THE WHITLAM ERA
A REAPPRAISAL OF GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND POLICY
EDITED BY SCOTT PRASSER AND DAVID CLUNE
Foreword by Bob Carr
ISBN 9781925826944
Hardback, $59.95
December 2022 release
The Whitlam Government came to office on 2 December 1972 amid high expectations. For many, it marked a turning point in the nation’s development. Although it was out of office within three years, its impacts have been more lasting. Especially prepared to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Whitlam Government’s election this volume based on new sources of information and with the benefit of hindsight, reappraises its achievements, failures, and long-term impacts on Australian government, politics and policy. Contributors include leading academics, former senior public servants and Labor stalwarts. It brings fresh insights into this most talked about, but often misrepresented, government.
Contributors
Foreword – Bob Carr
David Clune – Gough Whitlam and his Government: An Overview
Malcolm Mackerras – Whitlam and Australian Voters
Greg Melleuish – The Whitlam Narrative
Andrew Podger and David Stanton – The Whitlam Government’s Social Welfare Legacy
Stephen Duckett – Your Medicare Card: Whitlam’s Legacy in Everyone’s Pocket
Martha Kinsman and Linda Hort – Whitlam and Education
Sev Ozdowski – Multiculturalism and Immigration Policy
Gene Tunny – Whitlam and the Economy
Gary Banks – A “Rattigan” Man: Whitlam’s Assault on Protection
Geoff Cockfield – Rural Policies
David Lee – Minerals and Resources Policy
Michael Easson – Promise and Influence of Whitlam’s Foreign Policy
John Martin – Legacy and Lessons from the DURD Project
Will Sanders – Aboriginal Affairs: Launching Decolonisation from a Territory Base
Paddy Gourley – The Whitlam Government and the Public Service
Jonathan Pincus – Federal-State Relations
Michael Sexton - Confronting the Constitution: Law and Politics in the Whitlam Era
Scott Prasser – Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries: Roles and Impacts
Mary Easson – 1987: The Year Whitlam and Hawke Broke
Frank Bongiorno – The Whitlam Legacy for the Fraser and Hawke Governments