Attempted assassination of Arthur Calwell
| Attempted Assassination of Arthur Calwell | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mosman Town Hall, Sydney, Australia |
| Date | 21 June 1966 |
| Target | Arthur Calwell |
Attack type | assassination attempt |
| Weapons | .22 rifle |
| Injured | 1 |
| Victim | Arthur Calwell |
| Perpetrator | Peter Kocan |
On 21 June 1966 an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell, then leader of the Australian Labor Party.[1] It was arguably the second assassination attempt in Australian political history following Henry James O'Farrell's attempt on the life of Prince Alfred. (Although Percival Brookfield had been killed and Thomas Ley murdered several political opponents.[2])
Assassination attempt
On the evening of 21 June 1966, while campaigning for the 1966 federal election, Arthur Calwell addressed an anti-conscription rally at Mosman Town Hall in Sydney. A 19-year-old factory worker Peter Kocan was waiting with a 0.22 sawn-off rifle hidden inside his overcoat. After Calwell had left the meeting, just as his car was about to drive off, Kocan went to the passenger side of the vehicle, aimed the rifle towards Calwell's head and fired at short range. The shattering window fragmented the bullet which mostly lodged harmlessly in Calwell's coat lapel. Calwell sustained minor facial injuries from fragments and broken glass. He spent one night in hospital.[3]
Kocan fled after shooting but was soon captured by Wayne Haylen, the student son of Les Haylen.
The police said Kocan told them after his arrest:
Unless I did something out of the ordinary I realized I would remain a nobody all my life. I came to the conclusion that however hard it was I would have to do something that would set me apart from other nobodies. I would not have done anything so cruel as shoot someone if I had any alternative. That's why I shot Mr Calwell. I'm sorry I caused pain to Mr Calwell... I went there with that intention [to shoot him] and when I fired a shot I didn't care if I hit him or not. I just wanted to get it over with... When I read an advertisement in the paper last Saturday about the meeting... [The rifle was ..] was too bulky. If I was going to assassinate anyone like Mr Kennedy from a window it would have been all right, but it was too bulky to conceal under any clothing... I stood in the lobby of the town hall. I just waited for Mr Calwell to come out, and he came out and talked to various people, and then he went towards his car talking to other people. He got into his car; time was running out. I had the gun in my belt under my coat. I drew the gun, walked up to the window and fired in the general direction of the window. I didn't expect to get away, and I did not intend to run, but when it happened, I decided to run away as a reflex action... I did not intend to shoot Mr Calwell at first. I wanted to assassinate some public figure. I did not agree with Mr Calwell's politics and that made it easier to choose him.[4]
Kocan later reflected, "the shooting logic was in the air at the time", pointing to the assassinations of Ngô Đình Diệm, John F. Kennedy, Hendrik Verwoerd and Malcolm X. "Unfortunately, we are creatures who pick up on what's around", he said. "If it had been a different era, my actions may have been different... Insofar as I had any thoughts about what would happen after the shooting, I assumed I'd be cut down in a hail of bullets."[5]
Sentencing
Kocan was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The presiding judge ruled that:
It is necessary for me to pass such a sentence to deter any other per son from even considering an attempt upon the life and safety of our public men... You have pleaded guilty to one of the most serious crimes in the criminal calendar and the plain fact must be faced that on June 21 at Mosman Town Hall a bullet fired by you lodged in the lapel of Mr Calwell's coat and portion of it, with shattered glass, stuck in his chin. This public figure had a close call — his life I believe hung by a thread. Indeed, it seems that only by the intervention of Providence he is still alive... All these preparations and your intent was to kill a public figure who was innocent of any offence against you except that you differed from his political views.I regret to say your previous good character must be set aside on this occasion because it must be out weighed. I think, by the gravity of the offence. I am satisfied your motive was to acquire notoriety or as you thought, the fame perhaps of assassinating a public figure. In this you were, I am absolutely satisfied, influenced by the publicity attending the assassination of President Kennedy. But community in Australia does not want the introduction of such criminal acts here. Public men in Australia must be free to go about their important affairs of State without fear of danger |to life or limb. I must see that the law protects them to its utmost.[6]
The sentence was upheld on appeal.[7]
Peter Kocan initially was jailed at Sydney's Long Bay Gaol before being soon transferred to Morriset Psychiatric Hospital for the criminally insane,[8] where he began to study literature, philosophy and history, and to write poetry. Kocan was released after ten years in August 1976.[9][10][11]
Calwell visited Kocan at Morriset, and wrote a letter to Kocan forgiving him for the act.
References
- ^ Graham Freudenberg, 'Calwell, Arthur Augustus (1896–1973)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University accessed 9 November 2013
- ^ http://www.theage.com.au/comment/arthur-calwell-how-dodging-the-bullet-spared-the-people-20140618-zsda8.html
- ^ "Mr Calwell rests at home". The Canberra Times. 23 June 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Trial for alleged attempted murder". The Canberra Times. 13 July 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ http://users.tpg.com.au/waldrenm/kocan.html
- ^ "Life sentence for Calwell shooting". The Canberra Times. 31 August 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Kocan's life term stands". The Canberra Times. 19 October 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Kocan moved to security mental home". The Canberra Times. 31 December 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Shane Moloney, "Arthur Calwell and Peter Kocan", The Monthly, August 2007 accessed 9 November 2013
- ^ Stephen Romei, "Failed assassin Peter Kocan wins top literary award", The Australian, 25 November 2010, accessed 9 November 2013
- ^ Jane Sullivan, "Pivotal chapter in Peter Kocan's life", The Age 3 July 2004, accessed 9 November 2013