Editing Gough Whitlam (section)

====Duumvirate====
[[File:Lance Barnard and Gough Whitlam.jpg|thumb|upright|Whitlam and his deputy, Lance Barnard]]
Whitlam took office with a majority in the House of Representatives, but without control of the Senate (elected in the 1967 and 1970 half-elections). The Senate at that time consisted of ten members from each of the six states, elected by [[single transferable vote]].{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=45–46}} Historically, when Labor won government, the parliamentary caucus chose the ministers, with the party leader having the power only to assign portfolios.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|pp=255–257}} However, the new Labor caucus would not meet until after the final results came in on 15 December.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|pp=245–246}}

With Labor's win beyond doubt even though counting was still underway, [[William McMahon|McMahon]] advised the Governor-General, Sir [[Paul Hasluck]], that he was no longer in a position to govern. Soon afterward, Whitlam advised Hasluck that he could form a government with his new majority. This was in accordance with longstanding Australian constitutional practice. Convention also held that McMahon would stay on as caretaker prime minister until the full results were in. However, Whitlam was unwilling to wait that long. On 5{{spaces}}December, per Whitlam's request, Hasluck swore Whitlam and Labor's deputy leader, [[Lance Barnard]], as [[First Whitlam Ministry|an interim two-man government]], with Whitlam as prime minister and Barnard as deputy prime minister. The two men held 27 portfolios during the two weeks before a full cabinet could be determined.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=246}}

During the two weeks the so-called "[[duumvirate]]" held office, Whitlam sought to fulfill those campaign promises that did not require legislation. Whitlam ordered negotiations to establish full relations with the People's Republic of China, and broke those with Taiwan.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=251}} The diplomatic relations were established in 1972 and an embassy opened in Beijing in 1973. Legislation allowed the defence minister to grant exemptions from conscription. Barnard held this office, and exempted everyone.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=252}} Seven men were at that time incarcerated for refusing conscription; Whitlam arranged for their liberation.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=247}} The Whitlam government in its first days reopened the equal pay case pending before the [[Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission]], and appointed a woman, [[Elizabeth Evatt]], to the commission. Whitlam and Barnard eliminated sales tax on [[Combined oral contraceptive pill|contraceptive pills]], announced major grants for the arts, and appointed an interim schools commission.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[Australian Geographic]] |title=On this day: Gough Whitlam becomes PM |date=December 2014 |url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2014/12/on-this-day-in-history-gough-whitlam-becomes-pm |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> The duumvirate barred racially discriminatory sports teams from Australia, and instructed the Australian delegation at the United Nations to vote in favour of sanctions on [[apartheid]] South Africa and [[Rhodesia]].{{sfn|Kelly|1995|pp=14–15}} It also ordered the [[Australian Army Training Team]] home from Vietnam, ending Australia's involvement in the war; most troops, including all conscripts, had been withdrawn by McMahon.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=119}}{{sfn|Edwards|1997|p=320}} According to Whitlam's speechwriter Graham Freudenberg, the duumvirate was a success, as it showed that the Labor government could manipulate the machinery of government, despite almost a quarter-century in opposition. However, Freudenberg noted that the rapid pace and public excitement caused by the duumvirate's actions caused the Opposition to be wary of giving Labor too easy a time, and gave rise to one post-mortem assessment of the Whitlam government: "We did too much too soon."{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=253}}