The Australian Labor Party had come to power in 1972 after over two decades of Liberal Party of Australia rule . Despite having created the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation ( ASIO ) in 1949 , the subsequent actions of the organisation contributed to Labor 's long period out of office . One of the first acts of the new Whitlam Government was to help US-led efforts in the United Nations General Assembly to combat global terrorism , which had recently gained prominence with the 1972 Munich Olympics and the Croatian nationalist bombings in Sydney . Both Whitlam and Attorney-General Lionel Murphy , emulating President Richard Nixon , stressed that terrorists would be hunted and political violence either to person or property would not be tolerated either inside or outside Australia
1972 Munich Olympics
Munich massacre
Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security