The Ivanov trail: contracts and business correspondence, 1979-85

Component identifier:

Series 7

Content Summary:

In April 1983, a few weeks after it came into office, the Hawke Government decided to expel Valery Ivanov, the First Secretary at the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, because his relationship with the lobbyist David Combe constituted 'a high security risk'. Combe had been Federal Secretary of the Australian Labor Party from 1973 to 1981. In May 1983 the Prime Minister announced that his Ministers had been directed not to associate with Combe and he revived the Royal Commission into the Security Services to investigate the affair. The Commission, chaired by Justice Robert Hope, reported in December 1983 that Combe had been a KGB target and that his evidence had not been entirely truthful.

Marr was assigned by the National Times to cover the proceedings of the Royal Commission. He was subsequently given leave to write a book on the affair, which he completed within a few months. The Ivanov trail was published by Thomas Nelson in 1984.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was purchased by the National Library from David Marr in 1999. Further papers were donated to the Library in November 1999 (Series 30, Item 11), November 2000 (Series 1, Files 4-10) and January 2001 (Series 27, Item 41).

Names:

Marr, David, Mr.

Contents

Access and use