The Dismissal Dossier

Book excerpt: Here is the definitive story of the most divisive episode in Australia's history-the dismissal of Gough Whitlam's Labor government. In her award-winning biography of Gough Whitlam, Jenny Hocking revealed the astonishing secret story of the planning and the people behind the dismissal. Never before released material from Sir John Kerr's private papers revealed the secret role of High Court justice Sir Anthony Mason and Kerr's collusion with Malcolm Fraser. Now, Hocking's forensic investigations reveal explosive files in the UK National Archives that add a disturbing dimension to this untold story. Hocking reveals the Palace connection and unravels the web of intrigue behind the British Office's link to the dismissal of the Whitlam government in the name of the Queen. She brilliantly brings together this hidden history-a mixture of the unknown, the overlooked and the clandestine-to write a political thriller: the story you were never meant to know.