The complete 92-minute video of Four Corners, broadcast on November 11, 1985, the tenth anniversary of The Dismissal.
Posts tagged as “Malcolm Fraser”
Ten years after the Dismissal, Gough Whitlam returned to Australia to launch his new book on the Whitlam Government.
Whitlam was on leave from his posting as Ambassador to UNESCO, the job he was given by the Hawke Labor government after it won the 1983 election.
As part of the media coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Dismissal, Channel 9’s Sunday program devoted an entire program to reviewing the Whitlam years. The complete video of the program is available on this page.
In a statement to the House of Representatives on March 2, 1978, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced that Sir John Kerr would not be taking up his appointment as Australian Ambassador to UNESCO.
Kerr’s decision followed an outpouring of criticism after his appointment had been announced by Fraser on February 9. The position with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation was based in Paris.
Fraser defended Kerr’s actions as Governor-General and said the government believed Kerr “should not be cast aside…simply because he was forced by the Government of the day to make a difficult decision”. He said Kerr had “the right to serve this nation quietly, at peace with himself, at peace with the nation, at peace with his family”.
Two months after he relinquished the position of Governor-General, Sir John Kerr was appointed Australian Ambassador to UNESCO.
Fraser announced the appointment on February 9, 1978. Kerr’s position with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, based in Paris, was due to commence on March 2.
The night before the dismissal of his government, Gough Whitlam attended the Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Banquet.
The Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser, was there also. The two men would travel back to Canberra together on Whitlam’s plane later that evening.
The Lord Mayor was the Liberal Party’s Ron Walker, then aged 36. Walker went on to a career in business and was also a chief fundraiser for the Liberal Party.
An overview of the events of October 15, 1975, the day that the Federal Opposition, led by Malcolm Fraser, decided to block the Supply bills in the Senate until such time as Prime Minister Gough Whitlam called an election.
Malcolm Fraser announced that the coalition parties would block Supply at a press conference that began at 2.56pm on October 15, 1975.
Fraser announced that the Opposition would not reject Supply outright but delay it until Whitlam agreed to call an election. This was significant because it allowed the Supply bills to remain alive in the event of changed circumstances or a change of government.