Ralph Willis letter
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The Ralph Willis letter was forged correspondence released by Australian Labor Party's Treasurer Ralph Willis in May 1996, in the last week of the 1996 Australian federal election.
It has been blamed for the crushing defeat of Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating and the ascendancy of the Liberals' John Howard. Labor stayed out of power federally until 2007.
In the last week of campaigning, the news was dominated by the "Ralph Willis letter". Willis released two letters purporting to be secret correspondence between Liberal Opposition Leader John Howard and Liberal Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett. It dealt with the impact of the Coalition's funding plans for the states. Howard quickly denounced the letter as a forgery, and claims of Labor skullduggery dominated the close of the campaign, drowning out anything Prime Minister Paul Keating said.[1]
Willis acted unilaterally in releasing the correspondence. He suggested that the letters revealed that the Coalition government led by John Howard would cut grants to the states. However, media examination quickly revealed the letter to be a forgery. Labor claimed the forged documents had been foisted on Willis by the Melbourne University Liberal Club students.[2]
Keating's Labor government suffered a severe defeat.[citation needed]