Obituaries Australia

Tirath Hassaram Khemlani, the figure at the centre of the 1975 loans affair which contributed to the downfall of the Whitlam Government, has died in Scotland.

The Whitlam Labor Government used Mr Khemlani, a Sindhi commodity dealer, to try to borrow up to $US8 billion in Arab petro-dollars.

Herald-Sun journalist Peter Game, who chronicled Mr Khemlani's involvement in the affair, said he learned of his death this week through a Glasgow solicitor.

He said Mr Khemlani, 70, who had been living at a house in Paisley, near Glasgow, died of a chronic heart condition on May 19.

Mr Khemlani's revelations led to the sacking of the Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor.

Mr Khemlani said that Mr Connor had actively pursued a loan despite having his authority to do so revoked.

Mr Game said that Mr Khemlani's daughter, Shanti, who is married to an Australian and lives in South Australia, only learned of her father's death on Wednesday when he had told her.