[2][3] According to Senator John Faulkner, Wheeldon "... showed real passion for the causes he believed in: his opposition to the Vietnam War, his support for the independence of East Timor, his abhorrence of apartheid and his deep concern about Soviet imperialism.

[6] In 1968, Wheeldon was suspected by Charles Spry, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) of having been compromised by contact Wheeldon was alleged to have had with a female member of the staff of the French embassy in Canberra, who had what appeared to be a personal relationship with Soviet diplomatic staff who were suspected of being intelligence agents.

"[8] Wheeldon was never questioned about Spry's suspicions, and the young woman who was the sole source of the accusations against him left the country and admitted herself to Horton Hospital at Surrey, a psychiatric institution.

[7] A declassified "top secret" ASIO minute from 1974 indicates that ASIO officers had "considerable doubts" at the time about the truthfulness of the young woman who claimed to be the connection between Wheeldon and the suspected Soviet agents, and that these doubts were not reflected in the file specifying the young woman's accusations against Wheeldon.

[12] In 1978, Wheeldon was one of the primary authors of Human Rights in the Soviet Union, a report of the Australian parliament's Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

[13] In 1980, Wheeldon was a parliamentary adviser to Australia's permanent delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

[14] In 1980, while part of Australia's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, Wheeldon rekindled an old friendship with Rupert Murdoch, who offered him a position as Associate Editor of The Australian newspaper.