Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing

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Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing
The scene shortly after the bombing
Location	Hilton Hotel, George Street, Sydney, Australia
Coordinates	33°52′19″S 151°12′26″E / 33.87194°S 151.20722°E / -33.87194; 151.20722
Date	13 February 1978 (1978-02-13) 12:40 am (UTC+11)
Attack type	Bomb
Deaths	3
Injured	11
Perpetrators	Evan Pederick was tried, convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in George Street, Sydney, Australia. At the time the hotel was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regional offshoot of the biennial meetings of the heads of government from across the Commonwealth of Nations.

The bomb was planted in a rubbish bin and exploded when the bin was emptied into a garbage truck outside the hotel at 12:40 a.m. It killed two men, Alec Carter and William Favell, the garbage collectors who picked up the bin. A police officer guarding the entrance to the hotel lounge, Paul Burmistriw, died later. It also injured eleven others. Twelve foreign leaders were staying in the hotel at the time, but none were injured. Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser immediately called out the Australian Army for the remainder of the CHOGRM meeting.^[1]

The Hilton case has been highly controversial due to allegations that Australian security forces, such as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), may have been responsible. This led to the Parliament of New South Wales unanimously calling for the Commonwealth to hold an inquiry in 1991 and 1995.^[2][3]

The Hilton bombing was described in Parliament as the first and only domestic terrorist event in Australia.^[2]

Prior to the bombing the security forces had been under considerable pressure. In South Australia, the White inquiry into their police special branch was very critical, and ties with ASIO were cut.^[2] New South Wales was about to have a similar inquiry. After the bombing, the NSW inquiry was never held, and the Commonwealth increased support for the anti-terrorism activities of the intelligence services.^[4]