In conversation

The Palace Letters: Jenny Hocking in conversation with Henry Reynolds

A political betrayal. A constitutional crisis. A hidden correspondence. The Queen, the governor-general, and the plot to dismiss Gough Whitlam.

Gough Whitlam was a progressive prime minister whose reign from 1972 proved tumultuous after 23 years of conservative government in Australia. After Whitlam’s unexpected and deeply controversial dismissal by the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, correspondence between Kerr  and the Palace was locked away in the National Archives, and embargoed by the Queen — potentially forever. This ruse denied the Australian people access to critical information about one of the most divisive episodes in the nation’s history.

In the face of this, Professor Jenny Hocking embarked on what would become a ten-year campaign and a four-year legal battle to force the Archives to release the letters. In May 2020, despite powerful institutional opposition, she won her historic case in the High Court.

The Palace Letters is the ground-breaking account of her indomitable fight. Hocking traces the collusion and deception behind the dismissal, and charts the secret role of High Court judges, the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Fraser, and the Queen’s private secretary in fostering and supporting Kerr’s actions, and reveals the obstruction, intrigue, and duplicity she faced during her campaign.

Jenny Hocking is emeritus professor at Monash University, Distinguished Whitlam Fellow at the Whitlam Institute at Western Sydney University, and Gough Whitlam’s award-winning biographer.

Henry Reynolds is one of Australia’s foremost historians, and an the author of almost twenty books, including The Other Side of the Frontier, Tongerlongeter, and Truth Telling: History, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement.

This discussion, due to follow the King’s royal visit to Australia in October, is sure to be insightful. 

Tickets include a glass of wine or soft drink.