Gough Whitlam announced that he would be relinquishing the leadership of the ALP in a brief statement on election night, December 10, 1977.
The Fraser government was comfortably re-elected, losing only a handful of seats and securing a victory nearly as substantial as the landslide of 1975.
Whitlam had been leader of the ALP since February 8, 1967. He is the longest-serving leader of the federal ALP in its history.
- Listen to Whitlam’s statement as broadcast on ABC TV (3m)
- Watch Whitlam’s statement (1m)