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OUT OF EMPIRE: EDWARD GOUGH WHITLAM More than any other part of the old Empire, Australia remains inhibited and limited by its nostalgia for past associations and pretensions which the British nation, and in particular, the British monarch have long since abandoned. Nothing has done more to retard Australias relations with Britain or to distort the very real and substantial nature of that relationship than the obsessions of the Australian conservatives with the British connection and their manipulation of the monarchy and their exploitation of the perquisites and privileges associated with it. Edward Gough Whitlam, 1985 Gough Whitlam was perhaps Australias most controversial Prime Minister ever, and the Australian with arguably the most reason to resent our countrys ties with Britain. For on Remembrance Day, 1975, the Governor General, Sir John Kerr, invoked his reserve powers to dismiss Whitlam as Prime Minister, something he could only do because he was supposedly acting on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.
Thus, it is to be expected that out of all of Australias leading figures, Whitlam would have the most reason to feel strongly, one way or the other, about our mother country. Today, Whitlam declares himself to be a Republican, but he confesses he only came to this way of thinking after his dismissal, when he and the nation saw for the first time just how much power the Queen and her representatives really had, despite their lack of control over day to day running of the Government. At the onset of his career, Whitlam was quite proud of his Queen he had, after all, fought in the Airforce during the Second World War to defend Britain as well as Australia but he always thought the Conservative parties held far too much attachment for time-honoured traditions which there was no longer a place for in Australia. Australia needed to move on, to recognise that Britains place was to be occupied by another country the United States and that further, Australia needed to stop accepting so many British migrants and start looking at what peoples from other countries could offer Australia.
Whitlam always believed in change his campaign slogan reflected this and this attitude seems to stem largely from his sensitivity to how the rest of the world sees Australia. Much of what he later said or wrote reflected this. Edward Gough Whitlam was born on July 11, 1916, into a middle class family. His father worked for the Victorian State Government and then the Federal Government, ultimately becoming a Commonwealth Crown Solicitor (now titled Australian Government Solicitor), and his mother, as was the practice then, stayed at home. Whitlam's upbringing was quite sound.
He was encouraged to work hard and his parents sent him to reputable private schools. His family, however, did not push him into politics; indeed, Whitlam himself admitted years later that he became involved because he was so disillusioned or alienated by what the non-Labour interests were doing. (Farmer, 1984) In the early days of his career, Whitlam did not seem to have a view about how closely Australia was tied to Britain. Indeed, it was not an issue. The Labour party spent more time arguing amongst themselves than with the Opposition, a situation for which Whitlam was partly responsible. As he moved up the ladder, though, Whitlam began to focus on housing, education and wealth, and these issues earned him much support.
By the time he had been elected Leader of the Labor Party, he was ready to start broadening his outlook. (E et al, 1993) Much was happening on the International arena. The Second World War had by no means been the war to end all wars, and at that time, Australia herself was embroiled in the bloody battle being waged in Viet Nam. This was due to the ANZUS Treaty, a pact that required that Australia support the United States in matters of war. It was on this topic that much can, at last, be learnt as to Whitlam's attitude towards Britain. Several members of the Coalition objected to Britain being omitted from the ANZUS Treaty. A few from the Labor party agreed with them, and still others thought it unfair that France was left out too.
Whitlam did not comment on Britain (whether this was because he was a little unsure himself as to how he felt, or whether he wisely realised that this was not the place to let his feelings be made clear is not known), but he was adamant that France should not be allowed the honour of being part of such a treaty since the ANZUS pact is properly limited to those countries that govern themselves or which govern territories under trust to the United Nations. In other words, that the treaty was only for those who did not presume to tie another country to her apron strings. (Whitlam, 1985) Whitlam's attitude towards Britain became clear when he was elected Prime Minister in 1972 and was at last free to make his opinions more known. His campaign slogan was Its Time! and he intended to deliver on his promise of change.
He declared his intent to put our [Britains and Australias] relationship on a more mature and contemporary basis and to reflect the development of a more independent Australian identity in the world. Despite this bold statement, Whitlam had wisely refrained from outlining his proposed changes to Australias relationship with Britain during his pre-election speeches, preferring instead to promise vaguely of new things, but his restraint only made him the more eager to act as soon as he was elected. Whitlam kept his promise. During his time in office he made several changes that had little effect on the lives of Australian people, but which nevertheless were significant enough to demand royal approval, and thus reflected how Australia was slowly loosening her ties. To begin, he arranged for Queen Elizabeth to always (when in Australia) be introduced as the Queen of Australia, and not the Queen of England, as had heretofore been the practice. He replaced Commonwealth of Australia with simply Australia in as many titles and instances as possible and arranged for several titles in the Honours list to be dramatically altered to give almost all of them Australia in the title, and nothing of a British or Commonwealth flavour.
He campaigned for new Australian citizens not having to swear allegiance to the Queen, but this bill was not approved until 1983. But the change that most Australians will remember, was that of Australias national anthem, from God Save the Queen to Advance Australia Fair. Whitlam did not escape criticism for his moves. After less than a year, rumours began to fly that Whitlam had little time for Royalists. Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen even declared that Whitlam had ordered the Queens picture be taken down from the walls of Parliament and his own be put up instead, a rumour that would dog Whitlam throughout his career. (Reid, 1976) Although Whitlam never really made it clear while in office, in his second book The Whitlam Government he outlined the two major problems, as he saw them, of having Queen Elizabeth. Firstly, it was that she was not solely Queen of Australia, but she was first and foremost, Queen of the United Kingdom.
Whitlam was infernally frustrated at the difficulty the Queens Governments outside the United Kingdom [eg Australia] can have in dealing with other Governments in whose eyes the Queen, in her communications and on her visits, is solely the Queen of the United Kingdom. (Whitlam, 1985) Secondly, and this matter is almost certainly laced with personal feelings of injustice at his own treatment, Whitlam resented the way the Head of State had no real power in times of crisis, to wit, his dismissal by Sir John Kerr. Whitlam regrets that the Queen has to be represented by persons of lesser experience and competence. She is at the mercy of fallible deputies. (Whitlam, 1985) There can be no doubt at to which fallible deputy Whitlam is referring to, and indeed, he later writes that November 11, 1975, was the day he became an ardent supporter of the republic. (Whitlam, 1979) However, it must be understood that Whitlam had nothing personal against Queen Elizabeth II. He actually found her to be a delightful person and the most experienced and competent head of state in the world. (Whitlam, 1985) But he was eager to distance Australia from Britain, for he intended for another country to take Britains place. Instead of a mother country, he wanted a big brother the United States of America. Since Australia had felt the threat of invasion from Indonesia only a few years earlier, the sheer isolation and helplessness of our country was brought home to many Australians.
The nations security became a matter of great import, and since both World Wars had shown Britains comparative weakness it was indeed a logical move for Australia to turn to someone else to guarantee to protect us. Whitlam was keen for the US to be that someone and was quite instrumental in bringing it all about. Later, detractors would say that it was inevitable, but Whitlam himself feels he deserves much of the credit. (Whitlam, 1979) Whitlam even went so far as to adopt many of the United States foreign policies (which, at the time, were often in great contrast to Britains), with the very notable exception of Viet Nam, where he withdrew Australias troops within seventy-two hours of being elected to office as Prime Minister. He was, however, very particular, about copying the US attitude towards migrants. Although the White Australia Policy had apparently been eliminated in the Sixties, there were still very few Southern Europeans and other non-whites being allowed into the country. Whitlam resented Third World countries seeing Australia as a white, imperialist puppet, flaunting an immigration policy designed to consolidate white supremacy in the South-Western Pacific. (Foley &# 038; Wilson, 1990) He increased the number of migrants from all over the world allowed in, and abolished the easy, assisted passages already in place for the British.
He demanded immigration policy be founded on the avoidance of discrimination on any grounds of race or colour of skin or nationality. (Whitlam, 1985) Throughout his career, Whitlam seems to be very concerned as to how the rest of the world sees Australia. This is important to him, and the closest he comes to revealing his attitude towards Britain before his term as Prime Minister. At Port Moresby, on 17 January 1971 Whitlam actually tells his listeners that What the world sees about Australia istat we run one of the worlds last colonies. Whitlam was not very keen for Australia to be seen as an object of derision in the eyes of the rest of the world, and this attitude is responsible for a great proportion of his moves to loosen Britains ties.
However, the question must be asked as to why Whitlam took more of an interest in foreign affairs than any other Prime Minister. Obviously, the events taking place in the world demanded it of course, but Whitlam's involvement far exceeded the mere demands. By his own admission, it is known that a large part of Whitlam's interest was due to the fact that internationally, Whitlam was Prime Minister of Australia and no-one, from his own party or the Opposition, could hinder his foreign policies. For throughout Whitlam's terms, he did not have the power in the Senate (despite numerous sly and devious attempts to obtain it) and consequently several of his reforms were blocked, which he found very frustrating. Internationally, however, there were no such problems. Hence, it is possible that Whitlam only had such a view about Britain and the rest of the world because it was the only matter he could have a view and do something about.
Nevertheless, Gough Whitlam had a view. Since he was born during the First World War and fought in the Second, it was obvious he had grown up pledging his allegiance to Britain with an open heart. But as his career progressed, and his view had to be not so much how he personally felt, and more about the good of the nation, his opinion changed. When he came to office he felt it was time for change for Australia, a time to move on. To grow up and spread her wings. Secondly, he felt Australia needed to adopt a different ally, one who had advanced over the years in the way Britain had not, and Australia could.
ie the United States. Thirdly, Whitlam felt Australia should severe ties with Britain because the attachment to the Queen implied things about Australia to other countries that were neither true nor fair. Lastly he resented Australias ties to Britain because the Opposition rejoiced in them. Gough Whitlam was a politician, after all.
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