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Elizabeth McCarthy is indeed the true daughter of John Jess, the Member of Parliament who displayed heroic fortitude — at the cost of a brilliant political career — and high moral courage to find the truth of the pivotal peacetime disaster of the Royal Australian Navy: the sinking of the destroyer, HMAS Voyager, in a collision with the RAN flagship, the carrier HMAS Melbourne. Her book is rigorously and dispassionately detailed in its exposé of the sordid cover-up, and yet this is an immensely readable and valuable window into an event which still colours the way the RAN operates. Her portrayal vividly reignites the sense of that time in Australian politics, 1964 to 1968. John Jess, and his colleague, Edward St. John, were the conscience of Parliament: bless them for their contribution to honest governance, and God Bless Elizabeth McCarthy for honouring those political and naval victims who honoured us all with their efforts to safeguard our society.
“The truth must be found out and it must be told. Otherwise the people of Australia will repudiate this parliament forever.” —John Jess, 1967 Read more about “John Jess Seeker of Justice”