Letters from PMs to the Queen kept hidden from public

More than 20 items of direct correspondence between former prime ministers and Queen Elizabeth II have been blocked from ­release.

Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Getty

More than 20 items of direct correspondence between former prime ministers and Queen Elizabeth II have been blocked from public ­release following a Freedom of ­Information request because disclosure would damage inter­national relations.

A request by The Australian for letters exchanged between Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison and the queen as Australia’s head of state found 22 items existed but access has been denied, even though she is deceased and the prime ministers are no longer in office.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet recognised that the queen was Australia’s head of state but said revealing correspondence with her prime ministers in Australia would apparently breach confidentiality and could reasonably be expected to “cause damage” to international relations.

Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Getty

“While the queen was Australia’s head of state, she simultaneously occupied the roles of the queen of the UK and queen of other commonwealth realms,” the department advised The Australian late last week. “By nature of multiple roles held by the queen, breaching these conventions could reasonably damage Australia’s relations with other realms of which the queen was head of state, including but not limited to the UK, Canada and New Zealand.”

The department earlier advised that disclosing a document may “diminish the confidence which another country would have in Australia as a reliable recipient of its confidential information” even though the prime minister is head of government and the queen is constitutionally head of state.

Although the prime minister writes to the monarch only on official matters and the three prime ministers did so on official letterhead, and with the assistance of government staff and officials, the department also concluded that disclosing such correspondence would breach the personal privacy of third parties.

“I accept that the requested documents are indeed commonwealth records by virtue of being official government communi­cations,” the department said. “I am satisfied that disclosure of the material in question would constitute an unreasonable disclosure of personal information.”

The FOI request led to the discovery of 22 items of correspondence exchanged with the queen between September 2013 and September 2022. This covers the periods in office of Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull, Mr Morrison and Anthony Albanese. No correspondence was found between Mr Albanese and the queen.

Tony Abbott. Picture: Getty

Scott Morrison. Picture: Getty

Although access to the documents was refused, a schedule made available to The Australian reveals Mr Abbott exchanged 12 items of correspondence with the monarch in less than two years. Four items were located during Mr Turnbull’s prime minister­ship, and six for Mr Morrison.

The department also found, after an internal review of the decision, that releasing correspondence would have an adverse impact on the operations of agencies even though the prime ministers are out of office and the queen is no longer on the throne. Moreover, the department found that the public interest was not served by releasing the documents.

Correspondence between prime ministers and the monarch is not subject to the same 20-year rule that governs the release of cabinet records. However, the department suggests they could be released in accordance with the Archives Act 1983 after 20 years.

“I have considered your submission that the passing of the queen, and the fact that the former prime ministers referenced in the requested documents no longer hold office, does not impact the ­operations of an agency,” the department argued. “The fact that these offices are no longer occupied by the same individuals does not lessen their sensitivity.”