With much fanfare and a press conference, the National Archives releases the letters between Governor-General John Kerr and the Palace between 1974 and 1977. There is no smoking gun. The primary sources make clear that the decision to remove the Prime Minister and call an election was taken by Kerr although the Palace was kept informed and its counsel sought at a more personal level. There is no evidence our Head of State knew what was being considered, directed the removal or was complicit in it. All the participants were already known from Kerr’s memoirs “Matters for Judgment” published in 1978 including the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Martin Charteris, with whom he was regularly corresponding. All 211 letters (one is missing) can be viewed on the NAA website where they are to referred as the “Kerr Palace Letters”. The 11 November 1975 letter reporting the days events to the Palace, a masterpiece of official drafting, is well worth a read. It is also on display in the NAA exhibition galleries on the ground floor.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
