Editing Gough Whitlam (section)

==Prime Minister, 1972–1975==
{{See also|Whitlam government}}

===First term===
====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}}

====Enacting a program====
[[File:Third Whitlam Ministry.jpg|thumb|right|Members of the [[Third Whitlam Ministry]] in 1974]]
The McMahon government had consisted of 27 ministers, twelve of whom comprised the Cabinet. In the run-up to the election, the Labor caucus had decided that if the party took power all 27 ministers were to be Cabinet members.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=257}} Intense canvassing took place amongst ALP parliamentarians as the duumvirate did its work, and on 18 December the caucus elected the Cabinet. The results were generally acceptable to Whitlam, and within three hours, he had announced the portfolios of the Cabinet members.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|pp=258–260}} To give himself greater control over the Cabinet, in January 1973 Whitlam established five Cabinet committees (with the members appointed by himself, not the caucus) and took full control of the Cabinet agenda.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=58–59}}

Whitlam, prime minister for fewer than three years between 1972 and 1975, pushed through a raft of reforms that radically changed Australia's economic, legal and cultural landscape.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-29699576 |date=21 October 2014 |title=Gough Whitlam: Five ways he changed Australia |publisher=BBC News |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108081200/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-29699576 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Whitlam government abolished the death penalty for federal crimes.<ref name="bio" /> [[Legal Aid#Australia|Legal aid]] was established, with offices in each state capital.<ref name="In Office" /> It abolished [[Higher education|university]] fees, and established the Schools Commission to allocate funds to schools.<ref name="bio" /> Whitlam founded the Department of Urban Development and, having lived in developing Cabramatta, most of which lacked sewage facilities, established the [[National Sewerage Program]], which set a goal to leave no urban home unsewered.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=122}} The Whitlam government gave grants directly to local government units for urban renewal, flood prevention, and the promotion of tourism. Other federal grants financed highways linking the state capitals, and paid for standard-gauge rail lines between the states. The government attempted to set up a new city at [[Albury–Wodonga]] on the Victoria–New South Wales border. The process was started for "[[Advance Australia Fair]]" to become the country's national anthem in place of "[[God Save the Queen]]". The [[Order of Australia]] replaced the British honours system in early 1975.<ref name="In Office" />

In 1973, the [[National Gallery of Australia]], then called the Australian National Gallery, bought the painting "[[Blue Poles]]" by contemporary artist [[Jackson Pollock]] for US$2{{spaces}}million (A$1.3{{spaces}}million at the time of payment),<ref name="Barrett-2001" /> which was about a third of its annual budget. This required Whitlam's personal permission, which he gave on the condition the price was publicised.<ref name="Stoodley-2008" /> The purchase created a political and media scandal, and was said to symbolise, alternatively, Whitlam's foresight and vision or his profligate spending.<ref name="Barrett-2001" />

Whitlam travelled extensively as prime minister, and was the first Australian prime minister to visit China while in office.<ref name="In Office" /> He was criticised for making this visit, especially after [[Cyclone Tracy]] struck [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]; he interrupted an extensive tour of Europe for 48 hours (deemed too brief a period by many) to view the devastation.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=224}}
[[File:Whitlam in China.jpg|thumb|alt=Gough Whitlam during his visit to China in 1973|Whitlam visits China, 1973]]

In keeping with Labor's social commitments, Whitlam's time in office witnessed significant increases in government spending. In one year, for instance, real government spending increased by 20% followed by 16% the following year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240229131554/https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-whitlam-government-s-fiscal-record-is-relative-20221204-p5c3jq The Whitlam government’s fiscal record is relative by Craig Emerson Dec 5, 2022]</ref> During Whitlam's three years in office, social spending (including education) as a percentage of total Commonwealth budget outlays rose from 36.9% to 50.4.% From 1972–73 to 1975–76, spending on education as a percentage of total Commonwealth budget outlays went up from 4.3% to 8.5%, urban development from 0.5% to 1.9,% housing from 2.3% to 2.6%, social security from 20.6% to 23.2%, and health from 7.7% to 13.5%.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Welfare_State_as_Crisis_Manager/KQJYArpUMboC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Table+4.1+Social+expenditure+as+a+percentage+of+total+Commonwealth+budget+outlays,+Australia,+selected+years&pg=PT93&printsec=frontcover The Welfare State as Crisis Manager Explaining the Diversity of Policy Responses to Economic Crisis By Peter Starke, Alexandra Kaasch, F. Van Hooren, Franca Van Hooren, 2013]</ref> In 1975, Whitlam justified the big increases in government spending by arguing that when Labor returned to office 1972 they had "the task of redressing many years of neglect by previous Governments in almost every field of national life".<ref>[https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-3835 PRIME MINISTER'S QUEENSLAND BROADCAST NO 19 – THE BUDGET – SUNDAY 27 JULY 1975 Source: Licensed from the Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the content of this publication.]</ref>

====Early troubles====
From the start of the Whitlam government, the Opposition, led by [[Billy Snedden]], who replaced McMahon as Liberal leader in December 1972, sought to use control of the Senate to baulk Whitlam.{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|pp=340–341}} It did not seek to block all government legislation; the Coalition senators, led by Senate Liberal leader [[Reg Withers]], sought to block government legislation only when the obstruction would advance the Opposition's agenda.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|pp=36–37}} The Whitlam government also had troubles in relations with the states. New South Wales refused the government's request to close the Rhodesian Information Centre in Sydney. The Queensland premier, [[Joh Bjelke-Petersen]] refused to consider any adjustment in Queensland's border with Papua New Guinea, which, due to the state's ownership of islands in the [[Torres Strait]], came within half a kilometre of the Papuan mainland.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=255}} Liberal state governments in New South Wales and Victoria were re-elected by large margins in 1973.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|pp=48–49}} Whitlam and his majority in the House of Representatives proposed a [[1973 Australian referendum|constitutional referendum]] in December 1973, transferring control of wages and prices from the states to the federal government. The two propositions failed to attract a majority of voters in any state, and were rejected by over 800,000 votes nationwide.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|p=49}}

In 1974, the Senate refused to pass six bills after they were passed twice by the House of Representatives. With the Opposition threatening to disrupt money [[confidence and supply|supply]] to government, Whitlam used the Senate's recalcitrance to trigger a [[double dissolution]] election, holding it instead of the half-Senate election.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=299}} After a campaign featuring the Labor slogan "Give Gough a fair go", the [[1974 Australian federal election|Whitlam government was returned]], with its majority in the House of Representatives cut from seven to five and its Senate seats increased by three. It was only the second time since Federation that a Labor government had been elected to a second full term.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=305}} The government and the opposition each had 29 Senators with two seats held by independents.{{sfn|Hocking|2012|p=154}}{{sfn|Kelly|1995|p=60}} The deadlock over the twice-rejected bills was broken, uniquely in Australian history, with a [[Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament of 1974|special]] [[Joint meetings of the Australian Parliament|joint sitting]] of the two houses of Parliament under Section 57 of the Constitution. This session, authorised by the new governor-general, [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]], passed bills providing for universal health insurance (known then as Medibank, today as [[Medicare (Australia)|Medicare]]) and providing the Northern Territory and [[Australian Capital Territory]] with representation in the Senate, effective at the next election.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|pp=62–63}}

====Murphy raids====
{{Main|1973 Murphy raids}}
[[File:E1276-8 PM Australia Whitlam tone.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Whitlam with Richard Nixon|Whitlam visits US President [[Richard Nixon]], July 1973]]
In February 1973, the Attorney General, Senator [[Lionel Murphy]], led a police raid on the Melbourne office of the [[Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]], which was under his ministerial responsibility. Murphy believed that ASIO might have files relating to threats against Yugoslav Prime Minister [[Džemal Bijedić]], who was about to visit Australia, and feared ASIO might conceal or destroy them.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=124}} The Opposition attacked the Government over the raid, terming Murphy a "loose cannon". A Senate investigation of the incident was cut short when Parliament was dissolved in 1974.{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=125}} According to journalist and author Wallace Brown, the controversy continued to dog the Whitlam government throughout its term, because the incident was "so silly".{{sfn|Brown|2002|p=124}}

====Gair Affair====
{{Main|Gair Affair}}
By early 1974, the Senate had rejected nineteen government bills, ten of them twice. With a half-Senate election due by mid-year, Whitlam looked for ways to shore up support in that body. Queensland senator and former DLP leader [[Vince Gair]] signalled his willingness to leave the Senate for a diplomatic post. Gair's term would not expire until the following half-Senate election or upon a double dissolution election. With five Queensland seats at stake in the half-Senate election, the ALP was expected to win only two, but if six (including Gair's) were at stake, the party would be likely to win a third. Possible control of the Senate was therefore at stake; Whitlam agreed to Gair's request and had Governor-General Sir Paul Hasluck appoint him ambassador to Ireland. Word leaked of Gair's pending resignation, and Whitlam's opponents attempted to counteract his manoeuvre. On what became known as the "Night of the Long Prawns", Country Party members secreted Gair at a small party in a legislative office as the ALP searched for him to secure his written resignation. As Gair enjoyed beer and prawns, Bjelke-Petersen advised the Queensland governor, [[Colin Hannah]], to issue writs for only the usual five vacancies, since Gair's seat was not yet vacant, effectively countering Whitlam's plan.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=100–107}}

===Second term===
By mid-1974, Australia was in an economic slump, suffering from the [[1973 oil crisis]] and [[1973–1975 recession]]. The 1973 oil crisis had caused prices to spike and, according to government figures, inflation topped 13 per cent for over a year between 1973 and 1974.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=118–119}} Part of the inflation was due to Whitlam's desire to increase wages and conditions of the Commonwealth Public Service as a pacesetter for the private sector.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=160}} The Whitlam government had cut tariffs by 25 per cent in 1973; 1974 saw an increase in imports of 30 per cent and a $1.5{{spaces}}billion increase in the [[trade deficit]]. Primary producers of commodities such as beef were caught in a [[credit squeeze]] as short-term rates rose to extremely high levels.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=118–119}} Unemployment also rose significantly.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=160}} Unease within the ALP led to Barnard's defeat when Jim Cairns challenged him for his deputy leadership. Whitlam gave little help to his embattled deputy.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=123–124}}

Despite these economic indicators, the Budget presented in August 1974 saw large increases in spending, especially in education.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=183}} Treasury officials had advised a series of tax and fee increases, ranging from excise taxes to the cost of posting a letter; their advice was mostly rejected by Cabinet.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=308}} The Budget was unsuccessful in dealing with the inflation and unemployment, and Whitlam introduced large tax cuts in November. He also announced additional spending to help the private sector.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=183}}

Beginning in October 1974, the Whitlam government sought overseas loans to finance its development plans, with the newly enriched oil nations a likely target. Whitlam attempted to secure financing before informing the [[Loan Council]] which included state officials hostile to Whitlam. His government empowered Pakistani financier [[Tirath Khemlani]] as an intermediary in the hope of securing US$4{{spaces}}billion in loans. While the [[Loans Affair]] did not result in a loan,{{sfn|Brown|2002|pp=128–129}} according to author and Whitlam speechwriter Graham Freudenberg, "The only cost involved was the cost to the reputation of the Government. That cost was to be immense{{snd}}it was government itself."{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=348}}

Whitlam appointed Senator Murphy to the High Court, even though Murphy's Senate seat would not be up for election if a half-Senate election were held. Labor then held three of the five short-term New South Wales Senate seats. Under proportional representation, Labor could hold its three short-term seats in the next half-Senate election but, if Murphy's seat were also contested, Labor was unlikely to win four out of six. Thus, a Murphy appointment meant the almost certain loss of a seat in the closely divided Senate at the next election.{{sfn|Reid|1976|p=206}} Whitlam appointed Murphy anyway. By convention, senators appointed by the state legislature to fill [[casual vacancies in the Australian Parliament|casual vacancies]] were from the same political party as the former senator. The New South Wales premier, [[Tom Lewis (Australian politician)|Tom Lewis]], felt that this convention applied only to vacancies caused by deaths or ill-health, and arranged for the legislature to elect [[Cleaver Bunton]], former mayor of [[Albury]] and an independent.{{sfn|Reid|1976|pp=206–208}} By March 1975, many Liberal parliamentarians felt Snedden was doing an inadequate job as leader of the Opposition, and that Whitlam was dominating him in the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=315}} [[Malcolm Fraser]] challenged Snedden for the leadership, and defeated him on 21 March.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=317}}

Soon after Fraser's accession, controversy arose over the Whitlam government's actions in trying to restart peace talks in Vietnam. As the North prepared to end the civil war, Whitlam sent cables to both Vietnamese governments, telling Parliament both cables were substantially the same.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|pp=338–340}} The Opposition contended he had misled Parliament, and a motion to censure Whitlam was defeated along party lines.<ref name="The Age-1975" /> The Opposition also attacked Whitlam for not allowing enough South Vietnamese refugees into Australia, with Fraser calling for the entry of 50,000. Freudenberg alleges that 1,026 Vietnamese refugees entered Australia in the final eight months of the Whitlam government, and only 399 in 1976 under Fraser.{{sfn|Freudenberg|2009|p=342}} However, by 1977, Australia had accepted more than five thousand refugees.<ref name="The Dispatch-1977" />

As the political situation deteriorated, Whitlam and his government continued to enact legislation: The [[Family Law Act 1975]] provided for no-fault divorce while the [[Racial Discrimination Act 1975]] caused Australia to ratify the [[International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination]] that Australia had signed under Holt, but which had never been ratified. In August 1975, Whitlam gave the [[Gurindji people]] of the Northern Territory title deeds to part of their traditional lands, beginning the process of [[Aboriginal land rights in Australia|Aboriginal land reform]]. The next month, Australia granted independence to Papua New Guinea.<ref name="In Office" />
[[File:Suharto-Whitlam House.JPG|thumb|The Suharto-Whitlam House in [[Dieng Plateau]], [[Indonesia]], where Whitlam discussed the future of [[East Timor]] with Indonesia's President [[Suharto]] in 1974]]

Following the 1974 [[Carnation Revolution]], Portugal began a process of decolonisation and began a withdrawal from [[Portuguese Timor]] (later [[East Timor]]). Australians had long taken an interest in the colony; the nation had sent troops to the region during [[Battle of Timor|World War{{spaces}}II]].{{sfn|Cotton|2004|pp=4–5}} In September 1974, Whitlam met with President Suharto in Indonesia and indicated that he would support Indonesia if it [[Indonesian occupation of East Timor|annexed East Timor]].<ref name="Dunn-1996" /> At the height of the [[Cold War]], and in the context of the American retreat from Indo-China, he felt that incorporation of East Timor into Indonesia would enhance the stability of the region, and reduce the risk of the East Timorese [[FRETILIN]] movement, which many feared was communist, coming to power.{{sfn|Cotton|2004|pp=4–5}}

Whitlam had offered Barnard a diplomatic post and in early 1975 Barnard accepted, triggering a [[1975 Bass by-election|by-election]] in his Tasmanian electorate of [[Division of Bass|Bass]]. The election on 28 June proved a disaster for Labor, which lost the seat with a swing against it of 17 per cent.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|p=106}} The next week, Whitlam removed deputy prime minister Cairns, who had misled Parliament about the Loans Affair amid controversy about his relationship with his office manager, [[Junie Morosi]].{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=345}} At the time of Cairns's dismissal, one Senate seat was vacant, following the death on 30 June of Queensland ALP Senator [[Bertie Milliner]]. The state Labor party nominated [[Mal Colston]], resulting in a deadlock. The unicameral Queensland legislature twice voted against Colston, and the party refused to submit any alternatives. Bjelke-Petersen finally convinced the legislature to elect a low-level union official, [[Albert Field]]. In interviews, Field made it clear he would not support Whitlam. Field was expelled from the ALP for standing against Colston, and Labor senators boycotted his swearing-in.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|pp=107–109}} Whitlam argued that, because of the manner of filling vacancies, the Senate was "corrupted" and "tainted", with the Opposition enjoying a majority they did not win at the ballot box.{{sfn|Kelly|1995|p=109}}