1975 constitutional crisis
Assess the significance of the 1975 crisis to Australian politics today.The Constitutional Crisis of 1975 is significant to Australian politics today to some extent. The Constitutional crisis involved the breach of constitutional conventions and the eventual dismissal of the Prime Minister. Many factors are involved in The Constitutional Crisis of 1975. The context of this time was economic crisis of stagflation, a very weak economy with simultaneously rising rates of inflation and unemployment. In December 1972, the Labor party (ALP) was elected for the first time in 23 years with Gough Whitlam appointed Prime Minister. The Senate had a balance of power, where the Opposition and Government held an equal number of seats, 26 each. In April 1974, Opposition leader, Billy Snedden announced that the senate would withhold supply. This triggered a Double Dissolution Election by the Governor General on the advice of the PM, Gough Whitlam. In May 1974, the ALP was re-elected into government. Sir John Kerr was appointed Governor General during July 1974. It was during 1975 that the Casual Senate Vacancies convention was breached. It led to a hostile senate. In March 1975, Malcolm Fraser displaced Billy Snedden as
Conclusion:It can be argued that the crisis of conventions has not been resolved because the Senate's power to block supply and GG's reserve powers are still controlled by convention. In 1977, the Liberal Party put a referendum to the people to change S15 of the constitution to ensure that the filling of Casual Senate Vacancies would be with a member of the same political party. That day, supply was passed in the senate, and a DD election was called. By convention, the Senate passes money bills. This amendment means that this can't occur today. It's not very likely that this could occur again today because the GG can be fired by the Queen on the advice of the PM. By convention, the GG acts on advice of the PM and Cabinet, but can exercise their reserve powers, which means the GG can act without the advice of the PM. During April 1974, Opposition leader Billy Snedden, announced that it would block supply. The government still had 2-3 weeks of money left. Significance:Constitutional Conventions are unwritten constitutional rules of conduct that have strong acceptance and are consciously and consistently followed in practise, but they are not compulsory. Finally, Whitlam accepted the decisions, and the neither the dismissal or actions of the GG was challenged in the courts. These pointes confirm that the GG's actions were not justified. This convention was followed from 1948 until 1975 when the convention was breached twice. It can also be argued that the crisis of 1975 hasn't been significant as only 1 of the 3 main conventions breeched has been changed to stop the re-occurrence of 1975.
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Acceptance Essays
