John Kerr (governor-general)
QC | |
---|---|
18th Governor-General of Australia | |
In office 11 July 1974 – 8 December 1977 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Gough Whitlam Malcolm Fraser |
Preceded by | Sir Paul Hasluck |
Succeeded by | Sir Zelman Cowen |
Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales | |
In office 30 August 1973 – 1 July 1974 | |
Governor | Sir Roden Cutler |
Preceded by | Sir Leslie Herron |
Succeeded by | Sir Laurence Street |
13th Chief Justice of New South Wales | |
In office 23 May 1972 – 27 June 1974 | |
Nominated by | Sir Robert Askin |
Preceded by | Sir Leslie Herron |
Succeeded by | Sir Laurence Street |
Personal details | |
Born | Balmain, Sydney | 24 September 1914
Died | 24 March 1991 St Leonards, Sydney, New South Wales | (aged 76)
Cause of death | Brain tumour |
Resting place | Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Labor (1948–1955) |
Spouses | |
Children | Gabrielle Kristin Philip and 2 stepchildren from his second wife's first marriage |
Education | Fort Street High School |
Alma mater | University of Sydney |
Profession | Lawyer |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Australia |
Branch/service | Citizen Military Forces Australian Imperial Force |
Years of service | 1942–1949 |
Rank | Colonel |
Unit | Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Sir John Robert Kerr,
Kerr was born in
Kerr served terms as president of the
On 11 November 1975, Kerr used his reserve powers as governor-general to dismiss Whitlam and his ministry, appointing Fraser to lead a caretaker government. He immediately granted Fraser's request for a double dissolution, leading to a federal election that saw Whitlam and the ALP defeated in a landslide. The dismissal of the government sparked demonstrations from Whitlam's supporters, with the anger directed at Kerr a major factor in his early retirement in December 1977 and subsequent withdrawal from public life. The propriety, legality and wisdom of his actions surrounding the dismissal have been subject to considerable debate and analysis.
Early life
Kerr was born in
For the first two years of his life, Kerr and his parents lived with his paternal grandparents in a weatherboard cottage in Balmain. They later rented cottages in
Legal career
In 1932, Kerr began studying law at the
Kerr returned to the bar in 1948, becoming a prominent lawyer representing trade union clients and a member of the Labor Party.[9]: p.142 He intended to seek Labor endorsement for a parliamentary seat at the 1951 election, but withdrew in favour of another candidate.[9]: p.135 After the Labor Party split of 1955, however, he became disillusioned with party politics. He disliked what he saw as the Labor Party's leftward trend under Evatt's leadership, but was not attracted to the breakaway group, the Democratic Labor Party.[9]: p.146 Later in 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.[10]: p.248
In the 1960s Kerr became one of Sydney's leading industrial lawyers. In the 1950s he had become a
Judicial career
In 1966 Kerr was appointed a judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and, later, to several other judicial positions.[9]: p.192 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.[9]: p.172
Kerr was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1972. 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 Mr Justice Kerr (as he then was), 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.[11] These discussions commenced in September 1973.[12] Kerr was announced as Governor-General-designate on 27 February 1974,[13][14] by which time he had become Sir John Kerr. He had been knighted in the New Year's Honours of 1974, on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Robert Askin, after Whitlam had declined to endorse his predecessor Billy McMahon's recommendation for that honour, which Hasluck had wisely held back pending the outcome of the December 1972 election.[12] Kerr did not know Whitlam well, although they had shared legal chambers some years earlier, but he had remained friends with several ministers in Whitlam's government, such as Jim McClelland and Joe Riordan. Kerr's wife Peggy was a fellow student of Margaret Whitlam during university days.[9]: p.13 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.
Governor-General
The Whitlam government had won a second term in
On 9 September his wife Peggy died after a long illness, aged 59.[16] In April 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 "
On paper, the Australian Constitution gave the Governor-General wide-ranging powers, including the power to appoint and dismiss ministers and to dissolve Parliament. However, by 1975, the office was viewed as having become almost entirely ceremonial, and it was understood that in most cases the Governor-General was bound to act on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 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 powers, 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).[9]: p.83–88 Kerr was familiar with this book, and re-read it before accepting Whitlam's offer of the governor-generalship.
1975 crisis
In October 1975 the Liberal-Country party opposition coalition in the Senate (led by Malcolm Fraser) voted to defer consideration of the supply bills until the Whitlam government agreed to 'submit itself to the Australian people', and a political stalemate resulted.[17] With the full support of caucus Whitlam announced that if the Opposition continued to block Supply in the Senate, he would call an early half-Senate election in December. For the next 4 weeks Fraser deferred any vote on these bills. On 6 November Whitlam informed Kerr that, if the Opposition continued to deny a vote on Supply in the Senate, he would call an early half-Senate election the following Tuesday—11 November 1975. The necessary paperwork was then drawn up and drafts exchanged between the Prime Minister's office and Government House over the next 4 days. On the morning of 11 November Whitlam rang Kerr and confirmed the wording of the announcement he would make in the House of Representatives that afternoon, setting the half-Senate election in train.[18]
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.[19]: p.288 He also saw evidence in the opinion polls that the public was unhappy about the action of the Senate in delaying supply with the coalition polling dropping 10% in the 4 weeks during which Supply was blocked. 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.
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.[19]: p.277 Kerr told Whitlam and other government ministers that he considered Ellicott's view to be 'bullshit'. 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.[19]: p.284
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.[citation needed]
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.[19]: p.284
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, 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".[20]: p.237–238 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, Sir Garfield Barwick.[9]: p.341–342 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.[9]: p.342–344 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 Queen to exercise her constitutional power to terminate Kerr's commission as Governor-General.[9]: p.331 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.[21]
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."[9]: p.356 Fraser later claimed that Kerr telephoned him[19]: p.292 and asked him whether, if he were commissioned as Prime Minister, he would:
- pass the budget bills,
- call an immediate double dissolution 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 at 1 pm, 15 minutes late. Fraser had arrived earlier and been shown into another room.[19]: p.356 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,.[9]: p.357 [citation needed] 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.[22] Kerr claimed Whitlam then sought to telephone Buckingham Palace to advise Kerr's dismissal, 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"[9]: p.359 [23] 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,[19]: p.329 and Kerr had called a double dissolution 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[9]: p.364 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:[citation needed]
- 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.
Kerr later stated that Whitlam represented "something that perhaps I might have been, had I stayed in the party as he did",[24] and it has been suggested that the Dismissal was "as much a case of a thwarted ego seeking his place in history as Whitlam's mismanagement of the economy".[25] After Kerr's death, his former embittered close friend, Whitlam cabinet member James McClelland, claimed that Kerr had long aspired to be "top dog in Australia"; that Kerr had once made a pass at him; and that the Dismissal could only be fully understood if Kerr's alleged repressed homosexuality was factored in—that an infatuation with Whitlam had become one for Fraser.[26][27]
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, 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 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
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.[9]: p.423 Kerr was appointed to the post of Ambassador to UNESCO, an office which he felt unable to take up because of continuing bitter attacks on him both inside and outside the Parliament.[9]: p.424 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 John Kerr as Ambassador ... is not just an indecent exercise of the rankest cynicism. It is in every respect an affront to this country."[9]: p.428
Somewhat ironically the post of Ambassador to UNESCO would later be held by Gough Whitlam, the man Kerr dismissed as Prime Minister, when Labor next returned to government in 1983 under Bob Hawke.
Later life and death
According to historian Phillip Knightley, "The remaining years of Sir John Kerr's life were miserable ones. He was subject to relentless harassment whenever he appeared in public."[30]: p282 He therefore moved to London "where he could be seen most days, usually the worse for wear, at one or other gentleman's club."[30] Jack Waterford observed that, above all, "Sir John's legacy was to make the viceroyalty a most controversial post and himself one of the most discussed persons ever to occupy it".[31]
In 1991, Kerr was confirmed to have died from a brain tumour at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney where he was in a coma, survived by his three children and his second wife.[32][33] The family withheld announcement of the death until after Sir John's burial at Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium, Macquarie Park, New South Wales. 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. The second Lady Kerr died in 1997, survived by the two children of her first marriage.
Kerr's children are: Gabrielle Kibble, a town planner and later NSW State Director of Planning;[34][35] Kristin Johnson, a psychiatrist;[36] and Philip Kerr, a solicitor.[37]
Honours
Kerr was appointed a Companion of the
In 1972, the Prime Minister,
In 1974 he was made a Knight of the
On the establishment of the Order of Australia on 14 February 1975, as Governor-General he was made Principal Companion of the Order (AC).[41] When the category of Knight was added to the Order on 24 May 1976, he was made Principal Knight of the Order (AK).[42]
In 1976 he was elevated to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).[40] He had asked Gough Whitlam for this appointment shortly after becoming Governor-General in 1974, but was rebuffed.[11]
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.[43] This award was made by the Queen during an official visit to Australia, and was conferred on board HMY Britannia in Fremantle Harbour.[12]
Kerr was appointed a
References
- ^ Richard Hall (1978). The Real John Kerr: His Brilliant Career. Angus & Robertson. p. 1.
- ^ Hall (1978), pp. 2–3.
- ^ a b Hall (1978), pp. 4–6.
- ^ Hall (1978), pp. 9–14.
- ^ Hall (1978), pp. 15–19.
- ^ Hall (1978), pp. 20–22.
- ^ Jenny Hocking, Gough Whitlam: His Time, p. 135; Retrieved 7 August 2013
- ^ Sligo, Graeme. 2012. The Backroom Boys: Conlon and Army's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs, 1942–46, Big Sky Publishing.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Sir John Kerr, Matters for Judgment, Macmillan Australia 1978
- ISBN 1-56751-252-6
- ^ a b c Barry Jones, A Thinking Reed, p. 200
- ^ a b c d e f Gough Whitlam, The Truth of the Matter, pp. 229–233. Retrieved 20 April 2014
- ^ "Virtual Reading Room". Vrroom.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "Museum of Australian Democracy". Moadoph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ Jenny Hocking Gough Whitlam: His Time (MUP. Carlton. 2012) page 154
- ^ Legislative Council of New South Wales, 17 September 1974, Death of Her Excellency Lady Kerr, Wife of the Governor-General: Address of Condolence, p. 1014 Archived 20 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 April 2014
- ^ Jenny Hocking The Dismissal Dossier: Everything You Were Never Meant to Know About November 1975 updated edition (MUP. 2016) p. xiii
- ^ Jenny Hocking The Dismissal Dossier: Everything You Were Never Meant to Know About November 1975 updated edition (MUP. 2016) Chapter 4 'Ambush: The Half-Senate Election'
- ^ ISBN 0-85561-060-3
- ^ Paul Kelly, Paradise Divided,
- ^ Dismissal of a NSW Premier Archived 14 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine – www.schools.nsw.edu.au
- ^ "Kerr's letter terminating Whitlam's commission". Australianbeers.com. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ The recording of the quote is attributed to David Butler in 20 Questions left by Remembrance Day, Current Affairs Bulletin, 1 March 1976
- ^ John Kerr 'dreamed of becoming PM, Daily Telegraph, 6 April 2013; http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/john-kerr-dreamed-of-becoming-pm/story-fncvk70o-1226613695601
- ISBN 978-1607108627
- ^ Australian Biography, Series 4: James McClelland, Film Australia, Director: Frank Heimans, 1995.; https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/australian-biography-james-mcclelland
- ^ ; Adams, Philip Hidden Identity The Australian, 25 November 2006; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/hidden-identity/story-e6frg6rf-1111112579450
- ^ Jonathon Dimbleby The Prince of Wales: A Biography, p.226
- Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June 2009
- ^ a b Phillip Knightley, Australia – Biography of a Nation, Vintage, London 2000
- ^ Jack Waterford (26 March 1991). "Class traitor or saviour? Votes still out". The Canberra Times.
- ^ "Sir John Kerr dies alone at 76: the storm goes on". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995). 26 March 1991. p. 1. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Sir John Kerr dies". The Australian Financial Review. 26 March 1991. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ "High rise and heritage, a town planner's dilemma, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 1988. Retrieved 20 April 2014
- ^ "Planning chief attacks draconian harbour laws", Sydney Morning Herald, 19 October 1989. Retrieved 20 April 2014
- ^ NLA Catalogue. Retrieved 20 April 2014
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 2 May 1976. Retrieved 20 April 2014
- ^ "It's an Honour: CMG". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 1 January 1966. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "It's an Honour: KCMG". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 1 January 1974. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ a b c "Former Judges of the Northern Territory". Supremecourt.nt.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "It's an Honour: AC". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 14 February 1975. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "It's an Honour: AK". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 24 May 1976. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "It's an Honour: GCVO". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 30 March 1977. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
Sources
- Kerr, John Robert (1979). Matters for Judgement. Sun.
- Whitlam, Edward Gough (1979). The Truth of the Matter. Penguin.
- Allen and Unwin.
- ISBN 1-86508-291-0.
- Kelly, Paul (1976). The Unmaking of Gough. Angus & Robertson.
- Freudenberg, Graham (1977). A Certain Grandeur: Gough Whitlam in Politics. Macmillan.
- Horne, Donald (1976). Death of the Lucky Country. Penguin.
- Hasluck, Paul (1972). The Office of Governor-General.
- ISBN 9781925501155.
- ISBN 0-688-12996-X.
- ISBN 0-85561-060-3.
- Blackshield, Tony; ISBN 978-1-86287-773-3.
- House of Representatives Hansard, 11 November 1975
- The Kerr Palace Letters at the National Archives of Australia