The Board of the Whitlam Institute cordially invites you to the 2024 Whitlam Oration, to be delivered by Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking AM FASSA.

In her address, Professor Hocking will speak to the legacy of the lengthy battle with the National Archives of Australia to release the Palace Letters and overcome the claimed ‘convention of royal secrecy’. Despite this great victory for history, for public access to archives, and for our knowledge of the dismissal of the Whitlam government, the subsequent release of the letters of seven other Governors-General, from Lord Casey to Peter Hollingworth, remain heavily redacted – most extensively those between Queen Elizabeth II and Sir William Deane during the 1999 republic referendum campaign. These redactions, imposed by the National Archives in consultation with Buckingham Palace, raise the critical question of how we can write a complete and accurate national history if we cannot access the documents that reveal it to us. We are left with a curated and distorted version of our own history.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER

Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking. Photo by Sally Tsoutas. — *Photography: Sally Tsoutas.*

Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking AM FASSA is an award-winning biographer, scholar and political commentator. She is the inaugural Distinguished Whitlam Fellow with the Whitlam Institute and Emeritus Professor at Monash University. Jenny is the author of the acclaimed two-volume biography of Gough Whitlam, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History (2008) and Gough Whitlam: His Time (2012), winner of the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Barbara Ramsden Award and shortlisted for several major literary awards including the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, the National Biography Award, The Age Book of the Year and the Magarey Medal for Biography and long-listed for the Walkley Non-fiction Book Award.

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Time: 7:30pm - 9:00pm

Registration opens at 7:00pm.

Location: Parramatta Town Hall. 182 Church Street, Parramatta NSW 2150

Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible, with an internal lift allowing access to both levels. Accessible bathrooms are available on both levels.

Parramatta Town Hall features a free WiFi hearing augmentation system, allowing visitors to connect to audio zones within the building via a free app on their smart device. For visitors without a smart device, a limited number of devices are available for loan from the PHIVE customer service desk.

Getting here: Parramatta Town Hall is conveniently located in Parramatta’s Central Business District, easily accessible by public transport, car, foot, taxi or RiverCat. For more information, visit the City of Parramatta website.

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