Whitlam argued in 1985, was: Abolition of ASIO The second volume of the Official History of ASIO, edited by David Horner and written by John Blaxland, suggests the Royal Commission could have brought ASIO to an end. However, this has since been argued to be incorrect as the Whitlam Government had no intention of disbanding or abolishing ASIO: Labor had rejected the policy of abolishment at its 1971 and 1973 conferences. As the US State Department observed secretly, "Seems clear [Whitlam] has no intention of abolishing... He will eventually be able to say that he has had a careful inquiry... and might make some organizational or personnel changes." The Reports The Hope Royal Commission delivered eight reports, four of which were tabled in Parliament on 5 May 1977 and 25 October 1977. Findings With regards to ASIO, Hope found that its existence was legally, philosophically and practically legitimate. Despite being directed by the terms of reference to examine the history of ASIO, Hope declined: In his report, Hope asserted that Australia's intelligence agencies were too close to those in the UK and the US, as part of the five-nation UKUSA Agreement (commonly called Five Eyes). Recommendations Hope made many recommendations. With regards to ASIO, Hope wanted it to become truly part of the defence forces of Australia and celebrated as such: Hope recommended that ASIO should continue to be overseen by the Executive (Australian Government) as opposed to Parliament and that the organisation be routinely reviewed to ensure its operational efficacy. Implementation Results from the other reports included the establishment of the Office of National Assessments (ONA) as a statutory body independent from government with the passage of the Office of National Assessments Act 1977, and the reform of ASIO by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979. ONA reported directly to the Prime Minister to provide foreign intelligence assessments on political, strategic and economic issues. ONA began operations on 20 February 1978, and assumed the Joint Intelligence Organisation's foreign intelligence assessment role. The Joint Intelligence Organisation retained its defence intelligence assessment role until it was restructured as the Defence Intelligence Organisation in 1990. The Defence Signals Division was renamed Defence Signals Directorate. Aside from the observation that ASIS was 'singularly well run and well managed', the report(s) on ASIS were not released, but on 25 October 1977, Fraser publicly announced the existence of ASIS and its functions on the