Lest we forget the dismissal - November 11, 1975

[dibo]

On this day in 1975 the Governor-General, John Kerr, dismissed the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam.

The Prime Minister had won an election barely 18 months beforehand. However he faced a hostile Senate, and the situation was made worse by conservative State governments.

It had been convention since the advent of proportional representation (whereby parties are represented in proportion to the votes they win) that where a Senator retires, resigns or dies they are replaced by a member of the same party. The NSW and Queensland Governments ignored this convention and nominated candidates hostile to Whitlam.

In the end, from a situation of having to rely on two independents to pass legislation, the Whitlam Government instead faced a working majority from the Coalition.

The Coalition sought to block a range of legislation, finally blocking 'supply' - the passage of money bills. Claiming financial mismanagement, they were trying to freeze the Government. Opinion polls and media bosses were on their side, so they were looking ahead to an election. Fraser met with Kerr and argued the Senate was reflecting the will of the electorate.

Whitlam wanted to call a half-Senate election to break the deadlock. When Whitlam indicated that he was not dissolving the house, Kerr instead dismissed Whitlam's Government and appointed Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister. The Opposition connived with the representative of the Queen to dismiss a democratically elected government before its time. It was a coup by any other name.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Good

Generally regarded as Australias worst (Federal) administration to date.

 

[marinermick]

Good

Generally regarded as Australias worst (Federal) administration to date.

Economically yes, socially one of the best.

Even so, the manner is which the dismissal occurred was a massive blight on our so called democratic society.

 

[dibo]

When Whitlam went to a double dissolution election in 1974, one of the bills that formed a double-dissolution trigger was the bill to establish Medibank. It was the beginning of universal and free (at point of access) health care for all Australians.

For Medibank alone that government should be remembered as having achieved a great thing. But when you add to it expanded access to tertiary education, an end to conscription and vastly improved rights for women (equal work for equal pay, the Family Law Act, abortion rights, allowing married women to work in the Commonwealth Public Service...) and you've got a great government. They created several planks of the platform of modern Australia.

 

[FFC Mariner]

The sort of reformist agenda that Krudd promised but hasnt delivered you mean............

 

[dibo]

Would I say that? *whistles*

Rudd's not been bad, he's just not been fantastic either. Stuff like the ETS being weak I can wear, because in reality it's got to have the votes to pass. Without a majority in the Senate, it's going to be a compromised scheme. But even a compromised scheme will be a foundation for improvement.

Stuff like the asylum seekers just bothers me in that he's not willing to make the argument that we're hardly under threat from abroad by means of even a few thousand people coming in leaky boats. I honestly wonder why we're not pumping millions into the UNHCR camps to improve processing times and make the risky trip across the ocean a comparatively less attractive proposition.

On IR, good. On the economy, good (in the circumstances! will get better marks post-Henry review, though they should've included the GST). I'm happy enough.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Not a scheme, a tax that incentivises business to move polluting industries offshore whilst handing a competitive disadvantage to those who have to remain. Hippy nonsense based on dubious science at best - note Warming is not to be used as the planet isnt anymore.

Wheres the education revolution - oh yes, we have taken 2 years and developed a beta version website.

Wheres the high speed broadband  -oh yes, we have done a Iemma and made it so big and complex that nothing can be judged until they are long gone

Wheres the nation building - oh yes, we gave $900 so people could buy imported goods.

Mind you, given the disaster that is their border protection policy, its a wonder they can actually get to Canberra at all.

Golden opportunity wasted and if they arent careful, 1 term beckons.

 

[goingtoadisco]

1 term ? Doubt it.

 

[FFC Mariner]

He lets the queue jumpers in and he has handed the red neck agenda back to the Libs. If they roll Turnbull and go hard line on no new taxes (Carbon Tax) and people smugglers, things iwll get a lot closer

He will have rising interest rates, peaking unemployment too.

Hence the use of the word careful

 

[kevrenor]

It is like watching table tennis with FFC Mariners and Dibo in full flow!


Having been a tax paying voting person in the earlier era I can say that socially the 70s were probably the best years for Australian politics in terms of people's lives rather than the economy.

ps. all I can say is you shouldn't have got rid of the Democrats.  :ashamed:

I hope you all stopped for a moment at 11am today for remembrance that matters most - the waste and futility of war

 

[dibo]

We'll agree to disagree on the CPRS.

On the education revolution + nation building stuff, there's a lot of building going on whose significance will probably only be realised down the track.

On broadband - it's big, it's hard to do, but if they get it done and get it right then they will have created something massive and productive that will be in use for decades. Its cost will seem trivial if the productivity gain boosts the economy over a persiod of 25 years.

Imagine trying to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge now? It'd never happen because it costs too much, I like this design better, nobody will pay a toll to use it, I run a ferry company and this will put me out of business, it's not big/good/pretty enough...

And on 'border protection' (as if we need to be protected from refugees) - I'd rather our current setup than locking up people in the desert behind razor wire.

And as for becoming a one-term government, I think that's unlikely. The Opposition is playing small target on the issue of asylum seekers - refusing to even discuss what their policy is with a covering excuse of 'we're not the Government'. Playing like that, they won't get the chance to be the government either.

There has been one poll - *ONE* - that puts the opposition even close to the government in the polls. Polls taken either side of it suggest it's an outlier.

See that one dot on 52? That's the rogue Newspoll. There've been other polls since that suggest the Government's support is as strong as ever.

 

[MagpieMariner]

One other achievement of the Whitlam government that no-one has mentioned is pulling the Australian troops out of the American sponsored civil war in Vietnam.
And don't get me started on the underhanded way we were involved in that war by the Menzies government (note that Menzies is a hero to Fraser & Howard), a decision which cost over 500 Australians their lives and which has adversely affected the lives & the health of those who came home and their families.

 

[MagpieMariner]

This day is also the anniversary of the judicial killing of Ned Kelly in 1880.