WHITLAM

to dismiss the Whitlam Government or was Whitlam correct in arguing that the

principle of responsible government should prevail?

On the 11th November 1975, the Australian Governor General, Sir John Kerr,

dismissed the federal Government of Gough Whitlam and commissioned

Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister. The dismissal and the

events leading to it clearly demonstrated the friction between constitutional

authority and responsible government. In a spiral of events, responsible

government and the overall concept of democracy was blatantly ignored, and

technicalities within the constitution abused, leading to the dismissal of a

democratically elected Prime Minister. While the Governor General’s decision

was constitutionally allowed, it was certainly not the responsible or democratic

Despite their victory in the double-dissolution election of 1974, the Labor Party

found themselves once again without a majority in the Senate, deadlocked with

the Liberal/National coalition at 29 seats each, with 2 going to the

independents.1 They received a further blow with the death of one Labor

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Prime Minister, Governor Generals, Constitutionally Constitution, Liberal Senators, Malcolm Fraser, Justice Barwick, Government Senate, Constitution Senators, Law Office, Whitlam Government, responsible government, prime minister, supply bill, whitlam government, malcolm fraser, supply whitlam, obtain supply, supply bills, governor generals, unwritten constitution, chief justice barwick, opposition leader malcolm, sir john kerr, leader malcolm fraser, written unwritten constitution,
Approximate Word count = 1324
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)