CAREY MAINTAINS THE RAGE

New  York based Australian   author   Peter Carey’s   latest novel -  AMNESIA –is  about Australia’s relationship with America  and includes   the  dismissal of the Whitlam Government  in 1975. In    interviews   about    the novel  in   Sydney,  Melbourne and elsewhere    , he   has    recalled  his   rage  at   the  time   Governor-General , Sir John Kerr , dismissed    Prime Minister  Gough Whitlam  . Nearly four   decades   after  the  sacking, he   still  feels  the   same way.  Furthermore , he  has   expressed  his   “astonishment” that  the  nation let   it happen  and    the conviction  that   the   CIA played    a  part in  the  downfall  of  an  elected  government . (See  John Pilger’s  Guardian  article THE FORGOTTEN COUP  ) .  At the  time of   working on  the novel, published  by  Hamish Hamilton ,   Julian  Assuange   came   to  prominence   and   Carey  wondered about  the influence of   his  mother , who  had  lived with  young Julian    on Magnetic Island, North Queensland . Had  she  been  politically involved over  the  Dismissal ?  If so, had  this   played   a  part  in his  subsequent development, Carey asked . The    book  opens  with   an  Australian    female   hacker , born 11/11/75 –the   date  of    the  dismissal.   Interviewed  by  Fran Kelly  on  Radio National  , Carey   brought  up  the  WW  ll episode   described as  the  Battle  of  Brisbane in which  Australia  and  American soldiers  fought  each other on  Thanks  Giving Day  ,  the  event  censored