The Whitlam Government was an elected socially democratic government that governed Australia from 1972 to 1975. It is the most controversial government in Australia due to being the most left-wing and controversial ending, with the CIA allegedly taking them out.
Good Things They Did
- Granted independence to Papua New Guinea from Australia
- Withdrew the last Australian soldiers from the Vietnam War
- Abolished conscription
- Attempted to decriminalise homosexuality, but failed (it was decriminalised at a federal level in 1973, but not decriminalised at the state level)
- Created a universal healthcare system called Medibank, later known as Medicare
- Introduced tuition-free university education
- Threatened to close US military bases if they did not break the terms of their contract, arguably leading to his downfall via the CIA
- Allocated funding for schools based on need rather than performance
- Opened up trade relations with China (before the USA),
- Connected countless suburbs to sewer networks, with around 160,000 homes gaining access to sewerage
- Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18
- Abolished the death penalty
- Established numerous radio stations, including Triple J,
- Vocal opposition to Apartheid in South Africa, including banning the Springbok soccer team from playing in the country
- Opposed nuclear testing in the pacific by the French, along with New Zealand
- Cut the sales tax on the contraceptive pill and lifted the ban on it being advertised
Bad Things They Did
- Became the world's strongest supporter of the genocidal Indonesian Occupation of East Timor, despite their murder of Australian journalists (which the government refused to investigate and later violating the seventh nuremberg principle
- Harsh punishments for refugees in the midst of refugee crisis from Vietnam
- Recognised the USSR's claim over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, something which came out of their dealings with Nazi Germany
Additionally, Whitlam attempted to secure loans from Ba'athist Iraq in order to finance their next election
See Also
- Rudd Government