Dir Sir, Honourable Sir and the Karnana letter. [abstract].

Abstract

This paper will consider a series of letters from former residents who had been denied re-entry to Australia in the first years of the policy and who subsequently sought to claim re-entry. Many of these men were illiterate in English and sometimes in their own languages. Their letters show them seeking to legitimate their claims by develop semi-official letter forms – which I term ‘the Karnana letter’.