John Kerr
Encyclopedia
Sir John Robert Kerr, (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was the 18th Governor-General of Australia
. He dismissed the Labor
government of Gough Whitlam
on 11 November 1975, marking the climax of the most significant constitutional crisis in Australian history. He had previously been the 13th Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
.
(formerly Fort Street Boys' High School). He won scholarships to the University of Sydney
and graduated in law with first class honours and the University Medal, being called to the New South Wales
bar in 1938. At Fort Street, he met Dr H.V. Evatt
who later became a judge of the High Court of Australia
, and became a protege of his for many years. In 1938 Kerr married Alison Worstead, with whom he had three children. He spent World War II
working for an Australian intelligence organisation, the Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs
, a fact that later gave rise to many conspiracy theories. In 1946 he became principal of the Australian School of Pacific Administration
and the first Secretary-General of the South Pacific Commission
.
Kerr returned to the bar in 1948, becoming a prominent lawyer representing trade union clients and a member of the Australian Labor Party
. He intended to seek Labor endorsement for a parliamentary seat at the 1951 election
, but withdrew in favour of another candidate. After the Labor
split of 1955, however, he became disillusioned with party politics. He disliked what he saw as the leftward trend of the Australian Labor Party
under Evatt's leadership, but was not attracted to the breakaway group, the Democratic Labor Party
. During the decade of the 1950s, he joined the anti-communist advocacy group established by the United States' CIA
, the Association for Cultural Freedom
, joining its Executive Board in 1957.
In the 1960s Kerr became one of Sydney's leading industrial lawyers. In the 1950s he had become a QC
. In 1964 he was one of a group of lawyers (which also included future NSW Premier Neville Wran
) who lent their expertise to the defence of the publishers of the satirical magazine Oz
when they were prosecuted for obscenity.
In 1966 Kerr was appointed a judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and, later, to several other judicial positions. During this period his political views became more conservative. He became a friend of Sir Garfield Barwick
, the Liberal
Attorney-General who became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 1964. Kerr was the first chairman of the Law Association for Asia and the Western Pacific (LawAsia), founded by Justice Paul Toose and John Bruce Piggot in 1966. Kerr served as chairman of that organisation until 1970.
Kerr was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1972. He was knighted in the New Year's Honours of 1974. Sir Paul Hasluck
was due to retire as Governor-General
in July 1974, and the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam
, needed to find a suitable replacement. His first choice, Ken Myer
, declined; he then offered the post to Sir John, who accepted on condition that he could expect to have ten years in the office, and that he could represent Australia overseas as Head of State. Kerr was announced as Governor-General-designate on 27 February 1974. Kerr did not know Whitlam well, but he had remained friends with several ministers in Whitlam's government, such as Jim McClelland and Joe Riordan
. Kerr's wife Alison was a fellow student of Margaret Whitlam
during university days. Whitlam seems to have believed that, because of Kerr's former membership in the Labor Party, he was still politically "reliable," without realising that Kerr's political views had changed and that he had come to see the role of Governor-General differently from Whitlam.
following a double dissolution
, but failed to win control of the Senate
, where the balance of power was held by two independents. The new parliament was opened by Sir Paul Hasluck on 9 July, and Kerr was sworn in as Governor-General on 11 July. The disputed bills that had led to the double dissolution were reintroduced, and, as expected, were again rejected. The conditions for a joint sitting of the parliament had now been met. On 30 July, Kerr signed a proclamation convening the historic Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament on 6 and 7 August. All the contested bills were passed.
On 10 September his wife Alison died. In early 1975, he married Anne Robson
, who had recently divorced her first husband, Hugh Robson QC, a New South Wales judge and former colleague of Kerr's. Through her, Kerr acquired two stepchildren.
During 1975 the government was enveloped by a series of ministerial scandals (the "Loans Affair
"), which resulted in the sacking of two senior ministers, Rex Connor
and Deputy Prime Minister
, Jim Cairns
. The Liberal Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser
, decided to use the Senate to block the government's budget bills, thus forcing an early election for the House of Representatives (this is called "blocking supply
").
By 1975 the office of Governor-General had come to be seen by many as almost entirely ceremonial. Nevertheless, the Australian Constitution
gave the Governor-General wide-ranging powers, including the power to appoint and dismiss Ministers and to dissolve Parliament. Whitlam and others held the view that the Governor-General had no discretion in the exercise of these powers; that they must always be exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and never otherwise. Kerr and others disagreed fundamentally with this view, arguing the Constitution very clearly set out the Governor-General's powers.
In addition to the powers normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister, there are certain uncodified reserve power
s, exercisable on the Governor-General's own initiative. Kerr chose to make a study of the reserve powers through his earlier professional relationship with Evatt, the author of the standard work on the reserve powers as they applied to the British Dominions, The King and His Dominion Governors (1936). Kerr was familiar with this book, and re-read it before accepting Whitlam's offer of the governor-generalship.
.
Fraser was also aware of these considerations. He knew that several Liberal senators were uneasy about the blocking of supply, and might not be relied on for much longer—as was indeed confirmed by Liberal Senator Reg Withers after the dismissal. He also saw evidence in the opinion polls that the public was unhappy about the action of the Senate in delaying supply. For this reason, he was keen to see the crisis brought to an early conclusion. Intervention by the Governor-General was the only clear remedy in the event that supply could not be legislated and the prime minister declined to advise an election.
Opposition backbenchers began calling on Kerr to dismiss Whitlam during October. On 16 October, the Liberal frontbencher, Robert Ellicott (a former Commonwealth Solicitor-General) published with Fraser's approval a legal opinion which he had prepared for the Shadow Cabinet, arguing that the Governor-General had both the right and the duty to dismiss the government if it could not obtain supply. On 17 October, Whitlam told an interviewer that the Governor-General could not intervene in the crisis in view of the convention that he must always act on the advice of his Prime Minister. Whitlam said later that he intended these remarks to protect Kerr, by making clear his view that the Governor-General had no power to intervene, but Kerr apparently saw them as an attempt to intimidate him, and also as expressing a view of the reserve powers that he did not share.
Kerr saw himself as an active player in the unfolding political drama. He made it clear in several conversations with ministers that he did not accept the view that the Governor-General could play no role in the crisis until supply actually ran out: he saw it as his duty to help prevent things from getting to that stage. On 30 October, he proposed a compromise solution to Whitlam and Fraser which would have, in effect, meant a backdown by Fraser (Kerr proposed that the Opposition allow the supply bills to be passed in return for Whitlam's abandoning plans to call an early Senate election), but Fraser did not agree to this. On 2 November, Fraser offered to pass the bills if Whitlam would agree to call an election before the middle of 1976, but Whitlam in turn rejected that solution. Under the Westminster convention upheld in Australia, it is the prime minister's prerogative to recommend the timing of an election. It became clear that Kerr had considerable discussions with Fraser, contrary to Whitlam's specific advice. When Whitlam rejected Fraser's proposal, it seems, Kerr decided that Whitlam was being intransigent.
Kerr's personal relationship with Whitlam by this stage was not strong, he had been upset by suggestions that the Executive Council
had acted improperly during the Loans Affair and, moreover, he was suspicious that if Whitlam knew he was contemplating dismissing the Government, he (Whitlam) would react by pre-emptively advising the Queen to dismiss Kerr instead. Whitlam for his part assumed with characteristic confidence that Kerr would act predictably in the conventional manner of previous vice-regal appointees, was in full sympathy with the Government's position, and would do nothing to act against him. He therefore made no effort to obtain Kerr's agreement with his position and did not adequately consult with him during the crisis.
On 9 November, Kerr consulted the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
, Sir Garfield Barwick
. Kerr asked Barwick to advise him on whether he had the constitutional power to dismiss Whitlam, and Barwick advised him, in writing, that he did. He also advised him that at least one other High Court justice, Sir Anthony Mason, concurred in this view.
Kerr appears to have made up his mind on 9 November to dismiss Whitlam. He felt it necessary not to disclose this intention to Whitlam and his ministers because of his fear that Whitlam would advise the head of state, Queen Elizabeth, to terminate Kerr's commission as Governor-General. In so doing, Kerr was aware of the precedent set by Sir Philip Game
, the Governor of New South Wales, who had dismissed Jack Lang
's government in 1932. Game had warned Lang in advance that if he, Lang, did not withdraw certain regulations, then he, Game, would dismiss him. This allowed Lang to seek Game's dismissal if he dared, which he did not.
On the morning of Tuesday 11 November, Whitlam phoned Kerr and arranged to see him at 12.45 pm after the Remembrance Day
ceremonies. Kerr also arranged for Fraser to come "a quarter of an hour later. Mr Fraser was not told why I wanted him to come." Fraser later claimed that Kerr telephoned him and asked him whether, if he were commissioned as Prime Minister, he would
Fraser recalled answering "yes" to all these questions. In his memoirs Kerr denied making such a phone call to Fraser, but Fraser was adamant in all subsequent accounts that he did.
The House of Representatives was suspended at 12:55 pm for the luncheon break. Whitlam arrived at Government House
at 1 pm, 15 minutes late. Fraser had arrived earlier and been shown into another room. Whitlam and Kerr met alone in Kerr's study. Kerr knew that Whitlam intended to ask for a half-Senate election, one which would need to be conducted without supply, that is, unlawfully. So, after reconfirming that Whitlam's intention was to govern without parliamentary supply, Kerr withdrew his commission and served on him the letter of dismissal. Kerr claimed Whitlam then sought to telephone Buckingham Palace to advise Kerr's dimissal, but Whitlam has always denied this. At a press conference that afternoon he said "The Governor-General prevented me getting in touch with the Queen by just withdrawing the commission immediately" In an article in Quadrant magazine (March 2005, Volume 49, Number 3), David Smith
, Kerr's Official Secretary
, claimed that Whitlam knew of Kerr's intentions, the Queen had already made her position of non-intervention known to Whitlam and Kerr, and Kerr had called a double dissolution in order to be fair to both candidates, sincerely believing that Whitlam could win back government with the necessary majority in both houses.
When Whitlam had left, Kerr summoned Fraser and asked him the same questions which Fraser claims to have answered that morning. When Fraser answered affirmatively, Kerr then commissioned him as Prime Minister.
Kerr later put forward five propositions to justify his actions:
In the ensuing election campaign
, the Australian Labor Party's focus was predominantly on the asserted illegitimacy of the dismissal (with the slogan of "Shame Fraser, Shame"), while the Coalition focused on criticism of Labor's economic management. Some expected a major backlash against Fraser in favour of Whitlam (who had launched his campaign by calling upon his supporters to "maintain your rage"), based on opinion polls in October and early November which had shown disapproval of Fraser's tactics. Once the election was called, however, the majority focused on the economy and responded to the Liberals' slogan "Turn on the lights". Despite the passion of die-hard Labor supporters, furious at what they saw as an establishment plot to destroy a Labor government, Labor suffered its greatest-ever loss (7.4% down on its 1974 vote) at the hands of the Coalition, which continued to hold power until 1983.
Labor supporters continued to voice criticism and demonstrate against Kerr. He found the personal attacks on him and his wife
(whom Whitlam and others accused of having been a sinister influence) deeply wounding. For the rest of his term as Governor-General, Kerr was rarely able to appear in public without encountering angry demonstrations. On one occasion his life was thought to be endangered when he was unable to leave a speaking engagement in Melbourne except by having his car drive through an angry crowd. Labor parliamentarians, federal and state, refused to accept his legitimacy as Governor-General, shunning official functions where he was in attendance. Near the end of his term, he famously appeared to be drunk when he presented the 1977 Melbourne Cup
.
, an office which he felt unable to take up because of continuing bitter attacks on him both inside and outside the Parliament. Bill Hayden
, the new leader of the Labor Party, now in opposition, was one of the critics of the UNESCO appointment. In the Parliament he stated, "The appointment of Sir John Kerr as Ambassador ... is not just an indecent exercise of the rankest cynicism. It is in every respect an affront to this country."
According to historian Phillip Knightley
, "The remaining years of Sir John Kerr's life were miserable ones. He was subject to relentless harrassment whenever he appeared in public." He therefore moved to London "where he could be seen most days, usually the worse for wear, at one or other gentleman's club."
Kerr died in Sydney in 1991. The family deliberately withheld announcement of the death until after Kerr was buried. This ensured the then-Labor government would not be put in the position of deciding whether to offer a state funeral
, an honour that would normally be considered automatic for a former Governor-General. His wife Lady Kerr
died in 1997. They were survived by two children.
(CMG) on 1 January 1966 for services as President of the Law Council of Australia. On 1 January 1974, he was made a Knight Commander of that order (KCMG), for services as Chief Justice of NSW. In 1974 he was made a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
On the establishment of the Order of Australia
on 14 February 1975, as Governor-General he was made Principal Companion of the Order (AC). When the category of Knight was added to the Order on 24 May 1976, he was made Principal Knight of the Order (AK).
In 1976 he was elevated to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG). He had asked Gough Whitlam
for this appointment shortly after becoming Governor-General in 1974, but was rebuffed; it was Labor Party policy not to recommend knighthoods.
On 30 March 1977 he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
(GCVO), an award within the personal gift of the Sovereign, for services as Governor-General.
He was appointed a Privy Councillor in 1977. This was another appointment he had unsuccessfully sought from Whitlam in 1974.
| publisher=William Heinemann Australia
| year= 1987
| url =
| isbn = 0 85561 060 3 }}
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
. He dismissed the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government of Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
on 11 November 1975, marking the climax of the most significant constitutional crisis in Australian history. He had previously been the 13th Chief Justice
Chief Justice of Australia
The Chief Justice of Australia is the informal title for the presiding justice of the High Court of Australia and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Commonwealth of Australia...
of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Kerr's career
Kerr was born in Balmain, a working-class suburb of Sydney, where his father was a boiler-maker. He entered the Fort Street High SchoolFort Street High School
Fort Street High School is a co-educational, academically selective, public high school currently located at Petersham, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
(formerly Fort Street Boys' High School). He won scholarships to the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and graduated in law with first class honours and the University Medal, being called to the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
bar in 1938. At Fort Street, he met Dr H.V. Evatt
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, QC KStJ , was an Australian jurist, politician and writer. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1948–49 and helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
who later became a judge of the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, and became a protege of his for many years. In 1938 Kerr married Alison Worstead, with whom he had three children. He spent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
working for an Australian intelligence organisation, the Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs
Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs
DORCA, the Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs was a mysterious and difficult to categorise think tank and possibly intelligence organisation within the Australian Army in WWII....
, a fact that later gave rise to many conspiracy theories. In 1946 he became principal of the Australian School of Pacific Administration
Australian School of Pacific Administration
The Australian School of Pacific Administration was a tertiary institution established by the Australian Government to train administrators and later school teachers to work in Papua New Guinea...
and the first Secretary-General of the South Pacific Commission
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, or SPC , is a regional intergovernmental organisation whose membership includes both nations and territories...
.
Kerr returned to the bar in 1948, becoming a prominent lawyer representing trade union clients and a member of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. He intended to seek Labor endorsement for a parliamentary seat at the 1951 election
Australian federal election, 1951
Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill...
, but withdrew in favour of another candidate. After the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
split of 1955, however, he became disillusioned with party politics. He disliked what he saw as the leftward trend of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
under Evatt's leadership, but was not attracted to the breakaway group, the Democratic Labor Party
Democratic Labor Party (historical)
The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...
. During the decade of the 1950s, he joined the anti-communist advocacy group established by the United States' CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, the Association for Cultural Freedom
Association for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. In 1967, it was revealed that the United States Central Intelligence Agency was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the group , and it was subsequently renamed the...
, joining its Executive Board in 1957.
In the 1960s Kerr became one of Sydney's leading industrial lawyers. In the 1950s he had become a QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. In 1964 he was one of a group of lawyers (which also included future NSW Premier Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
) who lent their expertise to the defence of the publishers of the satirical magazine Oz
Oz (magazine)
Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London...
when they were prosecuted for obscenity.
In 1966 Kerr was appointed a judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and, later, to several other judicial positions. During this period his political views became more conservative. He became a friend of Sir Garfield Barwick
Garfield Barwick
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...
, the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Attorney-General who became Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in 1964. Kerr was the first chairman of the Law Association for Asia and the Western Pacific (LawAsia), founded by Justice Paul Toose and John Bruce Piggot in 1966. Kerr served as chairman of that organisation until 1970.
Kerr was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1972. He was knighted in the New Year's Honours of 1974. Sir Paul Hasluck
Paul Hasluck
Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ was an Australian historian, poet, public servant and politician, and the 17th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
was due to retire as Governor-General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
in July 1974, and the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
, needed to find a suitable replacement. His first choice, Ken Myer
Ken Myer
Kenneth Baillieu Myer AC DSC was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat; administrator; businessman; and philanthropist...
, declined; he then offered the post to Sir John, who accepted on condition that he could expect to have ten years in the office, and that he could represent Australia overseas as Head of State. Kerr was announced as Governor-General-designate on 27 February 1974. Kerr did not know Whitlam well, but he had remained friends with several ministers in Whitlam's government, such as Jim McClelland and Joe Riordan
Joe Riordan
Joseph Martin "Joe" Riordan AO is a former Australian politician and briefly government minister.A Catholic, Riordan was born in Sydney and educated at Patrician Brothers School and Marist Brother College in that city. He married Patricia Watkins in 1955; they have four sons and two daughters...
. Kerr's wife Alison was a fellow student of Margaret Whitlam
Margaret Whitlam
Margaret Whitlam AO is a prominent Australian personality and the wife of former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam...
during university days. Whitlam seems to have believed that, because of Kerr's former membership in the Labor Party, he was still politically "reliable," without realising that Kerr's political views had changed and that he had come to see the role of Governor-General differently from Whitlam.
Kerr as Governor-General
The Whitlam Government had won a second term in May 1974Australian federal election, 1974
Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution...
following a double dissolution
Double dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, but failed to win control of the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
, where the balance of power was held by two independents. The new parliament was opened by Sir Paul Hasluck on 9 July, and Kerr was sworn in as Governor-General on 11 July. The disputed bills that had led to the double dissolution were reintroduced, and, as expected, were again rejected. The conditions for a joint sitting of the parliament had now been met. On 30 July, Kerr signed a proclamation convening the historic Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament on 6 and 7 August. All the contested bills were passed.
On 10 September his wife Alison died. In early 1975, he married Anne Robson
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr was the second wife of Sir John Kerr, Governor-General of Australia 1974-77. They were married during his term of office, six months after his first wife had died.-Biography:...
, who had recently divorced her first husband, Hugh Robson QC, a New South Wales judge and former colleague of Kerr's. Through her, Kerr acquired two stepchildren.
During 1975 the government was enveloped by a series of ministerial scandals (the "Loans Affair
Loans Affair
The Loans Affair, also called the Khemlani Affair, is the name given to the political scandal involving the Whitlam Government of Australia in 1975, in which it was accused of attempting to borrow money illegally from Middle Eastern countries by bypassing standard procedure as dictated by the...
"), which resulted in the sacking of two senior ministers, Rex Connor
Rex Connor
Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor , Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam government and promoted government investment to support national development...
and Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The Deputy Prime Ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1968, and the Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime...
, Jim Cairns
Jim Cairns
James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...
. The Liberal Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
, decided to use the Senate to block the government's budget bills, thus forcing an early election for the House of Representatives (this is called "blocking supply
Loss of Supply
Loss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A...
").
By 1975 the office of Governor-General had come to be seen by many as almost entirely ceremonial. Nevertheless, the Australian Constitution
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
gave the Governor-General wide-ranging powers, including the power to appoint and dismiss Ministers and to dissolve Parliament. Whitlam and others held the view that the Governor-General had no discretion in the exercise of these powers; that they must always be exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and never otherwise. Kerr and others disagreed fundamentally with this view, arguing the Constitution very clearly set out the Governor-General's powers.
In addition to the powers normally exercised only on the advice of the Prime Minister, there are certain uncodified reserve power
Reserve power
In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch of the government. Unlike a presidential system of government, the head of state is generally constrained by the cabinet or the...
s, exercisable on the Governor-General's own initiative. Kerr chose to make a study of the reserve powers through his earlier professional relationship with Evatt, the author of the standard work on the reserve powers as they applied to the British Dominions, The King and His Dominion Governors (1936). Kerr was familiar with this book, and re-read it before accepting Whitlam's offer of the governor-generalship.
.
The 1975 crisis
In October 1975 the Liberals used their Senate majority to defer voting on the supply bills until Whitlam agreed to hold an election for the House of Representatives, and a political crisis resulted. Whitlam refused to back down and call an early election, nor would Fraser give in and allow the budget bills to pass. If this impasse had gone on indefinitely, the government would have run out of money and been unable to fund its ongoing commitments, public-service, parliamentary and judicial costs. It was estimated that it would be late-November before this occurred. Whitlam was confident that at least some of the Liberal senators would back down if he held out long enough. Undoubtedly, he also surmised that public opinion could swing back his way as a result of Fraser's tactics and that, at an opportune moment, he could call a half-Senate election (at which government would not be at stake) as a means of breaking the deadlock.Fraser was also aware of these considerations. He knew that several Liberal senators were uneasy about the blocking of supply, and might not be relied on for much longer—as was indeed confirmed by Liberal Senator Reg Withers after the dismissal. He also saw evidence in the opinion polls that the public was unhappy about the action of the Senate in delaying supply. For this reason, he was keen to see the crisis brought to an early conclusion. Intervention by the Governor-General was the only clear remedy in the event that supply could not be legislated and the prime minister declined to advise an election.
Opposition backbenchers began calling on Kerr to dismiss Whitlam during October. On 16 October, the Liberal frontbencher, Robert Ellicott (a former Commonwealth Solicitor-General) published with Fraser's approval a legal opinion which he had prepared for the Shadow Cabinet, arguing that the Governor-General had both the right and the duty to dismiss the government if it could not obtain supply. On 17 October, Whitlam told an interviewer that the Governor-General could not intervene in the crisis in view of the convention that he must always act on the advice of his Prime Minister. Whitlam said later that he intended these remarks to protect Kerr, by making clear his view that the Governor-General had no power to intervene, but Kerr apparently saw them as an attempt to intimidate him, and also as expressing a view of the reserve powers that he did not share.
Kerr saw himself as an active player in the unfolding political drama. He made it clear in several conversations with ministers that he did not accept the view that the Governor-General could play no role in the crisis until supply actually ran out: he saw it as his duty to help prevent things from getting to that stage. On 30 October, he proposed a compromise solution to Whitlam and Fraser which would have, in effect, meant a backdown by Fraser (Kerr proposed that the Opposition allow the supply bills to be passed in return for Whitlam's abandoning plans to call an early Senate election), but Fraser did not agree to this. On 2 November, Fraser offered to pass the bills if Whitlam would agree to call an election before the middle of 1976, but Whitlam in turn rejected that solution. Under the Westminster convention upheld in Australia, it is the prime minister's prerogative to recommend the timing of an election. It became clear that Kerr had considerable discussions with Fraser, contrary to Whitlam's specific advice. When Whitlam rejected Fraser's proposal, it seems, Kerr decided that Whitlam was being intransigent.
Kerr's personal relationship with Whitlam by this stage was not strong, he had been upset by suggestions that the Executive Council
Federal Executive Council
The Federal Executive Council is the formal body holding executive authority under the Constitution of Australia. It is equivalent to the other Executive Councils in other Commonwealth Realms such as the Executive Council of New Zealand and is equivalent to the Privy councils in Canada and the...
had acted improperly during the Loans Affair and, moreover, he was suspicious that if Whitlam knew he was contemplating dismissing the Government, he (Whitlam) would react by pre-emptively advising the Queen to dismiss Kerr instead. Whitlam for his part assumed with characteristic confidence that Kerr would act predictably in the conventional manner of previous vice-regal appointees, was in full sympathy with the Government's position, and would do nothing to act against him. He therefore made no effort to obtain Kerr's agreement with his position and did not adequately consult with him during the crisis.
The dismissal
Kerr had another meeting with Fraser (with Whitlam's approval) on 6 November. At this meeting Fraser increased the pressure on Kerr, advising him that the Opposition would not back down and would not accept any compromise, and warning him that if he did not take action against Whitlam then the Opposition would begin to make direct public criticism of him, for having "failed in his duty." Fraser urged Kerr to bring about an election before the end of 1975. The provisions of the Electoral Act meant that the last date on which a 1975 election could be announced was 11 November.On 9 November, Kerr consulted the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, Sir Garfield Barwick
Garfield Barwick
Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...
. Kerr asked Barwick to advise him on whether he had the constitutional power to dismiss Whitlam, and Barwick advised him, in writing, that he did. He also advised him that at least one other High Court justice, Sir Anthony Mason, concurred in this view.
Kerr appears to have made up his mind on 9 November to dismiss Whitlam. He felt it necessary not to disclose this intention to Whitlam and his ministers because of his fear that Whitlam would advise the head of state, Queen Elizabeth, to terminate Kerr's commission as Governor-General. In so doing, Kerr was aware of the precedent set by Sir Philip Game
Philip Game
Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Woolcott Game GCB, GCVO, GBE, KCMG, DSO was a British Royal Air Force commander, who later served as Governor of New South Wales and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis...
, the Governor of New South Wales, who had dismissed Jack Lang
Jack Lang (Australian politician)
John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
's government in 1932. Game had warned Lang in advance that if he, Lang, did not withdraw certain regulations, then he, Game, would dismiss him. This allowed Lang to seek Game's dismissal if he dared, which he did not.
On the morning of Tuesday 11 November, Whitlam phoned Kerr and arranged to see him at 12.45 pm after the Remembrance Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
ceremonies. Kerr also arranged for Fraser to come "a quarter of an hour later. Mr Fraser was not told why I wanted him to come." Fraser later claimed that Kerr telephoned him and asked him whether, if he were commissioned as Prime Minister, he would
- pass the budget bills,
- call an immediate double dissolutionDouble dissolutionA double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
election for both houses of Parliament, and - make no appointments, initiate no new policies, and conduct no inquiries into the previous government, before such an election.
Fraser recalled answering "yes" to all these questions. In his memoirs Kerr denied making such a phone call to Fraser, but Fraser was adamant in all subsequent accounts that he did.
The House of Representatives was suspended at 12:55 pm for the luncheon break. Whitlam arrived at Government House
Government House, Canberra
Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory....
at 1 pm, 15 minutes late. Fraser had arrived earlier and been shown into another room. Whitlam and Kerr met alone in Kerr's study. Kerr knew that Whitlam intended to ask for a half-Senate election, one which would need to be conducted without supply, that is, unlawfully. So, after reconfirming that Whitlam's intention was to govern without parliamentary supply, Kerr withdrew his commission and served on him the letter of dismissal. Kerr claimed Whitlam then sought to telephone Buckingham Palace to advise Kerr's dimissal, but Whitlam has always denied this. At a press conference that afternoon he said "The Governor-General prevented me getting in touch with the Queen by just withdrawing the commission immediately" In an article in Quadrant magazine (March 2005, Volume 49, Number 3), David Smith
David Smith (Australian public servant)
Sir David Iser Smith, KCVO, AO, is a retired Australian public servant. He was the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia between 1973 and 1990, serving Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir John Kerr, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen and Bill Hayden.-Biography:David Smith was born in 1933,...
, Kerr's Official Secretary
Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia
The Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia and his staff provide governors-general with the necessary support to enable them to carry out their constitutional, statutory, ceremonial and public duties. The position of Official Secretary was established in 1901, although only...
, claimed that Whitlam knew of Kerr's intentions, the Queen had already made her position of non-intervention known to Whitlam and Kerr, and Kerr had called a double dissolution in order to be fair to both candidates, sincerely believing that Whitlam could win back government with the necessary majority in both houses.
When Whitlam had left, Kerr summoned Fraser and asked him the same questions which Fraser claims to have answered that morning. When Fraser answered affirmatively, Kerr then commissioned him as Prime Minister.
Kerr later put forward five propositions to justify his actions:
- The Senate had the right under Section 53 of the Constitution to block supply.
- The Government had an obligation to obtain supply through Parliament.
- If the Government could not obtain supply, it had either to resign or call an election.
- If the Government refused to do either of these things, the Governor-General had a right and a duty to act to intervene.
- Since the Prime Minister could at any time advise the Queen to terminate the Governor-General's commission, the Governor-General had a right to dismiss the Government without advance warning of his intention to do so.
After the dismissal
The news that Whitlam had been dismissed spread across Australia during the afternoon, resulting in angry protest demonstrations by his supporters. Over the following month, leading to the double dissolution election scheduled for 13 December 1975, Whitlam and ALP supporters constantly and intensely denigrated Kerr, no doubt in the belief that the electorate would prove sympathetic to the deposed Labor government.In the ensuing election campaign
Australian federal election, 1975
Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....
, the Australian Labor Party's focus was predominantly on the asserted illegitimacy of the dismissal (with the slogan of "Shame Fraser, Shame"), while the Coalition focused on criticism of Labor's economic management. Some expected a major backlash against Fraser in favour of Whitlam (who had launched his campaign by calling upon his supporters to "maintain your rage"), based on opinion polls in October and early November which had shown disapproval of Fraser's tactics. Once the election was called, however, the majority focused on the economy and responded to the Liberals' slogan "Turn on the lights". Despite the passion of die-hard Labor supporters, furious at what they saw as an establishment plot to destroy a Labor government, Labor suffered its greatest-ever loss (7.4% down on its 1974 vote) at the hands of the Coalition, which continued to hold power until 1983.
Labor supporters continued to voice criticism and demonstrate against Kerr. He found the personal attacks on him and his wife
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr was the second wife of Sir John Kerr, Governor-General of Australia 1974-77. They were married during his term of office, six months after his first wife had died.-Biography:...
(whom Whitlam and others accused of having been a sinister influence) deeply wounding. For the rest of his term as Governor-General, Kerr was rarely able to appear in public without encountering angry demonstrations. On one occasion his life was thought to be endangered when he was unable to leave a speaking engagement in Melbourne except by having his car drive through an angry crowd. Labor parliamentarians, federal and state, refused to accept his legitimacy as Governor-General, shunning official functions where he was in attendance. Near the end of his term, he famously appeared to be drunk when he presented the 1977 Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
.
Resignation
Concern about his health may have been one reason why he cut short his five-year term and stood down in December 1977. In fact, his resignation had already been proposed as early as March 1977, during the Queen's visit. Fraser denounced Kerr's detractors as "a hostile and bitter minority" whose actions were unjustified. Sir John was appointed to the post of Ambassador to UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, an office which he felt unable to take up because of continuing bitter attacks on him both inside and outside the Parliament. Bill Hayden
Bill Hayden
William George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the...
, the new leader of the Labor Party, now in opposition, was one of the critics of the UNESCO appointment. In the Parliament he stated, "The appointment of Sir John Kerr as Ambassador ... is not just an indecent exercise of the rankest cynicism. It is in every respect an affront to this country."
According to historian Phillip Knightley
Phillip Knightley
Phillip Knightley is a journalist, critic, and non-fiction author, visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Lincoln, England, and media commentator on the intelligence services and propaganda.-Biography:...
, "The remaining years of Sir John Kerr's life were miserable ones. He was subject to relentless harrassment whenever he appeared in public." He therefore moved to London "where he could be seen most days, usually the worse for wear, at one or other gentleman's club."
Kerr died in Sydney in 1991. The family deliberately withheld announcement of the death until after Kerr was buried. This ensured the then-Labor government would not be put in the position of deciding whether to offer a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
, an honour that would normally be considered automatic for a former Governor-General. His wife Lady Kerr
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr
Anne Kerr, Lady Kerr was the second wife of Sir John Kerr, Governor-General of Australia 1974-77. They were married during his term of office, six months after his first wife had died.-Biography:...
died in 1997. They were survived by two children.
Honours
John Kerr was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(CMG) on 1 January 1966 for services as President of the Law Council of Australia. On 1 January 1974, he was made a Knight Commander of that order (KCMG), for services as Chief Justice of NSW. In 1974 he was made a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
On the establishment of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
on 14 February 1975, as Governor-General he was made Principal Companion of the Order (AC). When the category of Knight was added to the Order on 24 May 1976, he was made Principal Knight of the Order (AK).
In 1976 he was elevated to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG). He had asked Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
for this appointment shortly after becoming Governor-General in 1974, but was rebuffed; it was Labor Party policy not to recommend knighthoods.
On 30 March 1977 he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(GCVO), an award within the personal gift of the Sovereign, for services as Governor-General.
He was appointed a Privy Councillor in 1977. This was another appointment he had unsuccessfully sought from Whitlam in 1974.
Books, letters, articles
| title = Malcolm Fraser: A Biography| publisher=William Heinemann Australia
| year= 1987
| url =
| isbn = 0 85561 060 3 }}
- House of Representatives Hansard, 11 November 1975