There are many questions regarding The Dismissal that can still be debated. But the queen simply advised the governor-general to follow the constitution, which is as she should have done.
Articles on Gough Whitlam
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After a long court battle, Australians are finally about to learn more about one of the most pivotal episodes in our political and constitutional history.
The dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 is our story, and we have a right to know it in full.
The first director of the National Gallery of Australia has died at 88.
Political humour, like all humour, carries an innate risk: if it works, it can be spectacular, and it it tanks, it can be a catastrophe. Australian election campaigns have given us both.
In 1960, Harold Holt, the then-treasurer, urged the government to abolish import restrictions, resulting in a minor recession. This nearly swung the election in the ALP’s favour.
In the 70s, Whitlam tried to build new, big cities. But this was too costly. Now the most viable solution for Australia’s population woes is to make existing cities bigger.
The continued embargo on documents relating to the dismissal of the Whitlam government point to the lingering imperial power that comes from an incomplete severance of colonial ties.
The arguments about a potential Australian republic in cabinet submissions suggest a failure of imagination and, more seriously, of trust.
The release of the much-awaited papers from the parliamentary archives will lead to new appraisals of Lionel Murphy’s life and work – including his alleged misbehaviour.
The 1967 referendum was the culmination of a long struggle for both Aboriginal rights and respect, for social esteem as well as equality before the law.
The Dismissal soured politicians’ taste for brinkmanship. It revealed the likely consequence of a loss of political legitimacy.
Now, more than at any time in our history, Australia needs a relationship with China ‘comparable with that which we have, or seek, with other major powers’.
We check the facts on how Australia’s foreign aid spend has changed over time.
Labor’s project of economic transformation hit some harder realities as Paul Keating assumed the top job. And a new push on remaking Australia stirred a brooding reaction of its own.
As the government hints the marriage equality plebiscite may be delayed until 2017, calls intensify for the parliament to legislate on the issue instead. So what is parliament’s role here?
A new book reveals the drama and comedy of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s famous “hand back” of Gurindji land in 1975, following the Wave Hill Walk-Off 50 years ago – and the bittersweet aftermath.
Scare campaigns only work if there is some anxiety to build on. Labor’s Medicare campaign plugged into a long history of Coalition ambivalence – or open hostility – towards Medicare.
The 2016 articulation of an urban agenda assumes building more highways, railways and trams will produce better, more productive cities that somehow give everyone a job.
Is the Dismissal a moment that will become even more significant if the push for Australia to become a republic gains momentum?
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Emeritus Professor, Monash University
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Professor Emerita in Constitutional Law, University of Sydney
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Tony Walker AM is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, La Trobe University
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Professor of History, President, Australian Historical Association, Macquarie University
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Director, Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas (CoPI) and Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas, University of Canberra
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Joanna Mendelssohn is a Friend of The Conversation.
Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne
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ANU Law, Australian National University
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Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University
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Lecturer in Australian Political Studies, University of Canberra
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Honorary lecturer, School of Social Sciences, UNSW
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Emeritus Professor of Politics, Monash University
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Scientia Professor of Economics, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University
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Dennis Altman is a Friend of The Conversation.
Vice Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University