1975: The Dismissal
The Dismissal refers to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. The Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr.
In October 1975, the Opposition under Malcolm Fraser blocked supply, using their control of the senate. Fraser indicated that they would continue to block supply unless there was a new election for the House of Representatives. On 11 November, Whitlam visited Kerr to call a half-Senate election. Not only did Kerr not accept the request, but he dismissed Gough Whitlam, and appointed Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister on the proviso that there would be an immediate general election.
In 2020 (and later 2022), The National Archives released ‘The Palace Letters’, which revealed the extent to which Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles were involved in the decision.
Resources
About the Dismissal
Museum of Australian Democracy: ‘We’ve Been Sacked’: The 1975 Whitlam Government Dismissal
National Museum of Australia: Whitlam dismissal
Historic Records
National Archives: Gough Whitlam records
Books
Gough Whitlam, The Truth of the Matter (50th anniversary edition with a new forword from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese), Melbourne University Publishing, originally 1979, new edition 2025.
John Kerr, Matters for Judgement: an Autobiography, Macmillan, 1978
Jenny Hocking, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, Melbourne University Publishing, 2014
Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston, The Dimissal: A Groundbreaking New History, Penguin, 2015
Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons, Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs, Simon & Schuster, 2015
Jenny Hocking, The Dismissal Dossier, Simon & Schuster, 2017
Jenny Hocking, The Palace Letters: The Queen, the governor-general, and the plot to dismiss Gough Whitlam, Scribe, 2020.
Scholarly Articles and Interviews
Anne Twomey, Hocking v Director-General of the National Archives of Australia: Can Kerr's Correspondence with the Queen Be Kept Secret Forever? SydLawRw 4; (2020) 42(1) Sydney Law Review 97
Manning Clark, Are we a nation of bastards?, Meanjin 35.1 Autumn 1976
Tom McIllroy, ‘We shall all have to live with this’: the Canberra press gallery and the dismissal, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
Tyson Kane, Impending cataclysm, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
Alexandra Dellios, The Greek left, Whitlam and the dismissal: a radical legacy, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
Virginia Haussegger, Women, Whitlam and the ‘gender card’: 50 years of women in parliament, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
Ben Eltham, Arts legacy imperilled, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
Interview with Jenny Hocking, Meanjin 84.3 Spring 2025
News Media
Ian Walker, What it was like to have front-row seats to the dismissal of Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister, ‘ABC The Eleventh‘, 2020
Chris Wallace, ‘Palace letters’ reveal the palace’s fingerprints on the dismissal of the Whitlam Government, ‘The Conversation’, Jul 2020.
Maddy King, The ‘Palace Letters’ have resolved one of the biggest mysteries in Australian political history, 'ABC Hack’, Jul 2020.
Matthew Doran, What the ‘Palace letters’ told us about the Queen’s role in Gough Whitlam’s dismissal, ‘ABC’, Jul 2020
Jenny Hocking, Whitlam dismissal secrets unearthed from the archives of the Canadian governor-general, ‘Crikey’, Oct 2025
Other Media
The Eleventh. A podcast from the ABC about the events.
The Dismissal: An Extremely Serious Musical Comedy. A musical about the events surrounding the Dismissal.
I Was Actually There: The Dismissal. An episode of the ABC show focussed on the Dismissal