Share
Clip description
Malcolm Fraser discusses events preceding the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975.
Curator’s notes
The sacking of the Labor government in 1975 is generally regarded as one of the most tumultuous events in Australian politics. (Interestingly, later in the documentary, Fraser cites the 1916 referendums on conscription as more damaging and divisive.) Many people held the Liberal opposition culpable for breaking an unwritten law of politics by blocking the government’s money supply via its superior numbers in the Senate. In this detailed analysis of events leading up to the dismissal, Fraser declares that the continued misconduct of Labor minister Rex Connor left his party with no option but to block supply. Fraser concedes the Labor government had some worthwhile ideas, but he remains resolute about the decisions he and the Liberal Party took at the time.
