Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam has presented the National Archives of Australia with a handwritten notice of motion drafted in the hour following his dismissal in 1975 by then Governor-General Sir John Kerr.

‘This is an important document from a time that still inspires heated debates among Australians,’ said Director-General Ross Gibbs. ‘It will help future generations understand the timeline of events on 11 November 1975 and also the passions that the day aroused within the community.’

In an attempt to overturn his dismissal, Mr Whitlam drafted the motion to read to the House of Representatives that afternoon. At the time he didn’t realise that the Governor-General had already sworn in the leader of the opposition Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister.

‘Auspiciously, this handwritten document is part of the 100th series of Whitlam’s personal records held by the National Archives,’ said Mr Gibbs. ‘It has such significance that it has inspired us to develop a new online feature 100 Great Stories in the National Archives’, forthcoming in 2008.’

The document, on prime ministerial letterhead, was written at the Lodge by Mr Whitlam at 1.50pm on 11 November 1975, according to notes on the back made by speech-writer Graham Freudenberg. His notes also indicate those present during the drafting included Frank Crean, Fred Daly, Kep Enderby, John Menadue, John Mant, Graham Freudenberg and David Combe.

Still creased where Mr Whitlam folded it to fit in his breast pocket, the motion reads:

that this House declares that it has confidence in the Whitlam govt and that this House informs HM the Queen that, if HE the G-G purports to commission the hon member for Wannon as PM, the House does not have confidence in him or in any govt he forms.

‘Because Mr Fraser had already been sworn in as caretaker prime minister, Mr Whitlam’s actual speech to the House varied slightly,’ said Mr Gibbs who accepted the document last Friday. ‘That makes this original such a treasure. We can see how the events of the day were changing hour by hour.’

The National Archives of Australia has published the first of its ‘100 great stories’ based on Mr Whitlam’s notice of motion.