List of Australian political scandals
Encyclopedia
This is a list of major political controversies in Australia
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Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
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| Controversy "name" | Date | People involved |
|---|---|---|
| Rum rebellion Rum Rebellion The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20... |
1808 | Deposition and arrest of NSW Governor William Bligh William Bligh Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers... by Major George Johnston, John Macarthur John Macarthur (wool pioneer) John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation... |
| Hopetoun Blunder Hopetoun Blunder The Hopetoun Blunder was a political event immediately prior to the Federation of the British colonies in Australia.Federation was scheduled to occur on 1 January 1901, but since the general election for the first Parliament of Australia was not to be held until March of that year, it was not... |
1900 | Appointment of the first Prime Minister: Edmund Barton Edmund Barton Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.... , William Lyne William Lyne Sir William John Lyne KCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales and a member of the first federal ministry.-Early life:... and John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC , also known as Viscount Aithrie before 1873 and as The 7th Earl of Hopetoun between 1873 and 1902, was a Scottish aristocrat, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his brief and controversial tenure as the... |
| Nevanas affair Nevanas affair The Nevanas affair was a political scandal in Western Australia that was partly responsible for the downfall of John Scaddan's Labor government.... |
1915 | Actions leading to the downfall of John Scaddan John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :... 's W.A. government |
| Mungana Affair Mungana affair The Mungana Affair involved the selling of some mining properties in the Chillagoe-Mungana districts of northern Queensland, Australia to the Queensland government, at a grossly inflated price... |
1929 | Corrupt actions by Qld. Premiers Ted Theodore Ted Theodore Edward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician. He was Premier of Queensland 1919–25, a federal politician representing a New South Wales seat 1927–31, and Federal Treasurer 1929–30.-Early life:... and William McCormack William McCormack William McCormack , was Premier of Queensland, Australia, from 1925 to 1929.He was born in Purnam, Queensland and died in Brisbane on 21 November 1947.... |
| Lang Dismissal Crisis Lang Dismissal Crisis The 1932 dismissal of Premier Jack Lang by New South Wales Governor Philip Game was the first real constitutional crisis in Australia. Lang remains the only Australian Premier to be removed from office by his Governor, using the Reserve Powers of the Crown.... |
1932 | Dismissal of NSW Premier 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... by governor 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... |
| Attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia | 1934 | Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch was a Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. Known as the The raging reporter from Prague, Kisch was noted for his development of literary reportage and his opposition to Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.- Biography :Kisch was born into a wealthy, German-speaking... , Joseph Lyons Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931... , Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia.... , Herbert 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... and many others |
| Playmander Playmander The Playmander was a form of electoral malapportionment in the Australian state of South Australia, in place from 1936 to 1968. It consisted of rural districts enjoying a 2-to-1 advantage in the state parliament, even though they contained less than half of the population, as well as a change from... |
1936 to 1968 |
South Australian Electoral "gerrymander" favouring Sir Thomas Playford Thomas Playford IV Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and... |
| Petrov Affair Petrov Affair The Petrov Affair was a dramatic Cold War spy incident in Australia in April 1954, concerning Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary of the Soviet embassy in Canberra.- History :... |
1954 | Vladimir Petrov Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov (diplomat) Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov was a member of the Soviet Union's clandestine services who became famous in 1954 for his defection to Australia.-Early life:... and others |
| Gair Affair | 1974 | Vince Gair Vince Gair Vincent Clare "Vince" Gair was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party... , 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... , Joh Bjelke-Petersen Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state... |
| 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... |
1975 | 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... , 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... |
| 1975 Australian constitutional crisis | 1975 | 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... , 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... , Sir John Kerr |
| Combe-Ivanov affair | 1983 | David Combe David Combe David Combe was National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party, a political consultant and lobbyist, an Australian Trade Commissioner, a Senior Vice President International of Southcorp Wines, and a consultant to the Australian Wine Industry.-Early life:Harvey David Mathew Combe was born in 1943... , Valery Ivanov Valery Ivanov Valery Nikolayevich Ivanov was a Soviet diplomat.As First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy to Australia, he was expelled on 22 April 1983 under suspicion of being a spy after allegedly trying to recruit Australian Labor Party member David Combe.... , Mick Young Mick Young Michael Jerome Young was an Australian politician. He rose through the Australian Labor Party to become its National Secretary, before serving as a Labor member of the House of Representatives from the 1974 election to 1988... |
| Fitzgerald Inquiry Fitzgerald Inquiry The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the deposition of a premier, two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner who was jailed and lost his... |
1987 | Joh Bjelke-Petersen Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state... |
| Edmund Rouse bribery scandal | 1989 | Jim Cox, Robin Gray Robin Gray (Australian politician) Robin Trevor Gray is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. A Liberal, he was elected Liberal state leader in 1981 and in 1982 defeated the Labor government of Harry Holgate on a policy of "state development," particularly the building of the Franklin Dam, a... , Gunns Gunns Gunns Limited is a major forestry enterprise located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1875 by brothers John and Thomas Gunn, it is one of Australia's oldest companies. It has over 900 square kilometres of plantations, mainly eucalyptus trees. It is Tasmania’s largest private land-owner... |
| WA Inc WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell and Warren Anderson... royal commission |
1992 | |
| Easton affair Easton affair The Easton affair was the name which came to be used to describe a Western Australian political scandal. A member of the Labor Party, then in government, tabled a document on 5 November 1992 in the Western Australian Legislative Council claiming that confidential information was improperly released... |
1992 | Carmen Lawrence Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia.... |
| Metherell affair | 1992 | Nick Greiner Nick Greiner Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married... , Tim Moore, Terry Metherell Terry Metherell Terry Alan Metherell is a former Australian politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premier Nick Greiner appointed him Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, a... |
| Sports rorts affair Sports rorts affair The "sports rorts" affair was the name by which Australian media and political commentators came to refer to events during the second Keating ministry in late 1993 and early 1994, where the then Sports Minister, Ros Kelly, was unable to appropriately explain the distribution of federal sporting... |
1994 | Ros Kelly Ros Kelly Ros Kelly AO was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.... |
| Bruce Stadium affair | 2000 | Kate Carnell Kate Carnell Anne Katherine Carnell AO was the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving from 1995 to 2000. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Food and Grocery Council.-Pharmacy career:... |
| Tampa affair Tampa affair In August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 438 rescued Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters, to enter Australian waters... |
2001 | John Howard John Howard John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.... |
| Children Overboard Affair Children overboard affair The Children Overboard affair was an Australian political controversy involving public allegations by Howard government ministers in October 2001, in the lead-up to a federal election, that sea-faring asylum seekers had thrown children overboard in a presumed ploy to secure rescue and passage to... |
2001 | John Howard John Howard John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.... |
| Orange Grove affair Orange Grove affair The Orange Grove affair was a political scandal in Australia concerning the dealings of the New South Wales state Australian Labor Party government with multinational corporation The Westfield Group. It resulted from a court decision to force the closure of the Orange Grove shopping centre after a... |
2004 | |
| Trish Draper travel incident | 2004 | |
| Unlawful detention of Cornelia Rau Cornelia Rau Cornelia Rau is a German citizen and Australian permanent resident who was unlawfully detained for a period of ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.- Overview :... |
2005 | Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia... |
| Unlawful deportation of Vivian Solon Vivian Solon Vivian Alvarez Solon is an Australian who was unlawfully removed to the Philippines by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in July 2001. In May 2005, it became public knowledge that she had been deported, although DIMIA knew of its mistake in 2003... |
2005 | Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia... |
| AWB Oil-for-Wheat Scandal AWB Oil-for-Wheat Scandal The AWB Oil-for-Wheat Scandal refers to the payment of kickbacks to the regime of Saddam Hussein in contravention of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Humanitarian Program. AWB Limited is a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia... |
2006 | AWB Limited AWB Limited AWB Limited is a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. It was a government body known as the Australian Wheat Board until 1 July 1999, when the AWB was transformed into a private company, owned by wheat growers... |
| Muhamed Haneef affair | 2007 | Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia... , Kevin Andrews Kevin Andrews (Australian politician) Kevin James Andrews is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He is a member of the House of Representatives and was Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Howard Government, having previously been Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations from 7... |
| Lindsay pamphlet scandal Lindsay pamphlet scandal The Lindsay pamphlet scandal was an Australian electoral scandal in which Liberal Party volunteers distributed fake election pamphlets, claiming to be from an Islamic organisation that was later found not to exist, that claimed the Labor Party candidate would support clemency for convicted... |
2007 | Jackie Kelly Jackie Kelly Jacqueline Marie Kelly , former Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wales.-Early career:... |
| Iguana Joe's incident | 2008 | Belinda Neal Belinda Neal Belinda Jane Neal , a former Australian federal politician, was a Member of the House of Representatives representing the electorate of Robertson between 2007 and 2010; and representing the state of New South Wales in the Senate from 1994 to 1998, both of behalf of the Australian Labor... allegedly abusing restaurant staff |
| Belinda Neal comment | 2008 | Belinda Neal Belinda Neal Belinda Jane Neal , a former Australian federal politician, was a Member of the House of Representatives representing the electorate of Robertson between 2007 and 2010; and representing the state of New South Wales in the Senate from 1994 to 1998, both of behalf of the Australian Labor... comment to Sophie Mirabella Sophie Mirabella Sophie Mirabella is an Australian federal politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria... concerning Mirabella's unborn child |
| Utegate or OzCar affair OzCar affair The OzCar affair refers to a 2009 controversy in Australian federal politics, revolving around allegations made by then Federal Leader of the Opposition and Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, that the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and/or the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, had acted improperly on behalf of a... |
2009 | Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division... , Godwin Grech |