Australian History: Edward Gough Whitlam
Born in Melbourne in 1916, the son of a solicitor who became a leading public servant, his background was unusual for a Labor man when he joined the party in 1945. In those days, many of the leading Labor personalities were Irish Catholics from working class background. Whitlam, an intellectual from an intellectual family, had never had to toil for his wages in the dust and heat.
In 1927 the Whitlams were among the first public service families to settle permanently in Canberra. Gough Whitlam completed his education at Canberra schools and at the University of Sydney, where he graduated in Arts and Law.
In 1941 he joined the RAAF. When he was discharged, his beliefs in progress and reform inspired him to join the Labor Party, although he had no intention of making a career in politics. He began to make a name as a successful barrister however impatience for national progress caused him to make a bid for a State Parliament seat in 1950 and, two years later, to win a by-election for the federal seat of Werriwa. He was to hold this seat, for more than 20 years and it gave him intimate knowledge of the needs and problems of Australian urban communities.
Whitlam entered Parliament at a time when successive Liberal-Country Party victories were shaking 'old-style' Labor to the roots. He was to encounter opposition from the old guard as he climbed steadily upward but, by 1967, he was leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party.
He backed his election campaign with an armoury of 140 promises of reform, including an end to conscription and withdrawal from Vietnam, equal opportunities for women, vastly increased funding for education and the arts, a harder line toward South Africa, recognition of Communist China, urban renewal, universal health insurance, revisions to the family law and improvements to public transport. He was to keep these and many other promises.
In 1972 Whitlam was the right man at the right time but after a while the ‘new’ Labor was bombarded by rocketing oil prices and it began to run out of financial fuel. Some members of Whitlam's government, including Rex Connor and Jim Cairns, defied the Constitution in a secret attempt to raise a $2 billion overseas loan. The two men gave misleading answers to challenges from a revamped Opposition, led by Malcolm Fraser, and Whitlam was forced to demote them.
Whitlam, campaigned against a background of rising unemployment and Fraser, determined to force a dissolution of Parliament, contrived a Senate blockage of Labor's 1975 budget.
Whitlam still thought he would ride out the storm and, on 11 November 1975, he tried to present a plan of action to Governor-General Sir John Kerr. But Kerr demanded: "Are you prepared to recommend a general election?" When Whitlam refused, Kerr said: "In that case, I have no alternative but to dismiss you."
Kerr commissioned Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister and the coalition won a resounding victory in the December elections.
The 'Loans Affair' and 'The Dismissal' comprise one of the most controversial periods in Australian politics and many believe the whole truth about them has not yet been told. For Whitlam they were almost the end of the political road, although he has continued to play a leading role in social and international affairs since retiring from the Parliament.