Author(s): Elizabeth McCarthy

Biography

50 Years On "The truth must be found out and it must be told. Otherwise the people of Australia will repudiate this parliament forever." - John Jess J. 1967 (Jess J. (1967) CPD 16 May) When one hears the words Voyager Royal Commission, the first thing that comes to mind is "whitewash." John Jess described the first book ever written about Voyager by Admiral Hickling as "clearly piercing the darkness." John Jess, Seeker of Justice goes a step further. This book is not an interpretation of history. It is history being allowed to speak for itself. In his own words, which Liberal parliamentarian Edward St John termed "the voice of Truth which can never be still or silenced" John Jess sheds even more light upon the collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager in 1964, which was the greatest tragedy in Australian peacetime history. A re-examination of the first royal commission, particularly the prohibited publication pages of transcript, sheds light on the collision and the conclusion proposes a reason for the collision that has never previously been advanced. No book comes closer to solving the mystery of this tragedy that cost eighty-two lives. No book has word for word the conversations that went on behind closed doors between politicians and prime ministers and the pressures and influences that existed between the powers that be. If a film were to be made about Voyager, this book would be essential reading as nothing has been glossed over, it has real conversations, real quotes; the true story has finally been told.