{"id":368800,"date":"2025-11-10T08:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T08:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/368800\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T08:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T08:29:09","slug":"gough-whitlams-dismissal-a-calculated-plot-to-remove-elected-government-via-partisan-ambush-pm-says-gough-whitlam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/368800\/","title":{"rendered":"Gough Whitlam\u2019s dismissal \u2018a calculated plot\u2019 to remove elected government via partisan ambush, PM says | Gough Whitlam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gough Whitlam\u2019s dismissal<\/a> was not a constitutional crisis but \u201ca calculated plot\u201d to remove a democratically elected government via partisan ambush, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says.<\/p>\n

Reflecting ahead of Tuesday\u2019s 50th anniversary of governor general Sir John Kerr\u2019s move to dismiss the Labor government<\/a> on 11 November 1975, Albanese has used a speech at Old Parliament House to lash the then opposition leader, Malcolm Fraser, accusing the Coalition of forming government without any \u201clegitimate pretext\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opposition orchestrated a parliamentary gridlock over the budget and then secretly prevailed upon the governor general to break it, by sacking the prime minister,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir John Kerr justified his actions on the basis of incorrect advice from chief justice [Garfield] Barwick, improperly given.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in truth, the opposition had preyed upon Sir John Kerr\u2019s desire to be at the centre of events. And they had cultivated his paranoia, his fear that Whitlam was planning to replace him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Praising Whitlam\u2019s three-year government for its reforming spirit, Albanese said Australia\u2019s 21st prime minister had a mistaken but unshakeable belief that Kerr would do the right thing to resolve the deadlock over the stalled budget bills.<\/p>\n

Instead, Kerr sought advice from Barwick and fellow high court justice Anthony Mason and hinted to Fraser that he was prepared to use the constitution\u2019s reserve powers to dismiss the government.<\/p>\n

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The speech will please Labor diehards and Whitlam acolytes, for whom the wounds of the government\u2019s removal remain raw, five decades on.<\/p>\n

Albanese said \u201cthe old suffocating conservatism\u201d of the Menzies-era had reached out of its political grave to remove a government chosen by voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dismissal was a calculated plot, hatched by conservative forces which sacrificed conventions and institutions in the pursuit of power,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the result of the election that followed does not wash any of that away. Behind all the various schemes and subplots \u2026 lies an overt refusal to respect the mandate or even acknowledge the legitimacy of a Labor government that had secured a majority in two consecutive federal elections inside three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A visitor takes a photograph of the portrait of former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam at Parliament House. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n

He announced plans to commission a statue of Whitlam to be placed at Old Parliament House, home to the Museum of Australian Democracy. It will join a growing collection in the national triangle, which already includes depictions of Sir Robert Menzies, John Curtin and Ben Chifley and trailblazers including Enid Lyons, Dorothy Tangney and Neville Bonner.<\/p>\n

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The dismissal should not overshadow Whitlam\u2019s policy achievements, Albanese said, citing the creation of Medibank, free university education, the end of the White Australia policy, the Racial Discrimination Act, and diplomatic relations with China.<\/p>\n

Albanese said he was in year seven in November 1975, when his history teacher, Vince Crow, burst into the classroom to announce the government had been dismissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I remember most of all from those days is the sense of dismay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of drift, a new sense of confidence and purpose and ambition. A new sense of a distinctly, proudly Australian identity. More equal, more open, more at home in our region, more comfortable with ourselves, and a deeper belief in our people\u2019s capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitlam would go on to lose the subsequent double dissolution election, held in December 1975, and Fraser, initially commissioned by Kerr as a caretaker prime minister, would stay in power until 1983.<\/p>\n

The former prime minister Paul Keating, who was a junior minister in the Whitlam government in 1975, will headline events to commemorate the anniversary on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The governor general, Sam Mostyn, the former prime minister John Howard, members of the Whitlam family and Labor figures will be part of the commemorations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gough Whitlam\u2019s dismissal was not a constitutional crisis but \u201ca calculated plot\u201d to remove a democratically elected government…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":368801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-368800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115524466496202869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}