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Michael Rayner Thwaites, AO (30 May 1915 – 1 November 2005) was an Australian academic, poet, and intelligence officer.


Early life and education

Thwaites was born in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, to Yorkshire immigrant Robert Ernest Thwaites who taught at
Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...
and Jessie Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Hugh Nelson, a previous premier of Queensland. He was educated at Geelong Grammar School, entering Trinity College at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
from which he graduated in 1937. As a student he came into contact with the Oxford Group (later Moral Rearmament), whose ideas greatly influenced him. He was awarded a
Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...
ship to attend the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
where he won the Newdigate Prize (1938) for poetry and the King's Gold Medal for Poetry (1940). He was the first Australian to win either of these prizes, and is still the only Australian to have won the Newdigate Prize.


Naval and intelligence career

Thwaites joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was an officer in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1999 he published ''Atlantic Odyssey'', an account of his war service on anti-submarine escort naval trawlers and an armed whaler. After the war he returned to Oxford to complete his studies, graduating MA B Litt, then returned to Australia, becoming a lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne in 1947. Despite having no background in intelligence work, Thwaites was recruited in 1950 to the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...
(ASIO) by its director-general Charles Spry. Unlike the British tradition of university recruitment, in 1950 almost all ASIO staff were from military intelligence and police operational backgrounds, and Spry had been encouraged to recruit senior staff with higher educational credentials. Thwaites proved to be a highly competent intelligence officer and encouraged more analytical recruitment policies. Despite some outside criticism that ASIO staff was an "old boys' club" (perhaps based on the assumption that ASIO was modelled on MI5), military and police backgrounds dominated ASIO staffing into the 1970s and Thwaites eventually resigned believing that the analytical resources were undervalued.Michael Thwaites, 1980, ''Truth Will Out: ASIO and the Petrovs'', Sydney, William Collins In 1954 Thwaites played a leading role in the defection of the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
diplomat Vladimir Petrov to Australia, which led to the celebrated Petrov Affair. When Petrov first defected it was Thwaites who debriefed him, and he later spent 18 months with Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov at an ASIO "safe house" in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, helping them write their life stories in the book "Empire of Fear". Thwaites always insisted that the timing of Petrov's defection was determined by Petrov, and was not orchestrated to coincide with the 1954 federal election, as the Labor Party leader, Dr H. V. Evatt said at the time and as many people in Australia continued for many years to believe. He also maintained that Petrov was a genuinely important source of intelligence in the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
context, revealing the names of about 600 Soviet operatives around the world. Thwaites recorded his part in these events in ''Truth Will Out: ASIO and the Petrovs''. He also ghost-wrote the Petrovs' book ''Empire of Fear''.Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov, 1956, ''Empire of Fear'', London, Andre Deutsch


Literary life and career

Thwaites left ASIO in 1971 to become Assistant Parliamentary Librarian. This position enabled him to devote more time to poetry, which was always his first love. His best known poems include ''The Jervis Bay'', ''The Prophetic Hour'', and ''Message to My Grandson''. His collected poems spanning 1932 to 2004 were published as ''Unfinished Journey'', which won the 2005 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards for poetry. With his wife Honor, he wrote the patriotic hymn ''For Australia'', to a tune by Henry Purcell. ''Unfinished Journey'' was republished with some minor changes in a hardback volume titled ''The Singing Light'' on the occasion of Michael Thwaites's centenary in 2015. His poetry is also available on the website www.thwaites.com.au which is maintained by the Michael and Honor Thwaites Heritage Association.


Honours

Thwaites was made an officer of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
in 2002. He was an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Melbourne.


References


External links

* . ''Trinity Today''. December 2005, pp. 52–53 * – recording of a concert given by Michael Thwaites and Penelope Thwaites {{DEFAULTSORT:Thwaites, Michael 1915 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Australian male writers People educated at Geelong Grammar School People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Officers of the Order of Australia Australian Rhodes Scholars Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Alumni of New College, Oxford 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets Royal Navy officers of World War II