Alfred Deakin Brookes
1st Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service
In office
13 May 1952 – 1957
Prime MinisterRobert Menzies
MinisterRichard Casey
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byRalph Harry
Personal details
Born(1920-04-11)11 April 1920
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died19 June 2005(2005-06-19) (aged 85)
Parents
RelativesAlfred Deakin (grandfather)
Wilfred Deakin Brookes (brother)
Occupation
  • Intelligence officer
  • Public servant
Military service
AllegianceAustralia
Branch/serviceSecond Australian Imperial Force
RankCaptain
UnitAllied Intelligence Bureau
Battles/warsSecond World War

Alfred Deakin Brookes (11 April 1920 – 19 June 2005)[1][2][3] was the first head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the intelligence agency of the Australian government that collects foreign intelligence.[4] He was appointed in 1952 by Robert Menzies the prime minister at that time.

Early life

Brookes was the youngest son of Ivy (née Deakin) and Herbert Brookes. His father was a prominent businessman and philanthropist, while his mother was the daughter of Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.[5][6] He had two older siblings, Jessie and Wilfred. Between 1929 and 1930 he lived with his family in Washington as his father was the Commissioner-General to the United States.[7]

Military and intelligence career

During the Second World War, Brookes enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in Melbourne and was allocated the service number VX112158.[2] He was a lieutenant in the Australian Army, and worked at the Allied Intelligence Bureau in Melbourne. He was the Chief of the Army section in the Far Eastern Liaison Office, which was also known as the Military Propaganda Section or section D.[8]

Brookes lobbied the Menzies government to set up an intelligence organisation in Australia similar to MI6 (the Secret Intelligence Service in the United Kingdom). Richard Casey — the Minister for External Affairs — agreed, and Brookes became the first Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service until 1957 when he departed public office to work in the private sector.[3]

Later career and interests

He established the Pacific Institute, a discussion forum that brought together representatives from government, business and academia. He was also founding Chairman of the British security company Control Risks Pacific.

Honours

Brookes maintained and promoted links to Chile and was recognised with the Gran Official of Bernado O'Higgins, the highest award to a non-Chilean.

He named a street "Brookes Street" in Point Lonsdale, Victoria, when he subdivided land which had belonged to his father, Herbert Brookes, into a housing estate.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Brookes, Alfred Deakin; Edwards, P. G. (22 July 2004). "Alfred Deakin Brookes interviewed by Peter Edwards" – via National Library of Australia (new catalog).
  2. 1 2 "Item details for: B883, VX112158 RecordSearch | National Archives of Australia".
  3. 1 2 "IGIS annual report". 2005. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
  4. ↑ "Bills Digest No. 11 2001–02, Intelligence Services Bill 2001". www.aph.gov.au. Parliament of Australia. 27 June 2001. ISSN 1328-8091. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2021. of the Intelligence Services Act 2001.
  5. ↑ "Brookes, Ivy". The Australian Women's Register. The National Foundation for Australian Women. 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  6. ↑ Patrick, Alison, "Brookes, Herbert Robinson (1867–1963)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 19 January 2022
  7. ↑ Margaret Fitzherbert Liberal women Federation Press 2004 p126-133
  8. ↑ Peter Dunn (2007). "Far Eastern Liaison Office (FELO)". Australian @ War. Archived from the original on 23 June 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  9. ↑ "Point Lonsdale: Street Names". Bellarine Historical Society. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  • Brian Toohey and William Pinwill, Oyster: The story of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service 1989


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