Goughing My Way?

Or

Down Under

Gough Whitlam, the only Australian Prime Minister to get fired, has died at the age of 98. Whitlam led his Labor Party to the PMship for the first time in 23 years when he was elected in 1972. His public service began in 1952, when he was elected to Parliament, and after a narrow loss in 1969, got to tell all the Bruces and Sheilas what for. Though brief, Whitlam’s term as PM was significant – ending the draft, starting universal health care and free university education, starting land reform for the Aborigines, abolishing the death penalty and implementing the One Family, One Koala policy. In 1975, the Opposition-controlled Senate delayed passage of appropriation bills, effectively shutting down the government. Governor-General Sir John Kerr rewarded the tactic by sacking Whitlam faster than a moose-obsessed subtitlist and elevating the Opposition leader to prime minister. For those who thought that obstructionist tactics only bore fruit in American politics. After consecutive drubbings in national elections, Whitlam retired as leader in 1977 and left Parliament in 1978. His dismissal remains a much-discussed constitutional crisis, with the legality never fully determined, and more books have been about his written about his term than about any other Australian prime minister.