13 Facts About Clinton Fernandes

Clinton Fernandes was born on 1971 and is an Australian historian and academic who is professor of international and political studies at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia, part of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Clinton Fernandes's work is primarily concerned with Australia's national security, in particular intelligence matters and Australia's relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours.

Clinton Fernandes provided the first official proof of ASIS involvement in the 1973 Chilean coup.

Clinton Fernandes completed his thesis at Deakin University in 2004, entitled A Transformational Analysis of the National Interest, which argued that the Australian Government was forced by public outrage to support the Independence of East Timor.

Clinton Fernandes served in the military during his twenties when he was seconded to the Australian Army Intelligence Corps as a case officer on the Indonesian desk.

Clinton Fernandes was eventually cleared of wrongdoing and promoted to the rank of major.

Clinton Fernandes's efforts were stifled by significant delays and vague arguments on the part of successive governments to deny the release of documents beyond the 30 year rule because it would allegedly damage Australia's relations with Indonesia in the present time.

Clinton Fernandes was embroiled in an intellectual dispute with Associate Professor Philip Mendes, from Monash University Faculty of Medicine, in 2005.

Mendes responded to an article Clinton Fernandes had written about Noam Chomsky in Overland magazine, arguing Clinton Fernandes had overlooked the implicit anti-Semitism of Chomsky's notorious involvement in the Faurisson affair, when he said that deniers of the Holocaust were not necessarily anti-Semitic for that reason alone.

Clinton Fernandes has written a book about Chomsky, whom he has met, entitled Peace with Justice: Noam Chomsky in Australia.

In 2021, Clinton Fernandes obtained documents through Freedom of Information that contained the first official proof that the Australian Secret Intelligence Service participated in a destabilisation campaign against Chile, prior to the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat.

In 2009, Clinton Fernandes acted as the historical consultant for the film Balibo based on the 1975 events surrounding the murders of the Balibo Five and Roger East.

Clinton Fernandes co-authored a submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor regarding the suppression of investigative journalism under legislative changes to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act.