Writer
Jenny Hocking
Jenny Hocking is emeritus professor at Monash University, Distinguished Whitlam Fellow at the Whitlam Institute at Western Sydney University and award-winning biographer of Gough Whitlam. Her latest book is The Palace Letters: The Queen, the governor-general, and the plot to dismiss Gough Whitlam. You can follow Jenny on Twitter @palaceletters.
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‘”We promise him faith and obedience”: King Charles and the Premiers in a royal display of indifference’
‘Rude’, ‘deeply unprofessional’, ‘bad mannered’, a ‘slap in the face’, ‘insulting’, and ‘inhumane’. You could be forgiven for thinking the Australian state Premiers were engaged in a collective criminal enterprise to warrant such strident rebuke from the British press pack. In fact, they had simply declined an invitation to the welcome reception for our visiting Continue reading »
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Senator Payman, Palestine, and caucus solidarity
In the wake of Labor Senator Fatima Payman’s shock decision to cross the floor and vote with the Greens against her party I was bemused, to say the least, to see social media light up with valiant attempts to press Gough Whitlam into service as the arbiter of what the ‘correct’ labor response should be. Continue reading »
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‘A loss is a loss is a loss’
‘A loss is a loss is a loss’. The ever-astute Niki Savva bluntly summed up the significance of the Liberal Party’s loss in the Dunkley by-election despite the ‘denial and delusion’ of the party’s reaction to it. Back in the real world, the Labor Party will be relieved and quietly pleased with an outcome that Continue reading »
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The Search for the Palace Letters
Controversial documentary, THE SEARCH FOR THE PALACE LETTERS to premiere on ABC TV + iview on Monday 8 January at 8:00pm AEDT Continue reading »
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Burnt files, lost files and denial of public access: censoring archives and the falsification of history
From the destruction of Gough Whitlam’s ASIO file, Sir John Kerr’s burnt Royal letters of support reduced to ash in the Yarralumla incinerator, to the missing 1975 Government House guest books, these lost archives raise serious concerns about the care with which our vice-regal records are maintained, and our capacity to write a full and Continue reading »
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Archives, access, and history: can the National Archives’ ‘democratic function’ survive?
How did the National Archives of Australia, whose core function is to ‘collect, preserve, manage and make public Australia’s most significant historical records, become instead an obstacle to public access and a barrier to knowledge of our own history? Minister for the Arts Tony Burke must act to reverse the Morrison government’s attack on the Continue reading »
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Why I support Pearls and Irritations
Pearls and Irritations is a beacon of thoughtful, thought provoking, thoroughly researched and expertly presented, articles about issues so often ignored by the mainstream media. Continue reading »
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Careful what you wish for: Why a double dissolution over housing could spell trouble for the Greens
They can’t say they weren’t warned. Shortly before coming to office Anthony Albanese said, ‘I’ve been underestimated my whole life’. Continue reading »
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The search for The Palace Letters
The story behind Jenny Hocking’s epic battle against the Australian Government and HM Queen Elizabeth to access the Palace Letters is being told through a new documentary film. Continue reading »
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King Charles III of Australia: not my king
After the nauseating display of royal excess and dynastic exceptionalism last week, an Australian republic cannot come soon enough. Continue reading »
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An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: A moment whose time has come
‘I believe the time for the Voice has come’. With those words from the Liberal MP Julian Leeser announcing his resignation as shadow minister for Indigenous Affairs, the path to a successful referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament just got a lot clearer, as did Peter Dutton’s dire miscalculation in opposing it. Continue reading »
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‘Dispirited, disingenuous, and divided – can the liberal party survive?’
The Liberal party is broken. Riven by ideological differences, petty personal feuds and bitter factional disputes, the party which once dominated the Australian political landscape so completely, is today uncertain of what it stands for and incapable of working it out. Continue reading »
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When family and firm collide: escaping a royal horror story
At the heart of Prince Harry’s latest salvo in the trans-Atlantic royal family breakdown, now clearly beyond repair, is his ultimate target – the media-Palace relationship which has torn his family apart and which in its public disintegration now threatens the monarchy itself. Continue reading »
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The Queen’s coup and the role of King Charles
‘I wanted you to know that I appreciate what you do and admire enormously the way you have performed in your many and varied duties. Please don’t lose heart. What you did last year was right and the courageous thing to do.’ (Prince Charles) Continue reading »
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The incautious, entitled, ‘meddling’ King Charles III of Australia: Can he stay out of politics?
When, according to the self-appointed guardians of public decency and royal decorum, is it ever ‘appropriate’ to speak about the future of the monarchy let alone, dare I say it, a republic? Not while the Queen was alive – because, disrespect. And not now that the Queen is dead – because, also disrespect. And of Continue reading »
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Prince Philip and Gough Whitlam: the story The Crown forgot. A socialist arsehole- A Repost
As Gough Whitlam put it- ‘I am the first prime minister since Sir Robert Menzies who … has been able to survive a second visit from Prince Phillip’. The long-standing consort described Whitlam as ‘a socialist arsehole’ Continue reading »
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‘Scott Morrison’s ministerial fetish: ”An unprecedented trashing of our democracy”’
Scott Morrison must resign immediately as the member for Cook, leave the Parliament, and try to salvage what remains of his shredded reputation as Australia’s 30th Prime Minister. Continue reading »
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Brutality, cynicism and unequivocal incompetence
On 21 May Anthony Albanese led the Australian Labor Party to a historic victory, winning government from opposition at an election for just the fourth time since the second world war. Labor appears set to form majority government with at least 76 seats and several seats still in doubt, taking 10 seats from the Liberal Continue reading »
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All the Queen’s men: a slow recovery after the disaster of 1975
A more dignified relationship between Australia’s governors-general and the Palace evolved in the aftermath of John Kerr’s sycophantic conduct. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison, Novak Djokovic and the dark arts of political manipulation
An errant tennis star may be only another piece of the jigsaw being assembled by the Prime Minister as he seeks another term in The Lodge. Continue reading »
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A culture of corruption is engulfing the Morrison government
The Morrison government has corrupted the idea of democratic government itself by undermining of political institutions. Continue reading »
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Royal fingerprints on the dismissal of Gough Whitlam and our history
It’s time for the National Archives to release all letters between the Queen and our governors-general as we move towards becoming a republic. Continue reading »
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Voter ID laws: a cynical assault on our democracy
Electoral fraud is virtually non-existent in Australia, so the Morrison government’s voter identification legislation should be seen for what it is. Continue reading »
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‘I don’t need to know about that bit’: Gladys Berejiklian, Covid, and the rancid politics of division
With NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro’s resignation — the third in as many days — the state government is in free-fall. The only surprising thing about Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation is that it didn’t come sooner. Continue reading »
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The Age demeans itself as well as the Victorian public health team
The most disturbing aspect of The Age’s disappointing editorial yesterday is its undermining of the state’s public health messaging and compliance efforts. Continue reading »
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Wilcannia and Covid, a disastrous, discriminatory, failure by Australian and NSW Governments.
The small town of Wilcannia, on the Darling River in outer western New South Wales, has a predominantly Indigenous population of 549, more than 60 of whom now have Covid. At 11%, this is the highest rate of Covid transmission per capita in the state, three times higher than the Sydney hotspot LGAs. Wilcannia has one of the Continue reading »
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Why is the Queen still interfering in our history and why is the National Archives allowing this?
Thousands of pages of the Queen’s secret letters to governors-general from Lord Casey to Sir William Deane, from 1965-2001, will soon be open to the public in the most significant release of royal documents since Sir John Kerr’s explosive ‘Palace letters’. The Archives’ decision to release the Queen’s correspondence with these six governors-general follows directly from Continue reading »
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A national disgrace: the National Archives turns to crowdfunding to save irreplaceable historic records
This week marks one year since the High Court handed down its landmark decision in the Palace letters case that letters between the Queen and the Governor-General Sir John Kerr are considered public documents, ending the Queen’s embargo and leading the Archives to release them. In what I described then as a moment of “legal colonial Continue reading »
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After Oprah: what will it take to revive an Australian republic?
Oprah Winfrey’s brilliantly stage-managed “tell-all” interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry was for viewers, advertisers and the three participants, a tremendous success. For the royal family, not so much. Continue reading »
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A week is a long time in politics and three weeks is even longer
Scott Morrison’s prime ministership began with a brazen betrayal, perfectly captured in the image of a beaming Morrison, arm slung around the shoulders of embattled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declaring ‘this is my leader. I’m ambitious for him!’. Like every step along the Prime Minister’s political path it was entirely contrived, a matey display of faux fealty, friendship and Continue reading »
