Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Many Australians will remember 11 November 1975, the day that Gough Whitlam was dismissed as Prime Minister by Governor-General John Kerr. This political and constitutional crisis was recently described by the Federal Court as one of the most controversial and tumultuous events in the modern history of the nation. For 45 years we have not known very much about the Queen's actions before and during Mr Whitlam's dismissal. We do know that the Governor-General had been corresponding with the palace; however, those letters have been inaccessible to the public. They have been classified as 'personal' for decades, despite the fact that they contain significant information about Australia's past.

In an attempt to make the 211 palace papers accessible, historian Jenny Hocking launched a Federal Court action against the National Archives back in 2016. Just last week we saw the High Court rule in favour of Hocking's action, meaning the palace papers are now considered Commonwealth records. The National Archives can now reassess whether they are released based on this new ruling.

Hocking's High Court win is significant for a number of reasons. As Hocking writes, it calls attention to the importance of asserting the right of public access to, and control over, our most important archival records. Australia's history should always be a public history. It also raises some important questions about our relationship with history. How we choose to reveal, share and teach our nation's past significantly influences our country's future. It shifts the stories told in our museums, galleries and libraries. It shifts the education curriculum in schools and even our social policy. If we allow important archives, like the palace papers, to remain private, current and future generations are robbed of the opportunity to learn more about the rich and complex history of our nation.

Full disclosure: I am a committed republican. The British monarchy will always be part of our country's history. Our head of state should be an Australian. However, these papers should be welcomed by monarchists and republicans alike. No constitutional monarchists could possibly defend the proposition that the monarch may act in secret and that that secret may be kept in perpetuity. Yet for decades we have been unable to access documents about the role two of our highest officials, including our head of state, played in the dismissal of a democratically elected Prime Minister. Kerr's existing public letters have extended our knowledge of the period. The palace letters are likely to reveal more about this history.

Ultimately it is the responsibility of public officials to provide an honest account of the role they played in major historical events. In the event that they do not, historical documents should be accessible so that historians, journalists and the public can assess their impact. I wholeheartedly congratulate Jenny Hocking for her victory.