Australian Constitutional Crisis of 1975 essays

Australian Constitutional Crisis of 1975 essays Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 I will never forget that day, 11 November 1975 to be exact. To me it is a day of rememberance. This whole contraversial issue began when the the Senate blocked a bill that appropriated funds for the payment of government expenditure, with the goal of forcing the Government to call a lower-house election. Such action was unprecedented in Australian Federal politics. My party ignored such calls, and attempted to pressure Liberal senators to support the bill and also explored alternative means to fund government expenditure. On October 14: Minerals and Energy Minister, Rex Connor, resigns after being shown to have misled Parliament over ongoing negotiations for overseas loans with Tirath Khemlani. He is replaced by Paul Keating. On October 15: Every metropolitan newspaper in Australia calls on the Government to resign. Fraser announces that the Senate will delay the two money bills until Whitlam calls an election. On October 16: The Senate blocks the money bills, whilst the House of Representatives passes a motion of confidence in the government. On October 16-November 8: The Parliament debates the constitutional crisis, with the House consistently reaffirming its confidence in the government. Both sides of politics conduct rallies around the country. Public opinion polls show a swing to the government. The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, speaks with both me and Fraser on a number of occasions. On November 10: The Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Garfield Barwick, a former Liberal Government minister, sees the Governor-General. Later, he gives Kerr a letter that the Governor-General releases the next day to support his decision. On November 11: the Governor-General of Australia dismissed me from my leader ship and appointed the Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser, as the care-taker Prime Minister on the conditions that Fraser would call for a general election. ...