Word: whitlam
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...prerogative. Things are supposed to be different nowadays-at least within the British Commonwealth-but it did not seem so in Australia last week. There the personal representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Governor General Sir John Kerr, seemingly seized with the spirit of George III, fired Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, leader of the Labor Party, and installed Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser as head of a caretaker government. Invoking constitutionally questionable powers never before exercised in Australia, the Governor General also dissolved Parliament and proclaimed new elections for Australia's House and Senate on Dec. 13. From...
...word of Whitlam's ouster spread through Canberra, a crowd of his sympathizers gathered in front of Parliament House chanting: "Shame, Fraser, shame!" and "We want Gough!" Responding to their cries, Whitlam, whose election in 1972 had ended 23 years of rule by conservative parties, emerged to greet the demonstrators and lead them in a chorus of Solidarity Forever, international unionism's anthem. In Melbourne, hundreds of protesters stormed the headquarters of Fraser's Liberal Party, stoned it, and smashed its windows. Melbourne union leaders proclaimed Friday "Stop the State Day," calling on 500,000 workers...
...Australia was behind the deposed Prime Minister. In the trading pits of the stock exchanges, word of Whitlam's ouster was greeted with ear-splitting cheers and a 17-point jump in the Sydney Stock Exchange's index of shares, bringing it to a high for the year. In Brisbane, a woman telephoned a radio station to stress that "for all those in the streets, there are many more in their homes quietly celebrating Whitlam's departure...
...sparked the crisis, Sir John Kerr, 61, is a former judge and was appointed Governor General by Whitlam nearly two years ago. As the representative of the British Crown and the symbol of executive authority in Australia-with power to "summon, prorogue and dissolve" Parliament-the Governor General has always acted only on the advice of the leaders of the party commanding a majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Australian Parliament. Since his Labor Party holds 65 of the 127 seats in the House, Whitlam certainly could expect that the Governor General would take orders...
...interviews with TIME, both Fraser and Whitlam reaffirmed their mutual obstinacy. Said Fraser: "Our resolve is complete, absolute." The Prime Minister put it more bluntly: "One side has to crumble...