WEST Wimmera Shire Council will rename a corner of the municipality after a Soviet spy who defected to Australia in 1954.
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The Petrov Affair remains one of the most controversial and intriguing chapters of Australian political history.
KGB spy Vladimir Petrov’s defection in April 1954 dominated headlines across Australia and led to a chain of events that contributed to a major split in the Australian Labor Party the following year.
At a council meeting on Thursday night, Cr Warren Wait moved a motion for a corner at Poolaijelo, in the south-west corner of the Wimmera, to be renamed Petrov Corner.
Cr Wait said had Mr Petrov lived in the district after his defection.
‘‘He went to live at a house at Poolaijelo,’’ he said.
‘‘There are some records to say that it happened and he lived out there for three or four months.
‘‘I’d like to mark this by calling the corner out there on the road near his place where he lived ‘Petrov Corner’.’’
Cr Ron Hawkins voted against the motion, arguing he was yet to be convinced the story was true.
‘‘I’m an enthusiast – no worries. But the validity of the story I haven’t had proven to me yet and I’ll vote for it when it’s proven to me,’’ he said.
The motion was successful, passing three votes to two.
The corner is on the Apsley-Casterton Road.
Cr Wait said he believed a phone connection was made to the house where Mr Petrov lived, proving that he lived there.
He said Petrov Corner would mark the shire’s involvement in the Petrov Affair.
‘‘The shire aimed to write a thing on it years ago but never did it. I believe that now is the time to put a corner there with a bit of the history,’’ he said.
Rupert Lockwood, who grew up at Natimuk, was a leading figure in the Petrov Affair.
Mr Lockwood was found by a Royal Commission to be the author of the highly debated Document J, which was given to ASIO by Mr Petrov after his defection.