Profile of Robert Askin on Famous Like Me

The Honourable Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG, (Born Sydney, April 4, 1907; Died September 9, 1981. Born Robin William Askin, he changed his name by deed poll in 1971 because he always disliked his first name. He was Premier of New South Wales, 1965-1975. He was knighted (on his own recommendation) with (KCMG) in 1972 and was elevated to GCMG in 1975, becoming only the second NSW Premier (after Henry Parkes to be granted this double title.

Askin grew up in Glebe, Sydney, a working-class inner-city suburb. He was an unremarkable student, graduating in 1921, but he was a keen footballer and card player. He began his working life with the Rural Bank, where he earned the nickname "Slippery Sam", reputedly because he spent much of his time running an illegal SP bookmaking operation. He joined the Australian Army during World War II and served in New Guinea and Borneo.

With solid working-class background and trade union affiliations, one might assume that Askin would have gratvitated to the political Left, but he joined the conseravtive Liberal Party of Australia in 1947 after a chance encounter with an army colleague. He rapidly rose through the party ranks and soon became president of the party's Manly branch. He was the state member for the seat of Collaroy from 1949 until the seat was abolished by a redistribution in 1973.

Askin was elected leader of the NSW Liberal Party in 1959, succeeding P.H. Morton. He became Premier of NSW on 1 May 1965, ending the 24-rule of the Australian Labor Party and winning by a record majority. The election was notable as being one of Australia's first "presidential-style" campaigns, with Askin the person promoted far more heavily than the party. He received vigorous support from the newspapers and TV station owned by conservative media magnate Sir Frank Packer and the Liberals' campaign reportedly outspent the ALP by a ratio of at least 2:1.

Esentially a political pragmatist, Askin was noted for his "phenomenal" ability to remember faces, an "uncanny" feel for public opinion, a mastery of political tactics and for his combative relationship with the media. His tenure in government was marked by strong oppostion to an increase in Commonwealth powers, a tough stance on "law and order" issues, laissez-faire economic policies and aggressive support for industrial and commercial development.

Askin oversaw a rapid escalation of building development in inner-city Sydney and the central business district, which followed in the wake of his controversial 1969 abolition of Sydney City Council and a redistribution of municipal electoral boundaries that was aimed at reducing the power of the rival Australian Labor Party. Among his most controversial schemes were a massive freeway system that was planned to be driven through thehearts of historic inner-city suburbs including Glebe and Newtown, and an equally ambitious scheme of so-called "slum clearance" that woud have seen the whosescale destruction of the historic areas of Wooloomooloo and The Rocks. Under Askin's administration, new developments in central Sydney rose to their highest levels ever.

In 1966 Askin was involved two famous controversies. During his campaign he had cynically exploited public unease about the rising cost of the Sydney Opera House, then still uder contruction, and as soon as he took government his Public Works minister Davis Hughes began to assert control over the project and demand that costs be reined in. This brought him into direct conflict with architect Joern Utzon and in February 1966, after a bitter standoff, Utzon resigned, sparking a major public outcry.

The other famous incident occurred in October 1966 during the state visit by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. As Johnson's motorcade drove through Sydney, several anti-Vietnam War protesters threw themselves in front of the car carrying Askin and Johnson, and when his driver asked for instructions, Askin bluntly told him: "Run over the bastards!". The event was widely reported and the ABC's current affairs program This Day Tonight created a storm of controversy when it sent up Askin's boorish behaviour in a satirical song.

Askin's Premiership was also marked by a significant increase in the activties of organised crime groups in NSW. Askin was known to be extremely fond of betting on horse racing, was often seen at the track, and was reputed to have been a "runner" for illegal SP betting operations in his youth, in the Rural Bank and in the Army.

Since his death there have been persistent allegations that Askin, assisted by then Police Commissioner Norman Allan, oversaw the creation of a lucrative network of corruption and bribery that involved politicians, public servants and police and the nascent Sydney organised crime syndicates. One of the most controversial claims is that that Askin regularly received payoffs from an illegal gambling syndicates -- journalist David Hickie claims that Askin received AU$100,000 per year in bribes (equivalent to perhaps ten times that figure today) from a gaming sydnicate run by Perc Galea.

There were also claims that his administration actively protected leading crime identities such as the notorious Sydney gangster Lenny McPherson. It is also claimed that Askin sold knighthoods to (Sir) Paul Strasser of Parkes Development and (Sir) Peter Abeles of Ansett Airlines and Thomas Nationwide Transport for between $20,000 and $60,000 each, and that he also gave out knighthoods as rewards to trusted allies, including Police Commissioner Allan.

Towards the end of his career, with rumours of corruption on the increase, Askin became embroiled in another major political controversy. In 1971, while working on a computerisation program, NSW police computer expert Phillip Arantz discovered that the NSW police service had been systematically under-reporting crime statistics for years. The obvious inference of this revelation was that pollice were trying to conceal corruption, which allegedly extended up to the Commissioner himself, and widespread police involvent in organised crime.

Arantz took his allegations to senior police but they were dismissed out of hand. Eventually Arantz, now recognised as one of Australia's pioneer "whistle-blowers", realised that Allan was at least aware of the scheme, if not directly involved in it, and that he wanted to supprress Arantz's revelations.

The frustrated Arantz evntually leaked his information to the press, so an enraged Allan began a vicious campaign to destroy Arantz's credibility. As a result, Arantz was suspended, forced to undergo a pshychiatric assessment and finally he was dishonourably discharged from the force; it took him years to clear his name. In the meantime both Allan and Askin had retired, avoiding the taint from the scandal, and by the time Arantz's claims were finally vindicated, Askin and Allan were long since dead.

Askin retired from politics in January 1975. By this time he was a sick man, having suffered two heart attacks in 1969 and 1973. He lived another six years, though in failing health, and died of pneumonia on 9 September 1981. He left an estate valued at just under AU$2 million -- a very substantial sum for the time -- most of it invested in shares.

When questioned about his wealth, Askin always attributed it to the salary from his high public office, his frugal lifestyle, good investments and canny punting. After his death the Department of Taxation audited his estate, and although it made no finding of criminality, it determined that a substantial part of it came from undisclosed income from sources other than shares or gambling.

With Askin's death, investigative journalists were now freed from the threat of legal action under Australia's punitive defamation and libel laws -- unlike the United States, Australia has no constitutional guarantee of Freedom of Speech -- and stories about his reputed corruption hit the press almost immediately.

On the very day of Askin's funeral, Sydney journalists David Hickie and David Marr caused a sensation with the first of a series of articles detailing allegations of Askin's corrupt activities that appeared in the National Times under the headline "ASKIN: FRIEND TO ORGANISED CRIME". These claims were examined in greater detail in Hickie's subsequent book The Prince And The Premier.

Although close Askin associates -- notably his former private secretary -- have consistently denied that he was corrupt, and little hard evidence has ever surfaced, the rumours were widely seen as being confirmed when, after the death of Askin's wife Mollie in 1984, it was revealed that she had left an estate valued at almost AU$4 million -- most of which the animal-loving Askins had bequeathed to the RSPCA.

Further Reading

Hickie, David
The Prince and The Premier
(Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1985)

Goot, Murray
"Sir Robert Askin"
(draft entry for The Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 17, Melbourne University Press (forthcoming))
http://www.pol.mq.edu.au/publications/Askin.htm

Premiers of New South Wales
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