"Elections are good" - reflections on Kerr's dismissal of Whitlam

Tomorrow, 11-Nov-2008, is the 33rd anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government by governor-general John Kerr. No doubt there will be a few newspaper columns marking the occasion. Perhaps some, like in the past, (like this this one) will call it a "coup", or criticise John Kerr in some other way.

For those who missed it: the government of Gough Whitlam controlled the Australian House of Representatives, but not the Senate. Due to some barely-legal manouvering, and a defection to the Liberal party, the opposition led by Malcolm Fraser was able to block supply in the Senate, blocking all government funds. In effect, Fraser held the country to ransom, insisting that Whitlam (or Kerr) call an early election.

Fraser's actions were unpopular - and in my mind unethical - but they were legal. Really, while the Fraser's Liberal-Country Coalition insisted on blocking the supply, there was no alternative but to call an election.

Now historians have argued over whether Kerr dismissed Whitlam too early, or whether he should have told Whitlam what he wanted to do. But all Kerr really did was call an election. And elections are good. They mean that the people decide.

The mindset that says Kerr shouldn't have called an election, is really a mindset that says the Australian people can't be trusted, that elections are bad things. I disagree! Elections are good!

Every now and then, proposals emerge to lengthen Australian political terms from 3 to 4 years. In the name of "stable government", we get less elections. I disagree! Elections are good!

What should have happened in 1975 was that the electorate should have punished Fraser for holding country to ransom by blocking supply. But it didn't. The Australian people chose a Fraser government over a Whitlam government.

Whitlam and Labor have every right to be angry at Fraser, for blocking supply, or even at the Australian electorate, for voting them out. That Labor instead reserved its rage for Kerr, when all he did was call an election because he felt he had no alternative, is bizarre. Elections are good.