Dismissal

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. 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