Page "John McEwen" Paragraph 7

Another key factor in McEwen's antipathy towards McMahon was hinted at soon after the crisis by the veteran political journalist Alan Reid.

According to Reid, McEwen was aware that McMahon was habitually breaching Cabinet confidentiality and regularly leaking information to favoured journalists and lobbyists, including Maxwell Newton, who had been hired as a " consultant " by Japanese trade interests.

This version of events was confirmed years later by the former Canberra lobbyist Richard Farmer, following the release of sealed Cabinet papers from the period.