The Palace Letters

Viac o knihe

Gough Whitlam was a progressive prime minister whose tenure from 1972 was marked by turmoil following 23 years of conservative rule in Australia. After winning a second election in May 1974, Whitlam faced a hostile Senate that refused to vote on his 1975 budget, leading to a political deadlock and his controversial dismissal by Governor-General Sir John Kerr. During this period, Kerr maintained close contact with the Palace, but the correspondence was concealed under the guise of personal matters, locked away in the National Archives, and embargoed by the Queen—potentially forever. This secrecy denied Australians access to vital information about a divisive chapter in their history. In response, Professor Jenny Hocking launched a ten-year campaign and a four-year legal battle to compel the Archives to release the letters. In May 2020, despite opposition from the Archives, Buckingham Palace, and the federal government, she achieved a landmark victory in the High Court. Hocking's account details her relentless fight, drawing from the Palace letters, Kerr's archives, and court submissions. She uncovers the collusion and deception surrounding the dismissal and highlights the obstruction and duplicity she encountered, raising troubling questions about the National Archives' role in maintaining royal secrecy over documents crucial to Australia's history.