John Kerr

The Right Honourable Sir John Robert Kerr, AK, GCMG, GCVO, QC (September 24 1914 - April 7 1991), Australian judge and 18th Governor-General of Australia, dismissed the Labor government of Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, sparking one of the most significant constitutional crises in Australian history.

The 1975 crisis

In October 1975 the Liberals used their Senate majority to defer voting on the supply bills until Whitlam agreed to hold an election for the House of Representatives, and a political crisis resulted. Whitlam declined to back down and call an early election, Fraser would not back down and allow the budget bills to pass. If this impasse had gone on indefinitely, the government would have run out of money and been unable to meet its financial obligations. It was estimated that it would be late November before this occurred. Whitlam was confident that at least some of the Liberal Senators would back down if he held out long enough. He also thought that public opinion was swinging back his way as a result of Fraser's tactics, and that at an opportune moment he could call a half-Senate election (at which the government would not be at stake) as a means of breaking the deadlock.

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Fraser was also aware of these considerations. He knew that several Liberal Senators were indeed uneasy about the blocking of supply, and might not prove reliable for much longer. He also saw evidence in the opinion polls that the public was unhappy about the use of the Senate to block supply. For this reason he was keen to bring the crisis to an early climax. The most expeditious way for this to happen would be for the Governor-General to intervene.

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Opposition backbenchers began calling on Kerr to dismiss Whitlam during October: it is not clear whether they had Fraser's approval for these remarks. On 16 October, however, a Liberal frontbencher, Robert Ellicott (a former Commonwealth Solicitor-General) published with Fraser's approval a legal opinion which he had prepared for the Shadow Cabinet, arguing that the Governor-General had both the right and the duty to dismiss the government if it could not obtain supply. On 17 October Whitlam told an interviewer that the Governor-General could not intervene in the crisis because he must always act on the advice of his Prime Minister. Whitlam said later that he intended these remarks to protect Kerr, by making clear his view that the Governor-General had no power to intervene. But Kerr apparently saw them as an attempt to intimidate him, and also as expressing a view of the reserve powers that he did not share.

Related Topics:
16 October - Robert Ellicott - 17 October

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Kerr saw himself as an active player in the unfolding political drama. He made it clear in several conversations with ministers that he did not accept the view that the Governor-General could play no role in the crisis until supply (government funds) actually ran out: he saw it as his duty to help prevent things getting to that stage. On 30 October he proposed a compromise solution to Whitlam and Fraser, which would have in effect meant a backdown by Fraser, but Fraser rejected this. On 2 November Fraser offered to pass the budget if Whitlam would agree to call an election before the middle of 1976, but Whitlam in turn rejected this. It appears that Kerr, on the basis of discussions with Fraser, had a hand in this proposal, and that he thought it a reasonable compromise. When Whitlam rejected it, it seems, Kerr decided that Whitlam was being intransigent.

Related Topics:
30 October - 2 November - 1976

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Kerr's personal relationship with Whitlam by this stage was not strong, he had been upset by suggestions that the Federal Executive Council had acted improperly during the Loans Affair, and moreover he was suspicious that if Whitlam knew he was contemplating dismissing the Government, he (Whitlam) would react by immediately advising the Queen to dismiss Kerr instead. Whitlam for his part assumed with characteristic confidence that Kerr was in full sympathy with the Government's position and would do nothing to act against him. He therefore made no effort to convince Kerr of the validity of his position and did not think to consult with him during the crisis.

Related Topics:
Federal Executive Council - Queen

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