The Acceptance of ASIO in the USA | 11

The establishment of ASIO was expected to solve three points of
tension in the post-war alliance between Australia, the UK and
the USA. With a functioning ASIO, Australia would become
the recipient of US missile-range technology; the UK would
receive US missile design material; and the CIA report of ‘the
leak in high government circles in Australia’, reputedly akin to
the Gouzenko affair in Canada of 1945, would be investigated
and the spies uncovered. However, in the short run none of
those expectations was met. This lack of outcome confirmed
the fact that the establishment of a new civilian intelligence
body in Australia was not the real issue for the US. The US
was seeking a simple excuse to deny technical secrets to the
UK and Australia while retaining their friendship and support
in the Western alliance. Thwarting the British development in
military high technology and slowing the US sales of new British
jet-engined aircraft was also an important motive in raising an
intelligence scare.