Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

November 11 marked 50 years since the 1975 Dismissal, an event still debated but, too often, misrepresented. Contrary to Prime Minister Albanese's claim that it was a 'partisan ambush', the historical record tells a very different story.

First, Sir John Kerr was no 'conservative plant'. He was nominated by Labor Prime Minister Mr Gough Whitlam and appointed Governor-General in July 1974. He was Whitlam's choice. He was Whitlam's man, entrusted with the constitutional responsibilities that accompany the office.

Second, the circumstances that led to the Dismissal were not manufactured pretexts, but the product of a genuine constitutional impasse. By late 1975, the Whitlam government did not command a majority in the Senate. A series of controversies, most notoriously the loans affair, had eroded confidence. In that context, opposition leader Malcolm Fraser exercised the Senate's lawful power to defer supply. With the government unable to secure the funds required to operate, the nation faced the real prospect of running out of money. Sir John Kerr, acting on established constitutional principles and confirmed legal advice, concluded that the Prime Minister must either resign or call a general election, but Mr Whitlam refused to do either. Mr Kerr then exercised the sovereign reserve powers vested in his office, powers that exist precisely for such deadlocked circumstances.

Third, the ultimate arbitrators were not politicians, but the Australian people, and their verdict could not have been clearer. At the 1975 election, the coalition won 91 of 127 seats—the largest parliamentary majority in Australian history. It was Australians who overwhelmingly rejected the Whitlam government. The dismissal was controversial, certainly, but it was constitutional. (Time expired)