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The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 federal election, ending a record 23 years of continuous Coalition government. It was terminated by Governor-General Sir John ...
Jul 17, 2023 · In its later days in office, the Whitlam government was roundly criticised for its irresponsible public spending. Ironically, in its approach to tariffs in the 1970s, it had taken the first steps ...
- Alex Millmow
Sep 29, 2022 · Whitlam dismissal. On 11 November 1975, after a series of dramatic events including a 1974 double dissolution and a budgetary supply crisis, the Gough Whitlam -led federal Labor government became the first (and only) government in Australian history to be dismissed by the Governor-General.
Edward Gough Whitlam [a] AC QC (11 July 1916 – 21 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975.To date the longest-serving leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being the head of a reformist and socially progressive government that ended with his controversial dismissal by the then-governor-general of Australia ...
- Out of The Wilderness
- Gair Affair
- Manipulating Casual Senate Vacancies
- Overseas Loans Affair
- Constitutional and Political Issues
- Kerr and Barwick
- Remembrance Day
- Aftermath
The Labor Government had been elected on 2 December 1972 after 23 years of Liberal/Country Party coalition rule. The ALP slogan, “It’s Time”, seemed to capture the mood of the nation, although the ALP’s margin of victory was relatively slim. Whitlamwas the first of the new-style Labor leaders. He had been elected to Federal Parliament in 1952, beca...
Following an attempt by Whitlam to appoint the former leader of the Democratic Labor Party, Senator Vince Gair, as Ambassador to Ireland, the Opposition Leader, Bill Snedden, threatened to force an election by blocking Supply in the Senate. Whitlam responded by calling a double dissolution election for May 18, 1974,at which the government was retur...
Following the appointment of the government’s Senate leader and Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy, to the High Court bench in February 1975, the Liberal government of New South Wales, under Premier Tom Lewis, refused to follow conventionand appoint a Labor replacement for Murphy in the Senate. The independent Mayor of Albury, Cleaver Bunton, was appo...
During 1975, the Government also endured the “Overseas Loans Affair”, the story of efforts by the Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor, Treasurer Dr. Jim Cairns, and others, to raise an overseas loan of $4 billion. The loan was to be used to fund a number of natural resources and energy projects, including the construction of a natural gas ...
The crisis raised a number of crucial questions about Australian democracy and centred on a disagreement between Whitlam and Fraser over the rights of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Whitlam asserted the primacy of the House of Representatives and his right to govern so long as he retained a majority there, whereas Fraser claimed that ...
The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, took an active interest in the crisis, talking to both Fraser and Whitlam at various points during the period following October 15. At one point, Fraser offered to pass Supply, provided an election was called by the middle of 1976. It is now known that Kerr sought the advice of Sir Garfield Barwick, the Chief Ju...
On November 11, 1975, Whitlam proposed calling an immediate half-Senate election, but the Governor-General rejected this advice and instead dismissed Whitlam from office. Later, Kerr issued a statement of reasonsfor the dismissal. Fraser was offered a commission as caretaker Prime Minister which he accepted, and immediately sought a double dissolut...
The dismissal remains a controversial subject in Australian history. It is central to any understanding of the current debate about becoming a republic. The constitutional and political effectsof the Dismissal remain of importance to anyone interested in Australian politics. The main players in the Dismissal have experienced different fates. Sir Jo...
Nov 11, 2020 · Cathy Madden. 11 November 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor Government in 1975. The dismissal of the Whitlam Government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr was perhaps the most dramatic and controversial event in Australia’s constitutional and political history.
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Apr 18, 2017 · The Whitlam government decided to tough it out in the hope the Coalition opposition would collapse. Because the Christmas holidays were approaching, the last day to initiate a pre-Christmas ...
