Reading the palace letters reminded me of a matter that played out behind the scenes on 11 November 1975, as Papua New Guinea transitioned to independence
• Read the palace letters in full
• ‘Better for Her Majesty not to know’: palace letters reveal Queen’s role in sacking
It is a small matter in the momentous events of 11 November 1975, but one that returns to my mind on reading the correspondence from the time between the Queen’s official secretary and the Australian governor general.
The Australian constitutional crisis was played out over the months of Papua New Guinea’s transition to and early weeks of independence. Treasurer Bill Hayden was closely familiar with Papua New Guinea and sympathetic to the huge responsibility that its leaders had accepted in leading their country into a great unknown. At the same time, he was seeking to restore some coherence into a budget that had lurched out of control under his predecessors.
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