Documents on Australian Defence and Foreign Policy, 1968-1975
[Sydney], J.R. Walsh and G.J. Munster, 1980 (suppressed first edition).
Octavo, [vi], 437 pages.
Papered boards slightly rubbed; essentially fine copy with the excellent dustwrapper (lightly sunned on the spine).
A collection of previously unpublished (and in some instances secret) Australian Government briefings, diplomatic cables, memoranda and reports relating to foreign policy. When extracts appeared in the press, relating to the Vietnam War and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor (and what the editor judged to be Australia's subservient posture in both conflicts), the 'government was concerned with reaction in Washington and Jakarta, and argued that publication breached confidentiality, copyright and the Crimes Act. Some copies of the book had been sold, the rest were now withdrawn. Some copies of the book had been sold, the rest were now withdrawn. Two years later, an updated version - a mixture of paraphrase and quotation - was published under Angus & Robertson's Walsh & Munster imprint as "Secrets of State: A Detailed Assessment of the Book They Banned"' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography'). Justice Mason in the High Court found that no breach of criminal law or confidentiality had occurred, but that the publication was prima facie in breach of the Commonwealth's copyright over the material, and much of the injunction remained in force (see SLNSW 448910). Cains 124.
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