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home / archives / politics / australian / federal /  7th November 1978

Higher resolution version available: click on image to download.

 

A quick fix?

It was the Spring Racing Carnival 1978 and many problems beset the Australian Government of Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. The judgement by J Mason on Sankey versus Whitlam regarding the Overseas Loans affair was about to be announced and may have provided a distraction.

The judgement was finally declared on 9th of November in the High Court of Australia. The ruling was significant in that while it dismissed the main charge as against the defendants as being bad in law, it also imposed a very narrow view of when the government could claim "Crown Privilege" to prevent documents from being subpoenaed by the courts.