Republic campaign reignited by evidence of royal involvement in Whitlam sacking

A re-examination of royal intervention in Whitlam’s Dismissal has renewed calls for Australia to finally become a republic, writes Dr John Jiggens.

A meeting was held in Australia in 1999. referendum to change Constitution To transform the Commonwealth of Australia from a constitutional monarchy to a republic by replacing the British monarchy and the Governor-General as heads of state with a president elected by a two-thirds majority of the federal parliament.

The referendum failed, with only 46 per cent of Australians voting for the change.

Much of the momentum towards abolishing the monarchy Constitution It stemmed from anger at the abuse of the monarchy’s so-called reserve powers during the monarchy’s deposition. whitlam Government by Governor-General John Kerr In 1975.

There has been a narrative on this subject for decades. dismissal It was Governor General Kerr’s acting alone. The Palace maintained that the Queen was not involved in the incident. The hoax was revealed by historian Professor Jenny Hocking in 2022 when she won a High Court appeal for his release. Palace Letters – Kerr’s correspondence with Buckingham Palace – revealed the involvement of Queen Elizabeth, our current King Charles, and the Palace in this tumultuous affair.

Palace Letters confirmed this through the Queen’s private secretary, Sir. Martin CharterisHe discussed the possible impeachment of the Government with the Governor-General and advised him against the use of so-called “reserve powers” to remove a democratically elected government, against the advice of both the Attorney General of Australia and the Attorney General.

When the letters were published in July 2020, the then Opposition Leader Anthony AlbaneseCalled Dismissal an event this defined his generation. He recalled that one of his first political memories was his history teacher coming into class and telling them that Australia’s democratically elected government had been dismissed by the Governor-General.

Even as a young boy, Albanese recalled the shock of the news and the chaos that ensued on the streets of Sydney that day. When he arrived home late, his mother greeted him as follows: “They dismissed our government!”

Like most other Labor supporters, the Albans had waited 23 years for the Whitlam Government to be elected.

Albanese recalled with pride:

The Whitlam Government transformed Australia into the modern and vibrant community we see here today.

In those heady days when we withdrew our troops from Vietnam, we got to know China and introduced free higher education, which I also benefited from. We established Medibank. The Whitlam Government was a government where we saw progress on women, we saw progress on multiculturalism.

He said the removal of a democratically elected government was a stain on our character as a nation.

Albanese continued:

But I do want to say that the Governor-General’s dismissal of a government on 11 November to put himself above the Australian people is an action that reinforces our need for an Australian head of state.

The fact that in Australia we have been waiting 45 years for correspondence between the Queen and the Palace and the Governor-General tells us that there is something very wrong with our government structures.

Standing next to Albanese that day was the Shadow Deputy Minister of the Republic. Matt Thistlethwaite. Thistlethwaite congratulated Professor Jenny Hocking for her decade-long campaign to uncover the contents of these important documents about the most significant political turmoil in Australian history.

Thistlethwaite said:

The emergence of these documents today highlights the fact that in the future Australia must engage in a mature and serious debate about our future constitutional arrangements, with a view to having a serious discussion about amending our constitution to eventually appoint an Australian as our head of state.

While these documents are important historical records that tell the story of our past, the Australian republic is about our future.

In 2023, Antony Albanese became the Prime Minister of Australia and Matt Thistlethwaite became the Minister of the Republic. When Queen Elizabeth died that same year, Albanese announced that he would not amend the constitution during his first term.

In the Second Albanian Government, the post of Minister of the Republic was abolished.

Greg Barns He was the national campaign director of the “Yes” campaign in the 1999 republic referendum. I interviewed him for Mr FM about the possibility of an Australian republic, Whitlam’s impeachment and the Palace’s role in the Dismissal.

Barns said:

There’s no doubt Buckingham Palace knows.

The Queen’s principal private secretary, Michael Charteris, was not only fully informed but also encouraged Kerr to do what he did. It is beyond the bounds of credibility that Charteris, the Queen’s most senior and trusted advisor, did not inform her of what was going on.

There was a correspondence with Prince Charles in which our current King congratulated Kerr on what he had done.

Barns criticized Kerr for his dishonesty, deceit and secrecy. Kerr’s duty as Governor-General was to consult Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, and he was required to inform Whitlam of plans to dismiss the Government.

Instead Kerr pretended to pursue plans to resolve the dispute over the blocking of supplies by the Senate by holding a quasi-Senate election, while secretly negotiating with the opposition and the House to replace the Whitlam Government.

Greg Barns said:

was taking [Whitlam] Surprisingly, this is the most egregious action on Kerr’s part.

By refusing to accept the Prime Minister’s request for a half-Senate election, Kerr once again showed that he was disrespectful and did not follow his Prime Minister’s advice as is customary.

It is unacceptable that there is a situation where the titular head of the constitutional body in Australia needs to inform a foreign ruler 20,000 kilometers away about what is happening in Australia’s domestic political environment. This is a demonstrable argument in favor of the republic.

So where does the Republican campaign stand now?

Barns said Albanese had said he would not hold a new referendum, but the day before he had said a republic was inevitable:

“But he needs to take action on this issue. And what he needs to do is get the support of those on the other side of politics who support the republic.”

Barns said most Liberal prime ministers and leaders supported a republic:

It is extraordinary that we maintain this constitutional arrangement in the 21st century. The number of Commonwealth countries moving away is increasing. I think Jamaica is the last one. Barbados did it.

We are now in the minority. We sit there with New Zealand and Canada. In my opinion, Canada retains the Queen as a point of differentiation from the United States. While New Zealand is progressive in some respects, it is more conservative than that country when it comes to the British monarchy.

But Albanese needs to work like the former Prime Minister on this issue Paul Keating Barns said he’s working on it and building community support. Albanese has paid only lip service to the republic and Barns sees no change.

Barns said:

Regarding the Republic, for example, if New Zealand goes, I think Australia will go. This would be inevitable.

Canadians have a US thing, I think that differentiates them. But the more countries that leave the British monarchy, the more likely the momentum will build, and Australians will say it needs to be done now.

He argued that becoming a republic was not a big change:

“The lie that a monarchy is expensive, unnecessary and destabilizing is complete nonsense. All you’ve done is replace the Queen’s representative with a neutral president. This will lead to no change in Australia’s political culture, other than us tipping our hats to the British monarchy.”

Will Australia be the last country to leave?

When will we turn the lights out?