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SYDNEY - Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has told a court he knew nothing about the deaths of four Australian journalists and one New Zealander in East Timor in 1975 until five days after they were killed.
Mr Whitlam told Glebe Coroners Court in Sydney today he was not informed about the deaths of the men in the town of Balibo until the morning of October 21, 1975.
Giving evidence at the inquest into the death of Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters, Mr Whitlam denied he had knowledge that Mr Peters and his four colleagues were in Balibo and were targeted by the military.
"Officials from the departments of defence and foreign affairs told me in my office that in Indonesian military traffic that had been intercepted ... said there were four white bodies in Balibo," Mr Whitlam told the court.
Dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie, the 90-year-old Mr Whitlam also told the court he had twice warned Channel Seven journalist Greg Shackleton not to go to East Timor.
"I warned him the Australian government had no way of protecting him or his colleagues," he said.
- AAP
