The Dismissal: Where were you on November 11, 1975?

By Sybil Nolan Ed, Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2005, 168 pages, paperback, $24.95. Reviewed by Kristy Yeats in the May 2006 issue.

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Three decades on and the dismissal of Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister remains a deeply contested chapter in Australian history, where, as Jenny Hocking notes in her introduction to this anthology, grand themes, arrant characters and circumstance collide. No consensus has been reached either over the legitimacy of Governor-General John Kerr's actions in removing Whitlam from office, nor over the legacy of short-lived Labor administration, subsequently distorted in the public mind. Whitlam's period of government -- he won two elections and lead the country from December 1972 -- still casts a long shadow over our collective consciousness, often seen as a measure, either positively or negatively, by which others must be judged. At the time, his wit, intellect, arrogance and energy made him the darling of the Canberra press gallery, as attested to by a number of ex-journalists here. Whitlam oversaw the passing of ground-breaking policies, arbitration and legislation assuring greater equality for women and Aborigines, while for the first time it seemed that Australia would assert itself in the realm of foreign policy (and not simply because 'God Save the Queen' was replaced as our national anthem). In its final year, however, Whitlam was beleaguered by a number of scandals and resignations within his ministry, along with the serious new economic condition of stagflation afflicting marketplaces globally by 1974. In October 1975, Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser's obstructionist policy of blocking the budget in the senate was seen by some as a justifiable means of forcing what they saw an incompetent administration to an election, but appeared to many others as a covetous grab for power in an atmosphere of cultivated ignominy. Whitlam countered that he would continue to govern without supply. Kerr's handling of this stand-off between two resolute party leaders, particularly his haste and secrecy in doing so, has been well-documented and debated.

This latest contribution to the historical record is a combination of memoir, polemic and speculation compiled for the thirtieth anniversary of the event. Thirty respected journalists, public servants, politicians and academics have penned short but incisive reflections upon the question of whether Whitlam's sacking was right or wrong. The work is balanced by accounts from both sides of politics, such as from ex-Liberal Minister David Kemp and journalist Gerald Henderson on the right, and, on the left, historian Anne Curthoys and former activist Lindy Morrison. The only bias might be the failure to include the recollections of a member of Whitlam's immediate staff or government who was closer to the big man himself; we are permitted more insights into Fraser's and Kerr's motivations here. Certainly, behind-the-scenes and anecdotal details enrich and enliven the work; Ken Inglis, in Paris at the time of the dismissal, was asked by his French compatriots to explain whether Australia was in fact independent, and whether the Queen could dismiss a government in England.

Unsurprisingly, contributors remain divided along party lines over whether Fraser's and Kerr's actions highlighted shortfalls in our constitution or, alternatively, that the dismissal represented the proper working through of the mechanisms of Australian democracy. Nevertheless, despite differences of opinion on the constitutionality of actions taken by those involved -- including Whitlam's plan to raise substitute budget monies through bank loans -- the final outcome was decided democratically. As Henderson notes, coups d'etat are not usually followed up a month later by elections. While some writers consider whether another government would ever again be dismissed, and how this should impact upon proposals for a republic and constitutional change, John Howard's effective neutralising of the republican debate means that these meditations lose some of their sting.

What comes across most strongly in The Dismissal is the sense of illegitimacy surrounding the Whitlam administration after twenty-three years of the Liberal-Country Party in power. For some coalition members, it seemed an aberration and real diversion from the natural order of things. In the lead-up to the budget crisis, Liberal premiers in Queensland and New South Wales ignored convention to each replace Labor state senators with individuals unsympathetic to Whitlam, significantly weakening ALP power in the upper house. Even a small 'l' Liberal Ian McPhee, a senator during the period who outs himself here for the first time as having been a 'conscientious objector' to his party's maneuvers in blocking supply, still considers that Labor was so used to opposition it could not adjust to the role of government. It is hardly controversial then when Michael Gawenda suggests that Whitlam's administration was driven mad by an opposition that never accepted it had lost power. Whitlam's biographer and speechwriter Graham Freudenberg has previously argued that what led to the dismissal was, in its deepest sense, the denial of the legitimacy of a Labor government, which, Pamela Bone and Lindy Morrison conclude here, remains an intensely anti-democratic sentiment.

The Dismissal also examines the legacy of Whitlam's sacking on Fraser's subsequent years in office. Despite a large swing in votes to the coalition in the December election, this was not necessarily an endorsement of the means by which it was brought about. Most writers agree that it was not good politics for Fraser to block supply and that this approach cost him a degree of authority and goodwill as prime minister. Patrick Weller and Bron Stevens recall the strength of animosity over the affair as so great that government and opposition members no longer fraternised at social functions, while politically engaged citizens maintained bitter disputes for years to follow. There was a successful referendum to ensure that the dishonorable acts of the two Liberal premiers could not be repeated. McPhee and Henderson argue that Fraser would have won the next election scheduled for the following year anyway, and there is undoubtedly a case for this. While Fraser won another two elections, many have spoken of the continuing sense of hesitancy in his government.

What it seems that all contributors can agree upon is that Whitlam's sacking has prevented him from being properly judged on his merits, either as an intelligent politician who lacked the economic know-how to adequately manage Australian affairs, or as a much-needed reformer felled by manipulative interests in his prime. While Whitlam has become an icon of the left, admired in part as the prime minister who was unfairly sacked, Fraser has overcome his own vague sense of illegitimacy to become a respected social and political commentator, taking positions largely indistinguishable from Gough's on issues including Aboriginal reconciliation and the war in Iraq. Perhaps, Bone muses, he did speak about such things in government but that many were so blinkered by the dismissal that they failed to notice his humanitarian convictions at the time. While, Ann Curthoys notes, a little over ten years ago when Labor was back in power the dismissal was a significant step in moves towards a republic, its relevance is less straightforward today. An accessible and rousing read, hopefully this work inspires readers afresh to the cause.

Citation

• Kristy Yeats. 'Review: The Dismissal: Where were you on November 11, 1975? by Sybil Nolan ed' [online]. Network Review of Books (Perth, Australian Public Intellectual Network), May 2006. Availability: <please cite the web address here> ISSN 1833-0932. [accessed 26 May 2013].

Back Cover Blurb

• The dismissal of Gough Whitlam's Labor government on November 11, 1975, was stunning news to most Australians, whichever side of the political divide they inhabited. Many people on first hearing that the Governor-General had sacked the Prime Minister, and appointed the Opposition leader as caretaker in his place, simply refused to believe it. Yet the ALP was defeated at the election that followed, and one of the most dramatic periods of political reform the nation had ever experienced abruptly ended.
  
  Shockwaves from the Dismissal generated profound political and personal ripples, particularly in the lives of those who had come of age in the 1960s and '70s. For some, it was a marker of what had been gained and lost in those remarkable years of change. For others directly involved in the events, it was a battle to the political death over principles and power.
  
  In this entertaining collection, thirty prominent Australians recall the events of November 11, 1975, and the days and weeks that followed. From Bob Ellis to Bob Hawke, Lindy Morrison to Frank Moorhouse, Michelle Grattan to David Kemp, they take stock of those times with a mixture of passion, pride, regret, scepticism and humour.
  
  'I did not share the all-too-easy euphoria that the electorate would revolt against the Machiavellian tactics of Fraser, Kerr and Barwick. The unavoidable fact was that one didn't have to rely on the polls to know that the government was widely unpopular.'
  
  Bob Hawke
  
  
  
  'Some demonstrators proposed storming the gates of Government House, but a new arrival informed us that the action was at Parliament and the crowd rapidly adjourned.'
  
  Bron Stevens
  
  'Next day we somehow never got around to forming ourselves into a militia, other things to do, writing of sonnets, finishing of novels, beginning or breaking up relationships, and so on.'
  
  Frank Moorhouse

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