The Truth of the Palace Letters
Subtitle: Deceit, Ambush and Dismissal In 1975
By: Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston
Contributors: Bramston, Troy, author
Publisher: Melbourne University Press
Published: 2020
Place of publication: Carlton, Victoria
Language: eng
Number of pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9780522877564; 9780522877557
Subjects: Correspondence; Politics and government
Description: In July 2020 the National Archives of Australia released the long-suppressed correspondence between Sir John Kerr and Queen Elizabeth II, written during Kerr's tumultuous tenure as Governor-General of Australia. The letters cover the constitutional crisis that culminated in Kerr's infamous dismissal of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975. In The Truth of the Palace Letters Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston reveal their meaning and significance for understanding the dismissal. The analysis of these documents and their authors throws a revealing light on the connection between the Queen in Buckingham Palace and the Governor-General in Canberra. Coupled with newly discovered archival documents and interviews, Kelly and Bramston explain the implications of the letters for our Constitution, our democracy and the republic debate.
Table of contents: title: Intro; title: Title Page; title: Copyright Page; title: Contents; title: Foreword by Paul Keating; title: Preface; title: Introduction; title: 1 An Australian Decision; title: 2 The Truth of the Reserve Powers; title: 3 Kerr Cultivates the Palace; title: 4 The Queen and Recall; title: 5 A Disgruntled Governor-General; title: 6 The Judges: Barwick and Mason; title: 7 Whitlam's Half-Senate Election Folly; title: 8 Fraser: Engineer of the Crisis; title: 9 Kerr: To Resign or Not to Resign; title: 10 Whitlam, Fraser and the Palace; title: 11 Kerr Under Siege; title: 12 Kerr and Charles: A Special Relationship; title: 13 The Republic; title: 14 The Modern Governor-General; title: Epilogue; title: Appendix: Selected Palace Letters; title: Acknowledgements; title: Notes; title: Index; title: Picture-section.