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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 35 no. 8. 27 April 1972

[Introduction]

If the Vice-Chancellor thinks that his and Mr Gilbert's replies to Peter Cullen's letters are satisfactory explanations of Biggs' past attendance here, then he is very mistaken.

The Vice-Chancellor, in 1969 after Salient's expose of Rex Banks, said "this sort of activity in the University is quite inconsistent with the basic principles of a University." Perhaps this was to soothe student feeling even though he didn't believe the evidence put forward in Salient, Unking Banks with the S.S. If Biggs is not an agent, then he would have been prosecuted by now for impersonating one.

Mr Gilbert's affirmative reply in the Vice-Chancellor's second letter as to whether the S.I.S. feels obliged or bound to consult with the University authorities about the proposed attendance of an S.I.S agent at University, should be doubted. The Hutchinson Commission says "should", not "is obliged". The "obligation" is at the discretion of Mr Gilbert. It is also rumoured that the Vice-Chancellor censored part of Mr Gilbert's letter to him before passing it on to Peter Cullen. This letter states that there was consultation between the S.I.S. and the Vice-Chancellor in 1967, subsequent to the Hutchinson Commission's report. We want to know what they were consulting about. Was anyone else in the University notified?

The initiative to consult is with the S.I.S., the Vice-Chancellor says. The University should have had the Hutchinson Commission's terms changed so that the S.I.S. must consult with the University.

The replies to Cullen's letters raise more questions than they answer.