On November 11, 1975, the Labor government led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was ousted by a decree from the governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr. Kerr, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Australia, appointed the Liberal Party’s Malcolm Fraser (who was leader of the opposition) as caretaker prime minister. Whitlam’s Labor government had been elected on December 2, 1972, ending 23 years of Liberal/Country party rule, and had been re-elected on May 18, 1974, when Whitlam called a general election following a threat from then opposition leader Bill Snedden to block supply in the Senate. Among the reforms that had been introduced by the Whitlam government were the creation of the Medibank universal healthcare system and the abolition of fees for tertiary education.

From Green Left Weekly, November 9, 2005.
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