Editing Gough Whitlam (section)

===Leader of the Opposition===
[[File:Gough Whitlam - Leader of the Opposition.jpg|thumb|left|Whitlam in August 1971]]
Soon after taking the leadership, Whitlam reorganised the ALP caucus, assigning portfolios and turning the Labor frontbench into a [[shadow cabinet]].{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=337}} While the Liberal-Country Coalition had a huge majority in the House of Representatives, Whitlam energised the party by campaigning intensively to win two by-elections in 1967: first in [[Division of Corio|Corio]] in Victoria, and later that year in [[Division of Capricornia|Capricornia]] in Queensland. The [[1967 Australian Senate election|November half-Senate election]] saw a moderate swing to Labor and against the Coalition, compared with the general election the previous year.{{sfn|Brown|2002|pp=50–51}} These federal victories, in which both Whitlam and Holt campaigned, helped give Whitlam the leverage he needed to carry out party reforms.{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|p=10}}

At the end of 1967, Holt [[Disappearance of Harold Holt|vanished while swimming in rough seas]] near Melbourne; his body was never recovered.{{sfn|Brown|2002|pp=54–55}} John McEwen, as leader of the junior Coalition partner, the Country Party, took over as prime minister for three weeks until the Liberals could elect a new leader. Senator [[John Gorton]] won the vote and became prime minister.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=78}} The leadership campaign was conducted mostly by television, and Gorton appeared to have the visual appeal needed to keep Whitlam out of office.{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|p=36}} Gorton resigned his seat in the Senate, and in February 1968 won [[1968 Higgins by-election|the by-election]] for Holt's seat of [[Division of Higgins|Higgins]] in Victoria.{{sfn|Henderson|2008|p=307}} For the remainder of the year, Gorton appeared to have the better of Whitlam in the House of Representatives. In his chronicle of the Whitlam years, however, speechwriter [[Graham Freudenberg]] asserts that Gorton's erratic behaviour, Whitlam's strengthening of his party, and events outside Australia (such as the Vietnam War) ate away at Liberal dominance.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=127}}

Gorton called [[1969 Australian federal election|an election for October 1969]]. Whitlam and the ALP, with little internal dissension, stood on a platform calling for domestic reform, an end to conscription, and the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam by 1{{spaces}}July 1970.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=94}} Whitlam knew that, given the ALP's poor position after the 1966 election, victory was unlikely.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|pp=332–335}} Nevertheless, Whitlam scored an 18-seat swing, Labor's best performance since losing government in 1949. It also scored a 7.1 per cent two-party swing, the largest to not result in a change of government. Although the Coalition was returned for an eighth term in government, it was with a slim majority of three seats, down from 19 prior to the election.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=94}} Labor actually won a bare majority of the two-party vote and only DLP preferences, especially in Melbourne-area seats, kept Whitlam from becoming prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/guide/state_vic.htm |title=Election Summary: Victoria – Federal Election 2007 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |author=[[Antony Green]] |date=9 June 2023}}</ref> The [[1970 Australian Senate election|1970 half-Senate election]] brought little change to Coalition control, but the Coalition vote fell below 40 per cent for the first time, representing a severe threat to Gorton's leadership.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=365}}

[[File:Gough Whitlam speaking at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Canberra 1972.jpg|alt=Man standing on stage addressing a crowd with a view of a mountain in the background|left|thumb|upright|Whitlam speaking at the [[Aboriginal Tent Embassy]], February 1972]]

In March 1971, the resentment against Gorton came to a head when a confidence vote in the Liberal caucus resulted in a tie. Declaring that this was a sign he no longer had the confidence of the party, Gorton resigned, and William McMahon was elected his successor.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=94}} With the Liberals in turmoil, Whitlam and the ALP sought to gain public trust as a credible government-in-waiting. The party's actions, such as its abandonment of the White Australia policy, gained favourable media attention.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=110}} The Labor leader flew to [[Papua New Guinea]] and pledged himself to the independence of what was then under Australian trusteeship.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|pp=197–199}} In 1971, Whitlam flew to Beijing and met with Chinese officials, including [[Zhou Enlai]].{{sfn|Hocking|2008|pp=377–379}} McMahon attacked Whitlam for the visit and claimed that the Chinese had manipulated him. This attack backfired when US President [[Richard Nixon]] announced that [[1972 Nixon visit to China|he would visit China]] the following year. His [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]], [[Henry Kissinger]], visited Beijing between 9–11 July (less than a week after Whitlam's visit), and, unknown to Whitlam, some of Kissinger's staff had been in Beijing at the same time as the Labor delegation. According to Whitlam biographer Jenny Hocking, the incident transformed Whitlam into an international statesman,{{sfn|Hocking|2008|pp=379–380}} while McMahon was seen as reacting defensively to Whitlam's foreign policy ventures.{{sfn|Brown|2002|pp=110–111}} Other errors by McMahon, such as a confused ad-lib speech while visiting Washington, and a statement to Indonesia's President [[Suharto]] that Australia was a "west European nation", also damaged the government.{{sfn|Brown|2002|pp=107–113}}

[[File:Gough Whitlam 1972 policy speech.jpg|thumb|upright|Whitlam giving a speech during the 1972 election campaign]]

By early 1972, Labor had established a clear lead in the polls; indeed, for the first time since 1955 its support was greater than the combined vote for the Coalition and DLP.{{sfn|Sekuless|2008|pp=322–323}}<ref>Hancock, Ian. [http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/cabinet/by-year/1972-events-issues.aspx Events and issues that made the news in 1972] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109160225/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/cabinet/by-year/1972-events-issues.aspx |date=9 November 2014}}. [[National Archives of Australia]]. Retrieved 2 November 2014.</ref> Unemployment was at a ten-year peak, rising to 2.14 per cent in August (though the unemployment rate was calculated differently compared to the present, and did not include thousands of rural workers on Commonwealth-financed relief work).{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|p=89}} Inflation was also at its highest rate since the early 1950s. The government recovered slightly in the August Budget session of Parliament, proposing income tax cuts and increased spending.{{sfn|Sekuless|2008|pp=322–323}} The Labor strategy for the run-up to the election was to sit back and allow the Coalition to make mistakes. Whitlam controversially stated in March "draft-dodging is not a crime" and that he would be open to a revaluation of the Australian dollar.{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|p=87}} With the Coalition sinking in the polls and his own personal approval ratings down as low as 28 per cent, McMahon waited as long as he could, finally calling [[1972 Australian federal election|an election]] for the House of Representatives for 2{{spaces}}December. Whitlam noted that the polling day was the anniversary of the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] at which another "ramshackle, reactionary coalition" had been given a "crushing defeat".

Labor campaigned under the slogan "[[It's Time (Australian campaign)|It's Time]]", an echo of Menzies' successful 1949 slogan, "It's Time for a Change". Surveys showed that even Liberal voters approved of the Labor slogan.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=384}} Whitlam pledged an end to conscription and the release of individuals who had refused the draft; an income tax surcharge to pay for universal health insurance; free dental care for students; and renovation of ageing urban infrastructure. The party pledged to eliminate university tuition fees and establish a schools commission to evaluate educational needs.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|pp=393–394}} The party benefited from the support of the proprietor of [[News Limited]], [[Rupert Murdoch]], who preferred Whitlam over McMahon.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=385}} Labor was so dominant in the campaign that some of Whitlam's advisers urged him to stop joking about McMahon; people were feeling sorry for him.{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=387}} The election saw the ALP increase its tally by 12 seats, mostly in suburban Sydney and Melbourne, for a majority of nine in the House of Representatives. The ALP gained little beyond the suburban belts, however, losing a seat in [[South Australia]] and two in [[Western Australia]].{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=39–40}}