Webinar: Democracy, Transparency and the Palace Letters

It has been more than a decade since Whitlam Institute Distinguished Fellow Professor Jenny Hocking first sought access to what have become known as the ‘Palace Letters’ held in the National Archives of Australia. The legal battle that ensued, progressing all the way to the High Court of Australia, came to its conclusion just weeks ago with the historic ruling that these letters between Sir John Kerr, Governor-General of Australia and Queen Elizabeth II relating to the dismissal of the Whitlam government are not ‘personal’ correspondence, but Commonwealth records to be open for public access under the provisions of the Archives Act. In our upcoming webinar, Professor Hocking joins us to discuss the importance of this landmark decision, its implications for the history of the dismissal and why truth and transparency are such central tenets of a healthy democracy. As we eagerly await the release of the Palace letters by the Archives, it is clear that both the ramifications of the High Court decision, as well as the contents of the letters themselves, have the potential to profoundly impact Australia’s democratic past, present and future. What might these historic letters reveal? https://uws.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yWTNqihyQDqEBwMm_SSy1g