Peacock 'scandal' in Wikileaks files

Former Liberal leader and Australian ambassador to the US Andrew Peacock. Picture: file Source: Herald Sun

THE US Embassy in Manila warned its counterparts in Canberra that a potential scandal was developing in the Philippines involving Susan Peacock, wife of then Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Peacock.

The latest WikiLeaks release of US cablegrams shows that on April 30, 1976, Manila warned Canberra a story could break that would push Labor Party internal wrangling off the front pages.

"An attractive young woman named Susan Peacock, who says she is the wife of Australian Foreign Secretary (Minister) Andrew Peacock, showed up here yesterday in company of a flashy English-type named
Sangster, who claims to operate the Australian national lottery," the Manila embassy wrote.

"The couple say they have 'eloped' although each admits to being otherwise married, each with three children."

The embassy picked up local gossip that Mr Sangster, who would go on to marry Susan Peacock in 1978, may have fled with Australian lottery money.

"It is not clear whether Mr Sangster has merely taken the Foreign Secretary's wife with him as he left Australia, or whether he has also taken some of the state lottery funds, but if these people are who they say they are, it would be natural for such suspicions to arise.

"Local denizens who have met the Peacocks previously vouch for Ms Susan's identity.

"We will check this story with Australian Embassy later today, but would, in meantime, appreciate any comment or confirmation that Canberra may have on this episode.

"Sangster and Susan are cutting rather wide swath in local jet-set, who are titillated by shades of Julie (sic) Morosi."

This was a reference to the scandal which in federal Labor minister, Jim Cairns, who had an affair with his private secretary, Junie Morosi, which led to his sacking from the Whitlam government.

The US Embassy in Canberra told Manila it appreciated the tipoff but could not risk confirming the rumour without making it look like it was itself spreading rumours.

Mrs Sangster married Sir Frank Renouf in 1985.

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Peacock 'scandal' in Wikileaks files

Former Liberal leader and Australian ambassador to the US Andrew Peacock. Picture: file Source: Herald Sun

THE US Embassy in Manila warned its counterparts in Canberra that a potential scandal was developing in the Philippines involving Susan Peacock, wife of then Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Peacock.

The latest WikiLeaks release of US cablegrams shows that on April 30, 1976, Manila warned Canberra a story could break that would push Labor Party internal wrangling off the front pages.

"An attractive young woman named Susan Peacock, who says she is the wife of Australian Foreign Secretary (Minister) Andrew Peacock, showed up here yesterday in company of a flashy English-type named
Sangster, who claims to operate the Australian national lottery," the Manila embassy wrote.

"The couple say they have 'eloped' although each admits to being otherwise married, each with three children."

The embassy picked up local gossip that Mr Sangster, who would go on to marry Susan Peacock in 1978, may have fled with Australian lottery money.

"It is not clear whether Mr Sangster has merely taken the Foreign Secretary's wife with him as he left Australia, or whether he has also taken some of the state lottery funds, but if these people are who they say they are, it would be natural for such suspicions to arise.

"Local denizens who have met the Peacocks previously vouch for Ms Susan's identity.

"We will check this story with Australian Embassy later today, but would, in meantime, appreciate any comment or confirmation that Canberra may have on this episode.

"Sangster and Susan are cutting rather wide swath in local jet-set, who are titillated by shades of Julie (sic) Morosi."

This was a reference to the scandal which in federal Labor minister, Jim Cairns, who had an affair with his private secretary, Junie Morosi, which led to his sacking from the Whitlam government.

The US Embassy in Canberra told Manila it appreciated the tipoff but could not risk confirming the rumour without making it look like it was itself spreading rumours.

Mrs Sangster married Sir Frank Renouf in 1985.

View the original article here

WikiLeaks releases secret US cables

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he will release more US documents, this time from the 1970s. Picture: Leon Neal/AFP Source: AFP

WIKILEAKS has published 1.7 million US documents from 1973 to 1976, including many written by Henry Kissinger.

The release on Monday, also known as the "Public Library of US Diplomacy" or "Plus D", include classified and declassified documents from US diplomatic history, Al Jazeera and The Guardian report.

The new records, dating from 1973 to 1976, include many communications which were sent by or to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and have also been dubbed as ''The Kissinger cables''.

The website's Australian founder, Julian Assange, warned about the release earlier today.

The website has collated a variety of records including cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence and is releasing them in a searchable form, he said.

Assange has carried out much of the work from his refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London and told the Press Association that the records highlighted the "vast range and scope" of US influence around the world.

The Australian has been holed up in the tiny diplomatic mission for nine months as he seeks to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denies.

WikiLeaks sent shockwaves around the diplomatic world in 2010 when it released a set of more than 250,000 leaked US cables.

Many of the documents, which WikiLeaks has called the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), are marked NODIS (no distribution) or Eyes Only, while others were originally marked as secret.

Assange said WikiLeaks had undertaken a detailed analysis of the communications, adding that the information eclipsed Cablegate, a set of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks from November 2010 and over the following year.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in June after losing his battle in the British courts against extradition to Sweden.

Ecuador granted him asylum in August but Britain has refused to allow him safe passage out of the country, sparking a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange founded the WikiLeaks website that enraged Washington by releasing cables and war logs relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in one of the biggest security breach in US history.

- with AFP

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