3.
The deposited correspondence
9 he parties chose not to put the deposited correspondence in evidence before the Federal Court. The consequence of that forensic choice is that all that can be known for the purposes of the appeal about the contents of the deposited correspondence and about the circumstances of its creation, and of its keeping and deposit, is what appears from facts formally agreed between the parties as supplemented by such inferences as are open to be drawn from other documentary material which the parties did choose to put in evidence.
10 The agreed facts record that the deposited correspondence comprises contemporaneously made copies of letters and telegrams sent by the Governor-General to the Queen together with originals of letters and telegrams received by the Governor-General from the Queen. All of the letters and telegrams were exchanged by the Queen through her Private Secretary ("the Private Secretary"). Most, but not all, of the letters were exchanged by the Governor-General through the Official Secretary. Most, but not all, of the letters "address topics relating to the official duties and responsibilities of the Governor-General". Some of the letters "take the form of reports to The Queen about the events of the day in Australia", and some of the letters which take that form "include attachments comprising photocopies of newspaper clippings or other items of correspondence, expanding upon and corroborating the information communicated by the Governor-General in relation to contemporary political happenings in Australia".
11 The agreed facts also record that the correspondence was deposited with the Australian Archives by Mr David Smith "in his capacity as Official Secretary to the Governor General" under cover of a letter of deposit dated 26 August 1978. Mr Smith had been appointed to the office of Official Secretary in 1973, when Sir Paul Hasluck still held the office of Governor-General, and went on to hold the office of Official Secretary until 1990, a period which spanned the whole of the periods in which each of Sir John Kerr, Sir Zelman Cowen and Sir Ninian Stephen held the office of Governor-General. At the time of Mr Smith's appointment in 1973, the Official Secretary was an office in the Australian Public Service established under the Public Service Act 1922 (Cth) within the Prime Minister's Department. Since 24 December 1984, the office of Official Secretary has been a statutory office established under the Governor-General Act 1974 (Cth)[1].
- ↑ Section 6(1) of the Governor-General Act 1974 (Cth), inserted in its original form by the Public Service Reform Act 1984 (Cth).
