Matters for Judgement: An Autobiography [Paperback]

John Robert Kerr (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan (December 31, 1978)
• ISBN-10: 0333252128
• ISBN-13: 978-0333252123
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a review, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Matters for Judgement: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

This is not a review, I would simply point out that this book should be linked with the former Australian PM, Gough Whitlam, as the author of Matters for Judgement is the one who dismissed Whitlam.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kerr could bore for Australia, August 29, 2002

By 

Tom Munro "tomfrombrunswick" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matters for Judgement: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

John Kerr was a Judge and later Governor General of Australia. He is famous as he was Governor General during Australias Constitutinal crisis of 1975. On that occasion there was a deadlock between the conservative controlled senate and the labour controlled house of representatives. The Labour party lead by Gough Whitlam had just been forced to an election the previous year by the conservatives and were not keen to go again especially as the economy was not in good shape.

Kerr dismissed the Whitlam Government installed the conservative leader Fraser and called an election. The decision was controversial at the time as it was thought by some that the conservatives would give in and in dismissing Whitlam when he did Kerr handed the conservaties a massive electoral advantage.

More recently Kelly in his book 1975 has critized Kerr on other grounds. That is in his view the failure to comunicate with Whitlam was a serious error.

After teh events Whitlam put out a book attacking Kerr not only for his decision but attacking him as a person suggesting that he was a drunk and a social crawler. This is Kerr's response.

Unfortunately Kerr did not have the gift of the light quip or even the light anything. The book is written in leaden prose and in a tone that is hard to like. It probably now would only be of interest to historians or people who have a high boredom tolerance.

Following the writing of this book, Kerr who had a slight problem with alcohol and who gave a speech at the Melbourne Cup obviously very drunk went into exile moving to Europe.

The social damage done by this episode in Australia's history was repared by the success of the Hawke Labour government and by the parties electoral success in Queensland.