WHITLAM

A detailed Summary of WHITLAM

Was the Governor General right to argue that he had the constitutional authority

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

confidence was needed from both houses of parliament and since they didn't

situation. Had he been given warning it may have changed Whitlam's own

between written and unwritten constitution was starting to take effect. As a

Constitutionally this was possible since the Constitution did not explicitly state

results that are against the democracy it stands for, as was the case in the

protect states' interests or if it objects to the contents of the bill. However in this

from the major banks to pay for Government expenses. This certainly

Approximate Word count = 1324
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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