Book Title: John Jess, Seeker of Justice. The story of the
collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager in 1964, the
greatest tragedy in Australian peacetime history.
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) 1
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.” 2
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”3 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.4 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.
Author Information
Elizabeth McCarthy (nee Jess) MA (CSturt) born in Melbourne in 1960.
She studied visual art at Prahran College, Melbourne,
graduating with a Diploma in Art and Design, in 1981. She did further studies at the National Gallery School, Melbourne,
with two National Gallery scholarships, graduating in 1983 with a postgraduate
Diploma in Fine Art and awarded National Gallery of Victoria School Acquisitive
Prize.
In 1985 she travelled
to study art galleries in the UK, Europe, USA and
Canada,, in particular the work of Vincent Van
Gogh. From 1988 she lived and worked in far west NSW teaching art at TAFE
colleges and outreach centres in Aboriginal communities. She has been selected
in three national acquisitive awards for drawing.
She was the inaugural
winner of the Far West Award for Excellence in Visual Arts in 2003. She
continued her studies at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga,
NSW, graduating as Master of Arts in 2003.
She lives in Geelong,
Victoria, with her husband and her sons from her first marriage, James and
Jack.
After her father
passed away in 2003 she decided to put her art career on hold and write the
story of her father’s fight for justice.
This is her first
publication. Book Title: John Jess, Seeker
of Justice. The story of the collision between
HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager in 1964, the greatest tragedy in
Australian peacetime history.
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