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William Stoltz: ‘Its work was so sensitive that Parliament shouldn’t be briefed on it’ ASIS at 70

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to our Visiting Fellow Dr William Stoltz about the history of the Australia Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), which recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of its foundation under the Menzies Government.

One of the least understood and most often forgotten legacies of the Menzies Government was the foundation of ASIS in 1952. This is perhaps unsurprising, as the very existence of ASIS remained top secret for the entirety of the Menzies era and only came to the surface during the 1970s. Menzies created the organisation, modelled off of MI6, through an executive order rather than legislation, and even ASIS’s funding had to be hidden in the defence budget. Unpacking the ‘secret history’ of ASIS reveals much about the threats Australia faced during the early Cold War, the functioning of the Menzies Cabinet, and the role of our Secret Service which has perhaps never been more important as Australia once again faces a tense and dangerous geopolitical landscape.

Dr William Stoltz is a Visiting Fellow with the Robert Menzies Institute, where his primary research project is to explore the Menzies Government’s creation of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). Will is also Senior Adviser for Public Policy at the ANU National Security College, where he is responsible for mobilising the College’s research and resident expertise to influence and inform current public policy debates. He holds a PhD and Advanced Masters of National Security Policy from the Australian National University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.