The Weekend Australian reports that Buckingham Palace has blocked the release of letters between the Queen and her Governor-General in Australia, for the period of 1965 to 1969. The letters may now be released five years after the Queen passes away. This is an incredible intervention by the palace, one that sadly due to other Royal news surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan has gone unnoticed.

Most telling though is the reason why the letters have been effectively censored - that their release might damage Australia-UK relations. That only intensifies the need for them to be released. There is clearly something material to the monarchy and Australia’s relationship to it in these letters.

This doesn’t bode well for the release of the so-called “Palace Letters”, between the palace and Sir John Kerr, the Governor-General who sacked Gough Whitlam in 1975. There is still a high court challenge in the works to challenge their non-release. Either way, it’s clear that there is a long path to transparency when it comes to Australia (and by extension, New Zealand’s) head of state.