1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis
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1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), by John Kerr (governor-general), Sir John Kerr, the Governor-General of Australia, governor-general who then commissioned the List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition, leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, as prime minister to hold 1975 Australian federal election, a new election. It has been described as the greatest political and constitutional crisis in Australian history. The Labor Party under Gough Whitlam came to power in the 1972 Australian federal election, election of 1972, ending 23 consecutive years of Coalition (Australia), Liberal-Country Coalition government. Labor won a majority in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives of 67 seats to the Co ...
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Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest inland city, and the list of cities in Australia by population, eighth-largest Australian city by population. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. Canberra's estimated population was 473,855. The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Aboriginal Australians for up to 21,000 years, by groups including the Ngunnawal and Ngambri. history of Australia (1788–1850), European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John the Baptist Church, Reid, St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australi ...
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Australian House Of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only 1910 Australian federal election, one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution alongside the whole Senate. Elections for members of the House of Representatives have always been held in conjunction with those for the Senate since the 1970s. A member of the House may be referred to as a "Member of Parliament" ("MP" or "Member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "senator". Under the conventions of the Westminster system, the Australian Government, government of ...
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Fraser Malcolm BANNER
Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal electoral division located in the Australian Capital Territory * Division of Fraser (Victoria), a current federal electoral division located in Victoria * Fraser Island, along the coast of Queensland Canada * Fraser River ** Fraser Plateau, a subplateau of the Interior Plateau, named for the river ** Fraser Basin, a low-lying area, part of the Nechako Plateau, flanking the Fraser River in the Central Interior of British Columbia ** Fraser Canyon, the stretch of the Fraser River from the city of Williams Lake south to the town of Hope, British Columbia ** Fraser Valley, the region flanking the lowermost reaches of the Fraser River, from the town of Hope to the sea ** Fraser Plateau and Basin complex, a World Wildlife Fund-named ecoregion ...
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Gough Whitlam Headshot
Gough ( ) is a surname. The surname may derive from the Welsh (English: "red"),Farrar-Hockley 1974, pp. 2–3 possibly given as a nickname to someone with red hair or a red complexion. Another possible derivation is that it was a reduced form of the Irish McGough which itself is an Anglicized form of Gaelic , a patronymic from the personal name (variant ), "horseman", both derivatives of Irish "horse". Occasionally used as a first or middle name: * Edward Gough Whitlam, known as Gough Whitlam, Australian Prime Minister. Notable people with the surname include: *Alfred Gough, American screenwriter and producer, co-creator of ''Smallville'' * Annette Gough (born 1950), Australian academic * Antony Gough, New Zealand businessman and property developer * Austin Gough, American football player * Bobby Gough (born 1949), English footballer * Charles Gough (other), a number of people * Charles Frederick Howard Gough (1901–1977), British Territorial Army officer, company ...
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Governor-General Sir John Kerr (cropped)
Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general continue to be appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person (non-UK Commonwealth realm). In the British Empire, governors-general were appointed on the advice of the government of the United Kingdom and were often British aristocracy, but in the mid-twentieth century they began to be appointed on the advice of the independent government of each realm and be citizens of each independent state. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and France in Indochina. Current uses In modern usa ...
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Alleged CIA Involvement In The Whitlam Dismissal
CIA involvement in the Whitlam dismissal was the alleged involvement of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the dismissal of Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam by Governor-General of Australia John Kerr, who had several ties to the CIA and its predecessor. As documented by CIA whistleblower Christopher John Boyce and several authors, including John Pilger, as well as some Australian politicians, the CIA allegedly backed Governor-General and representative of Queen Elizabeth II in Australia, Kerr, to dismiss Whitlam, due to Whitlam's perceived left-wing policies including Australian withdrawal from the Vietnam War, as well as his views on Australian sovereignty. His conflict with the CIA is alleged to have come to a head when he discovered several CIA-led operations occurring in Australia and overseas conducted by ASIO and ASIS, leading him to threaten cancellation of the lease on the Pine Gap facility, ending the US-led (nominally joint) operation, which was ...
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Double Dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution is the only circumstance in which the entire Senate can be dissolved. Similar to the United States Congress, but unlike the British Parliament, Australia's two parliamentary houses generally have almost equal legislative power (the Senate may reject outright but cannot amend appropriation (money) bills, which must originate in the House of Representatives). Governments, which are formed in the House of Representatives, can be frustrated by a Senate determined to reject their legislation. If the conditions (called a trigger) are satisfied, the prime minister can advise the governor-general to dissolve both houses of Parliament and call a full election. If, after the election, the legislation that triggered the double dissolution is sti ...
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Caretaker Government Of Australia
In Australian political and constitutional terminology, a caretaker government is a government of Australia from when the House of Representatives is dissolved by the Governor-General prior to a general election to a period after the election, until the next ministry is appointed. A caretaker government is expected to conduct itself in accordance with a series of well-defined conventions administered by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, but there is no law compelling the caretaker government to do so. Under normal circumstances, there is no separate appointment of a caretaker government. The incumbent Prime Minister simply puts the government into "caretaker mode". During the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, appointed a new government headed by Malcolm Fraser, subject to Fraser's agreement that he would immediately advise a general election, and his government would operate on a caretaker basis in the meantime. It was a ...
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Loss Of Supply
Loss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A defeat on a budgetary vote is one way by which supply can be denied. Loss of supply is typically interpreted as indicating a loss of confidence in the government. Not all money bills are necessarily supply bills. For instance, in Australia, supply bills are defined as "bills which are required by the Government to carry on its day-to-day business". When a loss of supply occurs, a prime minister is generally required either by constitutional convention or by explicit constitutional instruction to either resign immediately or seek a parliamentary dissolution. Some constitutions, however, do not allow the option of parliamentary dissolution but rather require the government to be dissolved ...
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Appropriation Bill
An appropriation bill, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is necessary for the government to spend money. In a Westminster parliamentary system, the defeat of an appropriation bill in a parliamentary vote generally necessitates either the resignation of a government or the calling of a general election. One of the more famous examples of the defeat of a supply bill was the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, when the Senate, which was controlled by the opposition, refused to approve a package of appropriation and loan bills, prompting Governor-General Sir John Kerr to dismiss Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and appoint Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister until the next election (where the Fraser government was elected). By country India An appropriation bill is a bill that authorizes ...
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Joint Sitting Of The Australian Parliament Of 1974
The Joint Sitting of the Parliament of Australia of 1974 remains the only time that members of both houses of the Federal Parliament of Australia, federal parliament of Australia, the Australian Senate, Senate and Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives, have sat together as a single legislative body pursuant to Section 57 of the Constitution of Australia, section 57 of the Constitution of Australia, Constitution. The joint sitting was held on 6 and 7 August 1974, following the 1974 Australian federal election, double dissolution 1974 federal election. This sitting deliberated and voted upon the following bills: *''Commonwealth Electoral Bill (No. 2) 1973'', which sought to make Commonwealth electorates more even in size by reducing the allowable quota variation from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. *''Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill 1973'', which gave the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory two senators each. *''Representat ...
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Australian Constitution
The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, federation under a Monarchy of Australia, constitutional monarchy governed with a parliamentary system. Its eight chapters set down the structure and powers of the three constituent parts of the federal level of government: the Parliament of Australia, Parliament, the Australian Government, Executive Government and the Judiciary of Australia, Judicature. The Constitution was drafted between 1891 and 1898 at a series of Constitutional Convention (Australia), conventions conducted by representatives of the six self-governing British colonies in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. This final draft was then approved by each state in a 1898–1900 Australian const ...
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