Menu Close

Articles on Gough Whitlam

Displaying 21 - 40 of 80 articles

Spontaneous humour is harder for the modern politician, faced with 24-hour media coverage. But every now and then they give it crack, anyway. The Conversation / AAP Images

Funny, that: why humour is a hit-and-miss affair on the election campaign trail

Political humour, like all humour, carries an innate risk: if it works, it can be spectacular, and it it tanks, it can be a catastrophe. Australian election campaigns have given us both.
Arthur Caldwell almost defeated Robert Menzies in the 1961 federal election, dominated by debate over the economy and unemployment. National Archives, National Library of Australia, Wikimedia

Issues that swung elections: the ‘credit squeeze’ that nearly swept Menzies from power in 1961

In 1960, Harold Holt, the then-treasurer, urged the government to abolish import restrictions, resulting in a minor recession. This nearly swung the election in the ALP’s favour.
At a demonstration, Faith Bandler (right) and her daughter Lilon (2R) appeal to national unity as grounds for constitutional amendment. Aboriginal Studies Press

‘Right wrongs, write Yes’: what was the 1967 referendum all about?

The 1967 referendum was the culmination of a long struggle for both Aboriginal rights and respect, for social esteem as well as equality before the law.
Was World Vision Australia chief advocate Tim Costello right to say that Australia’s foreign aid spending was at its highest under Menzies, at 0.5% of gross national income? AAP Image/Royal Australian Air Force, CPL Jessica de Rouw

FactCheck: What are the facts on Australia’s foreign aid spending?

We check the facts on how Australia’s foreign aid spend has changed over time.
Paul Keating took the prime ministership with a ‘comprehensive plan to get the country cracking’, but the task was daunting. National Archives of Australia

Cabinet papers 1992-93: the balance of head and heart

Labor’s project of economic transformation hit some harder realities as Paul Keating assumed the top job. And a new push on remaking Australia stirred a brooding reaction of its own.

Top contributors

More