Catalogue
Book Details

The Dismissal

Where were you on November 11, 1975?

Sybil Nolan (ed.)

The dismissal of Gough Whitlam's Labor government on November 11, 1975, was stunning news to most Australians, whichever side of the political divide they inhabited.

About this Title

The dismissal of Gough Whitlam's Labor government on November 11, 1975, was stunning news to most Australians, whichever side of the political divide they inhabited. Many people on first hearing that the Governor-General had sacked the Prime Minister, and appointed the Opposition leader as caretaker in his place, simply refused to believe it. Yet the ALP was defeated at the election that followed, and one of the most dramatic periods of political reform the nation had ever experienced abruptly ended.

Shockwaves from the Dismissal generated profound political and personal ripples, particularly in the lives of those who had come of age in the 1960s and '70s. For some, it was a marker of what had been gained and lost in those remarkable years of change. For others directly involved in the events, it was a battle to the political death over principles and power.

In this entertaining collection, thirty prominent Australians recall the events of November 11, 1975, and the days and weeks that followed. From Bob Ellis to Bob Hawke, Lindy Morrison to Frank Moorhouse, Michelle Grattan to David Kemp, they take stock of those times with a mixture of passion, pride, regret, scepticism and humour.

'I did not share the all-too-easy euphoria that the electorate would revolt against the Machiavellian tactics of Fraser, Kerr and Barwick. The unavoidable fact was that one didn't have to rely on the polls to know that the government was widely unpopular.'
Bob Hawke

'Some demonstrators proposed storming the gates of Government House, but a new arrival informed us that the action was at Parliament and the crowd rapidly adjourned.'
Bron Stevens

'Next day we somehow never got around to forming ourselves into a militia, other things to do, writing of sonnets, finishing of novels, beginning or breaking up relationships, and so on.'
Frank Moorhouse

Book Preview

978-0-522-85199-1