People Power and Politics
in the Post-War Period
Prime Ministers and Policies
Edward Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam (1916 - )
• Born 11 July 1916
at Kew, Victoria
• B.A. LLB, (Syd.).
• Barrister
• Queen’s Counsel
since 1962
Military Service
• Whitlam enlisted in R.A.A.F
General Duties Branch 1941.
• Discharged 1945 with rank of
Flight Lieutenant.
Parliamentary Service
• Elected to the House of Representatives for
Werriwa, New South Wales, at by-election on 29
November 1952, following the death of H.P.
Lazzarini.
• Deputy Leader of Opposition from March 7, 1960
to February 8, 1967.
• Leader of Opposition from February 8, 1967 to
December 5, 1972.
• Prime Minister from December 5, 1972 to
November 11, 1975.
• Leader of Opposition from January 27, 1976 to
December 22, 1977.
Background to the
Whitlam Era
The Menzies Era
• Australia had been governed since 1949 by the
Liberal/Country Party coalition. Led by Robert Menzies,
the coalition won seven consecutive elections (1951,
1954, 1955, 1958, 1961 & 1963). Menzies became the
longest-serving Prime Minister in Australia’s federal
history and retired in January 1966.
• The Vietnam War was by then becoming the dominant
issue of the decade. Menzies had taken Australia into
the war in 1965. Following his retirement, the United
States President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, visited
Australia and was confronted by rowdy protests
wherever he went. Now led by Harold Holt, the coalition
had a landslide victory at the elections that year.
The Menzies Era
• The 1966 election saw the end of the
leadership of the ALP’s (Labor Party) Arthur
Callwell. In February 1967, Edward Gough
Whitlam, who has served as Deputy Leader
since 1961, became Leader of the Opposition.
• But the focus was on the coalition government
which had started a steady decline. Amidst
leadership speculation, Prime Minister Harold
Holt disappeared at Cheviot Beach in Portsea
in 1967 and was succeeded by John Gorton.
John Gorton the larrikin PM
• Gorton’s accession to the prime ministership was
marked by acrimony (hostility). The Country Party
Leader, John McEwen, vetoed (prohibited) the election
of William McMahon, threatening the walk out of the
coalition and thus bring down the government if the
Liberals elected his longtime economic policy opponent.
• Amidst this turmoil, John Gorton moved from Senate to
take Holt’s vacant seat of Higgins and the nation’s top
political office.
• In 1969, Gorton was returned to office in the general
elections, but lost 17 seats to the Australian Labor Party
opposition led by Whitlam.
John Gorton the larrikin PM
• Whitlam had established himself as a
formidable campaigner, winning a number of
by-elections and taking a stand for internal
reform of the ALP. The 1969 election resulted
in the ALP winning a majority of the twoparty-preferred vote, but failing to win enough
seats.
• Gorton’s leadership was challenged after the
election by Paul Hasluck, later to be appointed
Governor-General, and others.
John Gorton the larrikin PM
• Gorton’s demise came in 1971, when the Defence
Minister, Malcolm Fraser, resigned from Cabinet,
claiming that Gorton had a “maniac determination to
get his own way” and alleging disloyalty in Gorton’s
treatment of Fraser. A challenge to Gorton’s leadership
was mounted resulting in a tied vote. Gorton used his
own casting vote to give leadership to William
McMahon.
• Gorton was subsequently elected deputy leader of the
party, but was sacked by McMahon a few months later,
following the publication of a series of newspaper
articles by Gorton, entitled “I did it my way”.
Gough Whitlam: The Party,
The Policies
• In this climate of political decay, Whitlam had
embarked on a three-year program to reform
his Party, develop new policies, and persuade
the People that it was time for a change in
government.
• The Vietnam continued to divide Australians.
Protests over conscription were widespread. In
1970, Dr. Jim Cairns led a massive Moratorium
march again the war in the streets of
Melbourne.
Gough Whitlam: The Party,
The Policies
• Whitlam visited China in 1971, promising to
establish diplomatic relations if elected to
government. The attacks on Whitlam by the
coalition were severely blunted during the visit
by the announcement that US President
Richard Nixon was working towards his own
rapprochement with China.
• Throughout 1972, Whitlam’s accession to the
prime ministership seemed increasingly
inevitable, although the eventual marking of
victory was comparatively narrow, the major
gains having been made in 1969.
Gough Whitlam: The Party,
The Policies
• In the elections of December 2, 1972, against
the onslaught of the ALP’s “It’s Time”
campaign, McMahon’s Government lost office
to Whitlam, the first change in Federal
Government on Australia for 23 years.
• In a whirlwind of activity, Whitlam was
appointed Prime Minister on December 5,
governing on tandem with his deputy, Lance
Barnard until December 19.
The Whitlam Government
• In 1967 Whitlam became the leader of the
Australian Labor Party, in 1972, after 23 years
of Liberal-Country Party government, Whitlam
led the ALP to victory with the election slogan
‘It’s Time’, and became Prime Minister.
• The now famous ‘It’s Time’ slogan prompted
the idea that it was time for change and
reform. The Whitlam Government did make
significant changes. One of the first things it
did was to withdraw Australian troops form the
war in Vietnam.
Reforms
• Reforms were made, among others, in
the areas of education health care,
Aboriginal land rights, women’s rights
and family law. The voting age was
reduced from 21 to 18 and the death
penalty for federal crimes was
abolished.
Reforms
• An important reform in education was the
abolition of university fees, which allowed
many young people, and, importantly women,
an opportunity to obtain a university degree
and broaden their career choices. By
introducing Medibank, the Whitlam
Government also ensured that all Australians
would have free access to health care. In
1972, the Whitlam Government took the
important foreign policy step of establishing
diplomatic relations with the government of
the People’s Republic of China.
After the Dismissal
• Gough Whitlam remained in parliament as Leader of the
Opposition for two years and retired from political life in
1978. After his retirement he accepted academic
positions at the Australian National University and at
Harvard University in the United States, and was
Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO in the 1980s. He has
also received several honors, including honorary
degrees, for his public work. Through the Whitlam
Institute he continues to maintain an involvement in
current political and social debates, and, as a former
leader of the Labor Party, his views are often sought on
the progress of the party.
Scandals
• Whitlam’s dismissal as Prime Minister is one of the most
controversial events in Australian political history.
Following government financial scandals, the Opposition
led by Malcolm Fraser, used its Senate majority to defer
passing the Budget. As a result the Whitlam
Government did not have sufficient funds to run the
nation. On November 11, 1975 the Governor-General,
Sir John Kerr, dismissed Whitlam as Prime Minister and
appointed Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister
until an election was held on December 13, 1975. The
election resulted in the defeat of the Whitlam
Government.