At the 40th anniversary of the dismissal. Kelly and Bramston combined to revive the historical account for a younger generation. They drew upon notes, diaries and minutes from Sir John Kerr, many hand-written, as well as new material from the archives in Australia and the United Kingdom and another round of interviews with surviving participants. Their investigations only deepened the central conclusion – that Kerr acted alone, improperly deceiving Whitlam but not informing the Palace beforehand of his move.

The authors began to penetrate the attitude of Buckingham Palace and the Queen based on interviews and reports from Palace officials from the time. These were reinforced by written accounts by Kerr’s predecessor, Sir Paul Hasluck who retained the confidence of the Palace and was involved in confidential discussions with the Palace that revealed the depth of its alarm about the behaviour of Kerr in the post-dismissal years. The Queen was relieved to see the back of Sir John Kerr when he was persuaded into an early retirement from the office. 

The lesson from the crisis is that institutions cannot be abused without risks to democracy and constitutional powers should not be pushed to the limit by politicians.

Reviews

“One thing you learn very quickly in this parliament is to respect the forensic skills of Paul Kelly…As we get up close and personal to this epic power play between Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and John Kerr, the eyes and ears of Kelly appear to be everywhere. They still are.” – Malcolm Turnbull at the launch.

‍