[1] Officially titled Third Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, it was revealed that Petrov was in fact a lieutenant colonel in the KGB and in charge of espionage in Australia.

[2] In 1954, after the instability caused by the death of Joseph Stalin, Petrov made contact with ASIO and offered to provide evidence of the espionage efforts in exchange for political asylum.

[3] On 13 April 1954, Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced to the House of Representatives the defection of Petrov and the existence of documents pertaining to Soviet espionage in Australia.

[4] Evatt would later call the commission a political play by the Menzies Government to secure a victory in the 1954 election.

Lockwood considered the Soviet Union allies against the alleged rising fascism and Japan and the United States attempts to imperialise Australia.