The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 federal election, ending a record 23 years of continuous Coalition government. It was terminated by Governor-General Sir John Kerr following the 1975 constitutional crisis and was succeeded by the Fraser government—the sole occasion in Australian history when an elected federal government was dismissed by the governor-general.
The Whitlam government was highly controversial during its short tenure but achieved some major reforms. Formal relations with China were established, conscription laws were repealed, all remaining Australian forces were withdrawn from the Vietnam War, universal healthcare was introduced and some remaining discriminatory provisions of the White Australia policy were abolished. Tertiary education fees were abolished. However, these and other ambitious reforms corresponded to a crisis: "By mid-1975, inflation hit 17.6 per cent and wage rises hit 32.9 per cent. The economy boomed in 1973 and the first half of '74, but then suffered a severe recession." The Whitlam government was re-elected for a second term at the 1974 double-dissolution election but, following the dismissal, was heavily defeated by the new Fraser government in the 1975 election.
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