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Role in the Whitlam Dismissal
In 1975 Bjelke-Petersen played what later turned out to be a key role in the
political crisis which brought down the federal Labor government of Gough
Whitlam, who referred to Bjelke-Petersen as "that Bible-bashing bastard, Bjelke".
Whitlam's government did not have control of the Senate, whose members are
elected as representatives of the individual states. Senators are normally
elected directly, but if a Senate position becomes vacant, a replacement is
appointed by the relevant State Governor. State Governors are also responsible
for the issue of writs for elections to the Senate. Bjelke-Petersen twice used
these practices to thwart Whitlam's attempts to gain control of the Senate.
In 1974, Whitlam had approached former Queensland Premier and then Senator for
the Democratic Labor Party, Vince Gair, with the offer as a job as ambassador to
Ireland as a way of creating an extra vacant Senate position in Queensland that
Whitlam hoped would be won by his Labor Party. When this arrangement became
public, Bjelke-Petersen advised the Governor Sir Colin Hannah, to issue writs
for five, rather than six, vacancies, denying Labor the chance of gaining Gair's
Senate spot.
The convention in filling Senate vacancies since 1949 had been that the State
Parliament would appoint the nominee of the former Senator's political party.
When Labor Senator Bert Miliner died, Bjelke-Petersen rejected Labor's nominee
to fill the vacancy, Mal Colston, and instead asked for a short list of three
nominees, from which he would pick one. When the ALP refused to supply such a
list, Bjelke-Petersen appointed Albert Field, an ALP member who was critical of
the Whitlam government. The ALP tried to block the appointment by expelling
Field, and announcing that it would expel anyone else who would accept the
appointment in Colston's place, but Bjelke-Petersen went ahead with the
appointment anyway.
Field's appointment was the subject of a High Court challenge and he took leave
in late 1975. During this period, the Coalition led by Malcolm Fraser refused to
allot a pair to balance Field's absence. This gave the Coalition control over
the Senate. Fraser used this control to prevent passage of the Supply Bills
through Parliament, denying Whitlam's then-unpopular government the legal
capacity to appropriate funds for government business and leading to his
dismissal as Prime Minister.
During the tumultuous election campaign precipitated by Whitlam's dismissal by
Sir John Kerr, Bjelke-Petersen alleged that Queensland police investigations had
uncovered damaging documentation in relation to the Loans Affair. This
documentation was never made public and these allegations remained
unsubstantiated.
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