What was the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis?

The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis was the political and constitutional confrontation that led to Governor-General Sir John Kerr's dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975. The crisis was triggered by the Coalition opposition's blocking of supply (the government's annual budget legislation) in the Senate from October 1975, in an unprecedented use of the upper house's powers.

The Senate stand-off began when the Coalition (led in the Senate by Reg Withers) blocked passage of the 1975 to 1976 federal Budget bills. The Senate did not vote to reject the bills outright but instead deferred consideration, denying the government the supply of money to operate. The Coalition demanded that Whitlam either resign or call an early election. Whitlam refused, arguing that the principle of responsible government required that the government continue as long as it held the confidence of the House of Representatives (where Labor held a majority).

The crisis built across October and early November 1975. The Senate continued to defer consideration of supply bills. The government was running out of money to pay public service wages and other commitments. Both Whitlam and Fraser dug in. Kerr consulted privately with Chief Justice Sir Garfield Barwick (a former Liberal minister) about his constitutional options. On 11 November 1975, Kerr summoned Whitlam to Government House and withdrew his commission as Prime Minister, simultaneously commissioning Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister on the express condition that Fraser would secure supply and advise the dissolution of both Houses.

The events of 11 November 1975 have remained intensely controversial. Whitlam's famous comment on the steps of Parliament House, after the dismissal was announced, was: 'Well may we say God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor-General!' The House of Representatives passed a motion of no confidence in Fraser the same afternoon but Kerr had already dissolved the House before the motion could take effect. Fraser won the subsequent 13 December 1975 federal election in a landslide, with the Coalition gaining 91 seats to Labor's 36 in the House of Representatives. The dismissal raised profound constitutional questions about the role of the Governor-General, the Senate's power to block supply, the limits of executive authority, and the relationship between the Crown and Australian democracy. Reforms followed: amendments to the Senate's procedures, the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Act 1977 that addressed Senate replacement disputes that had contributed to the crisis, and continuing calls for an Australian republic that would remove the Crown's reserve powers. The 2020 to 2024 release of the so-called Palace Letters (correspondence between Kerr and Buckingham Palace) produced renewed debate about the events.