy theories. Salusinszky observes that if any official suppression exists, it remains firmly concealed.

Judicial proceedings and inquiries

Shortly after the bombing event, Richard Seary volunteered as an informant for the police Special Branch, implicating the Ananda Marga organization. He subsequently infiltrated their Newtown base.

On 15 June 1978, Seary disclosed a planned bombing targeting Robert Cameron, a member of the far-right National Front of Australia in Yagoona. Arrests were made of Ross Dunn and Paul Alister from Ananda Marga alongside Seary; all faced conspiracy to murder charges concerning Cameron.

Dunn and Alister maintained their intention was limited to graffiti vandalism and accused Seary of introducing the bomb. The High Court decision in Alister v R (1984) regarded Seary as an unreliable witness due to discredited testimony from the Hilton bombing investigation:

Nonetheless, police evidence connected this case with the Hilton bombing. The initial trial in February 1979 concluded without a verdict; however, a subsequent trial in July convicted all three defendants.

A coronial inquiry in 1982 established a prima facie case of murder against Dunn and Alister but excluded Tim Anderson based on Seary’s later-discredited statements. The scope of coronial powers limited evidence subpoena requests, which were denied.

In 1984, Attorney-General Paul Landa commissioned Justice Wood to conduct an inquiry reviewing convictions of Dunn, Alister, and Anderson. Initially reluctant, Seary eventually cooperated. By February 1985, Wood recommended pardons; all three were freed and compensated by the NSW Government.

This inquiry did not directly address the Hilton bombing itself. Alister utilized his compensation funds to purchase land near Maleny, Queensland, where he founded the Ananda Marga River School.

Alister later summarized key findings from the inquiry:

• Seary first implicated the Hare Krishna group in connection with the bombing.
• Police dismissed this lead and redirected Seary’s efforts toward spying on Ananda Marga.
• Seary’s infiltration timeline into Ananda Marga was later than court records suggested.
• Despite court claims to the contrary, he possessed knowledge on acquiring explosives illegally.
• His reporting timeline regarding Cameron’s alleged plot was inconsistent.
• Psychiatric evaluation described him as exhibiting schizoid and psychopathic traits.
• His girlfriend testified that police pressured him into informing and that he was surprised by explosives found at Cameron’s residence.
• A friend recalled Seary had intentions to bomb an abattoir during his involvement with Hare Krishna.

Alister proposed that Seary’s motives were complex and possibly driven by police coercion or blackmail linked to his history of drug addiction and knowledge of a fatal overdose.

In 1989, Anderson was re-arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for the Hilton bombing; prosecution was led by Mark Tedeschi QC. However, in 1991, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal acquitted Anderson on grounds that the convictions were unsafe. Chief Justice Gleeson criticized prosecutorial errors and improper jury instructions concerning witness credibility:

Pederick had confessed but was deemed "clearly unreliable" by Gleeson due to inconsistent statements and questionable mental state. Jury directions presumed Pederick’s sanity despite his unconventional explanations involving supernatural elements.

Pederick’s appeal in 1996 was unsuccessful; he served eight years in custody and remarked on being uniquely required to prove his guilt while others asserted innocence.

These failed prosecutions involving Anderson and associates are frequently cited as examples of miscarriages of justice within Australian legal scholarship such as Kerry Carrington’s Travesty! Miscarriages of Justice.

On 13 February 2008, marking thirty years since the bombing, the commemorative plaque at the site was restored. NSW Premier Morris Iemma commended efforts by City of Sydney Council and expressed hope that such tragedies would not recur.

See also

• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• , contains a brief reference to police informant Richard John Seary

Journal articles

• (Search term: "Hilton")

News reports and other media

• Dellora, Daryl (1995) Conspiracy: Documentary produced by Film Art Doco for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, featured in the True Stories series.
• Reviews related to Dellora’s 1995 documentary Conspiracy:
  • Negus, George (2009) ABC George Negus interview with Daryl Dellora.
  • Dixon, Norm (2008) Review of Dellora and Ian Wansborough "Revisiting The Hilton Bombing"
  • Freeman, Jane (6 February 1995) "The Hilton bombing" in The Sydney Morning Herald
  • Head, Mike (13 February 2008) "Three decades since Sydney's Hilton Hotel bombing—questions remain unanswered" published on the World Socialist [Website] (International Committee of the Fourth International)

Further reading

• "How ASIO was caught on the hop," Sydney Morning Herald, 1 January 2008 – Article discussing ASIO's inability to prevent Ananda Marga activities.
• Jiggens, John. The incredible exploding man: Evan Pederick & the trial of Tim Anderson, 1991, Samizdat Press.
• Seary, Richard. Smoke 'n' Mirrors, 2012, Amazon.
• Malloy, Sean. "Hilton bombing victim calls for inquiry," Green Left, 3 February 1993 – Features extensive quotations from Terry Griffiths.
• Alister, Paul Narada. Bombs, bliss and Baba: The spiritual autobiography behind the Hilton bombing frame up, 1997, Better World Books.
• Landers, Rachel. Who bombed the Hilton?, 2014, NewSouth Books.
• Molomby, Tom. Spies, bombs & the path of bliss, 1986, Potoroo Press.
• Salusinszky, Imre. The Hilton bombing: Evan Pederick and the Ananda Marga, 2019, Melbourne University Press.

External links

• Richard Seary Photos and Information
• Collection of documents advocating for the exoneration of Alister, Dunn and Anderson (1979–1984)