VON LUCKNER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 174, 17 June 1940, Page 7

VON LUCKNER

HE WAS A SPY Not very long ago, when Count von Lucltner visited Australia in liis luxury yacht, passing himself off as a clown who specialised in tearing up telephone books, Australian workers who declared that he Avas a spy were violently assailed by people who now cannot find words bad enough for Nazi-ism and their demonstrations were broken up by the police. In Melbourne last week Senator Brand declared that von Luckner was really a Nazi spy and his statement was officially confirmed in Canberra. It was stated that the Defence Department had realised from the beginning that von Luckner, who was then being rushed with entertainment offers from Sydney's most exclusive clubs and homes, was a spy and had kept a close check on all who visited him privately or attended gatherings, except public ones, at which he was a guest. On their own statement, therefore, it appears that the authoriI ties knew all along that the workers who denounced von Luckner w T ere right, but kept silent about it. It wavs stated that many prominent Australians attended social functions in von Luckner's honour, but in no case was any Australian found to be connected with any of his secret activities. The only people so connected were German nationals, known to possess strong Nazi sympathies, who were interned on the outbreak of war.