The Dismissal of Gough Whitlam by Governor-General Kerr

March 2 1978 'I Quit' Melbourne Herald newspaper poster. 65 x 51 cm. Extremely rare., Sir John Robert Kerr, Ak, GCMG, Gcvo, Qc (1914 ? 1991) was the 18th Governor-General of Australia. He dismissed the Labor government of Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, marking the climax of the most significant constitutional crisis in Australian history., On 9 November 1975, Kerr consulted the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Garfield Barwick, seeking advice on whether he had the constitutional power to dismiss Whitlam, and Barwick advised him, in writing, that he did. He also advised him that at least one other High Court justice, Sir Anthony Mason, concurred in this view. Kerr appears to have made up his mind on that day to dismiss Whitlam. He felt it necessary not to disclose this intention to Whitlam and his ministers because of his fear that Whitlam would advise the Queen to exercise her constitutional power to terminate Kerr's commission as Governor-General. In so doing, Kerr was aware of the precedent set by Sir Philip Game, the Governor of New South Wales, who had dismissed Jack Lang's government in 1932. Game had warned Lang in advance that if he, Lang, did not withdraw certain regulations, then he, Game, would dismiss him. This allowed Lang to seek Game's dismissal if he dared, which he did not., On the morning of 11 November 1975, Whitlam phoned Kerr and arranged to see him at 12:45 pm after the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Kerr also arranged for Fraser to come 'a quarter of an hour later. Mr Fraser was not told why I wanted him to come.' Fraser later claimed that Kerr telephoned him and asked him whether, if he were commissioned as Prime Minister, he would, pass the budget bills, call an immediate double dissolution election for both houses of Parliament, and make no appointments, initiate no new policies, and conduct no inquiries into the previous government, before such an election., Fraser recalled answering 'yes' to all these questions. In his memoirs Kerr denied making such a phone call to Fraser, but Fraser was adamant in all subsequent accounts that he did., The House of Representatives was suspended at 12:55 pm for the luncheon break. Whitlam arrived at Government House at 1 pm. Fraser had arrived earlier and been shown into another room. Whitlam and Kerr met alone in Kerr's study. Kerr knew that Whitlam intended to ask for a half-Senate election, one which would need to be conducted without supply, that is, unlawfully. So, after reconfirming that Whitlam's intention was to govern without parliamentary supply, Kerr withdrew his commission and served on him the letter of dismissal. Kerr claimed Whitlam then sought to telephone Buckingham Palace to advise Kerr's dismissal, but Whitlam always denied this. At a press conference that afternoon he said 'The Governor-General prevented me getting in touch with the Queen by just withdrawing the commission immediately, In an article in Quadrant magazine (March 2005), David Smith, Kerr's Official Secretary, claimed that Whitlam knew of Kerr's intentions, the Queen had already made her position of non-intervention known to Whitlam and Kerr, and Kerr had called a double dissolution to be fair to both candidates, sincerely believing that Whitlam could win back government with the necessary majority in both houses. When Whitlam had left, Kerr summoned Fraser and asked him the same questions which Fraser claims to have answered that morning. When Fraser answered affirmatively, Kerr then commissioned him as Prime Minister. Despite the passion of die-hard Labor supporters, furious at what they saw as an establishment plot to destroy a Labor government, Labor suffered its greatest-ever loss at the subsequent election (7.4% down on its 1974 vote) at the hands of the Coalition, which continued to hold power until 1983., Kerr later stated that Whitlam represented 'something that perhaps I might have been, had I stayed in the party as he did', and it has been suggested that t