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Former Governor-General Sir John Kerr talks about using the reserve powers of the Australian Constitution to dismiss the government. He has never resiled from his actions and says he would do the same again today.
Curator’s notes
This is dramatic and historic material, and a unique moment in the annals of Australian current affairs. It is the very first interview given by the former Governor-General since he dismissed the Labor Government in 1975, and this is the very last program of This Day Tonight. The former Governor-General is about to publish his autobiography, Matters For Judgement, published by Macmillan in 1978, so he sees this interview as a chance to tell Australians about its forthcoming release but offers nothing new about the events of 1975.
Unusually, the interview constitutes almost the whole program. Usually, in keeping with its magazine style, the program is made up of several shorter items. Simply shot, with Kerr kept in close-up against a plain background and only the occasional cut-away to the questioner, we are able to focus intently on what he says, as the audience of the time would have wanted to.
The interviewer is Paul Murphy who returned to Australia at the end of his years with This Day Tonight. He presented the ABC radio current affairs program PM for a decade before becoming the presenter of SBS’s weekly television current affairs program Dateline.
