The 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis: Explained (Short Animated Documentary)
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- Sometimes countries break themselves and Australia is no exception. And when in 1975 the government was plunged into deadlock, it's Governor-General sacked the Prime Minister and appointed his opponent. Which caused problems and was followed by accusations of CIA and British interference. But was this true and how did the Constitutional Crisis pan out? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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For anyone curious about the Belgian constitutional crisis, it occurred over the King, Baudouin, refusing to sign legislation legalizing abortion in Belgium because his Catholic morality condemns abortion in all forms. Because of this a constitutional crisis occurred until the Belgian government and the Royal House reached an agreement where the Government would vote to remove the king, pass the legislation into law, and then immediately reinstate him afterwards to avoid forcing him to sign it and betray his morals.
so basically they went republic for a sec then changed their minds to get a law passed
@@hockeysong 1000000 iq move
Based King of Belgium vs Spineless Politicians
The whole thing wasn't much of a constitutional crisis tbh, because the king had consulted the prime minister and had agreed to be declared temporarily incapable of ruling. His intention wasn't so much to block the law as it was to avoid signing it.
Wasn't it because he himself with his wife (the queen) weren't able to get kids themselves so it was hard for him to sign a law that allows people to get abortions, and not because he was christian?
The most unbelievable part of this is the fact that an Australian Politician actually resigned for lying ... can't remember the last time that happened.
Prime Minister seats would be empty every 6 days if this was typical
You needed only one “is.”
He resigned because of public pressure. Not because he had a stroke of good morals. When it comes to resignations colleges and subordinates are the deciding factor.
I'm guessing 1975
You can remove the Australian part, I can't remember the last time any politician resigned for lying.
I had never realised quite how well History Matter's cartoons accurately capture the historical figures involved, but because he's drawing figures from my own country's recent history I'm really impressed by the likenesses!
Except Whitlam should have been a head taller than the rest ;)
🧶SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
@@aratirao9007 his thumbnail makes me puke....@promotionpolice
Man im watching this at 2:41 am in melbourne 🤣
Licensing to you know what is in his future. They look just like Lego people.
If I remember it correctly, Kerr's plot was even more convoluted and the whole affair more surreal than it appears on this video. Apparently Whitlam went to see Kerr to ask for a partial dissolution of the Senate WHILE the Senate was on session AND about to vote the budget. He had decided to ask Kerr to call an election if, as expected, the Senate voted the budget down. What he didn't know was that Malcolm Fraser, then leader of the opposition, was waiting just outside Kerr's office. Then, Kerr outright dismissed Whitlam before he could ask for a dissolution and, the moment he left, he let Fraser in and asked him if he could pass the budget. Fraser said yes, so he appointed him Prime Minister. That very moment, the members of Fraser's Liberal Party received the order to vote YES and pass the budget, joining the Labour senators that thought Liberals were caving in (not knowing yet that Whitlam had just been dismissed and Fraser was PM). Result: Fraser got the budget passed, which was the sole argument that, in theory, justified Kerr's appointing him Prime Minister.
Not wholly correct. Yes, it was a constitutional ambush, but it was supported in the High Court. As for allowing the supply Bill, Fraser had already offered this to Whitlam in October, in return for calling an election of the lower house. Whitlam rejected this, but I don't know if it was discussed when Whitlam and Fraser met on the morning of the dismissal - I'll bet it was. Clearly, Fraser was not hiding why the supply bill was being blocked.
The money would run on out on November 27th, and so the terms of Frasers caretaker Government were "if commissioned Prime Minister, could secure supply, would immediately thereafter advise a double-dissolution election, and would refrain from new policies and investigations of the Whitlam Government pending the election." Both men deny this was agreed before Whitlam was dismissed - Fraser was at Government House when Whitlam arrived because Whitlam was 15 minutes late. I guess the timing will remain moot.
Kerr knew why Whitlam had made the appointment, but I don't feel it had any bearing on Kerr's actions. "According to Kerr, he interrupted Whitlam and asked if, as a result of the failure to find a compromise between party leaders, he intended to govern without parliamentary supply, to which the Prime Minister answered, "Yes". In their accounts of their meeting, both men agree that Kerr then told Whitlam about the decision to withdraw his commission as Prime Minister under Section 64 of the Constitution." (as reported by Paul Kelly).
Sounds like favoritism.
The timeline that I know of is that Whitlam and Fraser met that morning to try and resolve the stalemate, but neither would budge. Fraser had tabled Whitlam going to the polls as a resolution to the deadlock the previous month, and it's my assumption that was still the LCP offer.
Whitlam made an appointment with Kerr at 13:00 and indicated it was to propose a half senate election, so Kerr would have been aware why Whitlam was coming. Kerr's office contacted Whitlam's secretary to change the meeting to 12:45, but Whitlam wasn't told. Fraser's appointment was now 13:00, and he arrived early and was told to wait as Whitlam was now fifteen minutes lat from Kerr's POV. The arrival of Fraser's government car soon before Whitlam's ios logged.
As Whitlam started to request the half senate election, Kerr interrupted him and asked if he would continue to govern without supply, and Whitlam said yes. The rest is history. Apart from Fraser now having the 13:00 appointment, I'm not sure there is anything particularly nefarious or consulted in the timing of the appointment. I still describe it as a constitutional ambush, and Kerr was a cur.
I did not recall the whole timeline correctly, but it was easy to look up.
So shit was fucked pretty much
It was a coup. Plain and simple. The CIA started discussing plans to dismiss Gough months before anything involving the budget due to his intentions to nationalise Australian mines and close down Pine Gap after he found out it was being used to spy on Mao and bomb Cambodia.
“Ladies and gentlemen, well may we say 'God Save the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor-General.” - Gough Whitlam
69 likes niiic3
@@roolphthenorge5660 I am more entertained by the fact it now has 254 likes.
Well he did spend pretty much the rest of his live hated and being taunted wherever he went.
@@michaelsinger4638 Who? John Kerr? Pretty much. Gough Whitlam was a legend. When I think of the current lightweight idiot from marketing PM of today and compare him to Gough I want to cry and vomit at the same time.
One of my favourite quotes.
"Emus seize Perth"
*at least I got a feather hat*
*Gasp*
Uhh did I say feather hat? I meant together chat
suspicious level 10
That's an "oversimplyfied" version of the historical events of a tradic war where many brave warriors have fallen to protect there home land. But their sacrifices weren't in vain.😔
You are a man of culture
As an Australian, I was overjoyed to see this video. The Dismissal is one of our most beloved political dumpster fires, along with that time we misplaced a prime minister and the other time we went to war with the emus.
Hasn't Australia gone very Republican since? In Canada people have talked for decades and the post hasn't moved since 1982.
@Sanctus Paulus "daddy issues with Britain" haha perfectly put.
I've spoken to people who say Australia is not an independent/sovereign nation cos we're stilled "ruled" by the Queen... To no avail, I attempted explaining the Queen is well queen of many different countries, all separate from one another. If the UK became a republic, we would still have the Queen of Australia.
I'd say two big factors are presidential systems looking terrible, and the Queen and Prince William.
Much rather have some nice likeable people in nominal control of the country than have to elect and then suffer a new jerk every four years. Our elected jerks have to answer to at least one higher power so they can't let the ego go too far.
Don't forget the past decade of Prime Ministers being backstabbed and replaced more often than a season of Game of Thrones.
@@OniGanon including the republican
This wouldn't have happened if they were supported with the loyalty that only james bisonette can provide
Who do you think the Saudi Whitlam tried to borrow from was
**kelly moneymaker seethes at her perpetual #2 status**
Top comment 🤩🤩🤩🤩
Spinning3Plates wants you to know you are now on the sh*t list.
@@aratirao9007 NO
History Matters, the king of answering questions or bringing up topics you probably have never thought about in an entertaining and educative way
Yeah okay, we don't need this comment under all his new videos.
@@LOLERXP this is actually the first time I’ve done it😂 I was curious how many likes it would get…but it’s also so true like I can’t stop binging his videos
What a witty remark that’s totally original and not commented on every single one of his videos
Jeez, I’ve seen this comment so many times.
“One times funny two times it’s fucking annoying”
"If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it." - Fred Flintstone
I think this line was also said by the person who had a big role in the making of the Indian constitution as well.
Hes name defines the guy
"Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." -Also Fred Flinstone
I hear it makes a good cooking stone since it's inscribed onto literal slate tablets
🔘SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
Please make t-shirts of your “Sneaky Bois” and “Earth Goes here” logos for the CIA and UN! 😂
I’d happily buy any “sideways running through a field” merch too, I can’t get enough of these ongoing references
Oh yes
Fuck that, make t-shirts of james bizonette.
♦️SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
@@aratirao9007 no
As a young Canadian traveller, I happened to pass through Canberra in February 1975. My youth hostel card was stamped there on Feb 23.
A day later later I visited the Australian Parliament. I had never seen such a snooze fest and came away doubting that anything interesting ever happened there. Of course, almost the very next day the House erupted, the Speaker resigned and entire book chapters have been written about the events of the day!
Not just chapters, but entire books as well as a TV series!
Never knew CIA stood for "sneaky bois". You learn a new thing every day.
⚪SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
News just in: History Matters has (without trial) been locked up in jail for eternity for revealing the truth, joining Julian Assange...
@@kobusg7460 Press F to pay respects
Also known as the Clowns In America. The deep state c I a does more harm than good across the world.
And a few sneaky gals I suspect.
“Emus seize Perth” 😅
Emus "willing to run government." -- Spokesbird
Not surprising because their were "up to something" (ASIO) after all
Next thing you know in a couple of days they take Canberra
@@eternalgreed5953 But AISO was probably a little lazy because they did not suspect anything until the day before the attack.
One day Winton Turnbull, an MP of the Country Party (alluded to at 1:05 in the video), was attacking Labor's policies in a speech in Parliament, and declared, "I'm a Country member!" Whitlam replied, "Yeah, I remember."
I don't understand?
He was making fun of him from representing a rural populace?
@@TheBoshy Read "i'm a country member" out loud real slowly
Whitlam chose to interpret Turnbull's words as "I'm a c**t, remember".
🔹SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
@@aratirao9007 the fuck?
3:31 That broken window in the shape of the Federal star...genius. Thanks for covering this. I remember living through it and it was all-consuming at the time.
"Emus willing to run government" -spokesbird
Love the Emu War nods ^_^
wtf do emus have to do with this?
@@analcommando1124 there was an easter egg in this video with that caption. it is in reference to that time Australia declared war on a bunch of Emus due to crop devestation .... and lost .... the australian military lost to a flock of Emus
all the newspapers in this video have an Emu related topic on it and here at 3:36 you can see the one we're refering to here
@@plarteey1316 Firstly, Australia never declared war on emus. It is a tiny part of Australian history. Australia's greatest historian Manning Clark never wrote about in 7 volumes of Australian history.
I'd never heard about it until I saw a video on youtube with millions of views about it and no one I've asked about knows about it.
Doing research into it the press and the opposition called it an "emu war" to mock what a stupid idea it was by the government of the day to send people from the military to kill emus. The name was used as a joke.
Basically the "emu war" was just a meme before memes were a thing.
But historically its not a real thing.
@@analcommando1124 well memes have always been a thing, they don't have to use the internet, and I'm surprised you haven't heard of it, I consider the joke about it a part of my Aussie culture.
@@asneakychicken322 I havent heard about it because it wasn't a major thing in Australian history.
As I said, upon investing the media and politicians called it a war as a joke. To mock the stupidity of the idea.
Thats why its not in any Australian history book.
Its just an internet meme thing.
And its a great example how using the internet and things like youtube will distort people's understanding of history.
This "emu war" has no historical importance yet you, and many others, seem to think it was this HUGE and important event. You know, up there with Gallipoli or Federation.
The papers around US and UK involvement have just been reclassified so they’re still exempt from “Freedom of Information” access for press and public.
I think that probably says a lot about their involvement.
The LNP is extremely touchy about their image, especially around this time, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was at their request
Or the US still has shady networks in this country that might be exposed, I wouldn't be surprised by that either
That's what the emus want you to think....
Who knows how much they were involved or what they know? One could have no direct involvement but know a lot. We will not know for sure for a long time (you can conspire and potentially be right but not know 100%)
@@liambeamer1883 it’s a result of ‘five eyes’ in which it’s illegal for the US to spy on its citizens or for australia to spy on its citizens. However, it isn’t illegal for the US to spy on australian citizens and australia to spy on american citizens and trade their collected information for americas. The agreement includes 5 countries, hence the name, and is involved with a ton of controversy because of its literally a bizarre spy ring operation to bypass laws protecting privacy of citizens
Based on other ‘information collection activities’ from around. the same time, i’m guessing it’s classified as it would reveal it being much older and expansive than previously thought to be
We had a mega legal case that ended just last year where a historian, Jenny Hocking took the National Archives to the High Court (our version of the Supreme Court) for refusing to release documents written from the Queen's secretary to John Kerr (which they were legally obliged to release because more than 30 years had passed). Gough Whitlam's son was Hocking's lawyer and they won just last year! The documents basically confirm that Kerr was in talks with Prince Charles and Martin Chateris (Queen's secretary) months before the sacking happened which he'd always denied. Thankyou for covering such an important part of our history!
The conclusion from the letters is that the Palace knew of the option, recommended a political rather than a constitutional solution, and were not informed of the decision until after Kerr had ambushed Whitlam. This is the first I have heard of Prince Charles being a party in the correspondence, but Chateris was in the loop by virtue of his job.
So it was a coup by the Queen using her secretary as a scape goat
@@mackmcstiffylovin7778 Not really. She recommended a political solution, which is the opposite of what happened.
@@ronaldhawkins3957 Per Wikipedia, Kerr asked Charles if Whitlam could have Kerr dismissed while Kerr was deciding whether to dismiss Whitlam. Charles' reckon was that it wouldn't make sense (it doesn't) but ran it up the chain of command to his Mum. She talked it over with her advisors and decided that if Whitlam asked to have Kerr dismissed, the Queen was bound to say yes.
Everyone read exactly what they wanted from those letters. For monarchists, it confirmed that the Queen did nothing improper and in fact advised for a political solution. For republicans, the Palace could have written anything at all and it would still be used as evidence of an improper collusion.
Like everything these days, there is no consensus, even about facts.
The "and by good I mean bad" gag will never get old
3:16 the queen look just mildly annoyed with politician trying to kill each other
“Ugh these colonial peasants”
She's seen worse remember she's immortal
"Gentlemen, must you really attempt this here? I suggest you settle this in the front yard, there will be much more room for such activities there"
I could almost see a facial expression on her face, rare occasion.
Princess Anne was literally almost kidnapped as gunpoint, the British royals are not pussies.
“I didn’t lose! I merely failed to win!” - Gough Whitlam, 1975.
Well in a weird way he was right. Although his party got decimated at the subsequent election, they still actually scored more votes, just in the wrong places lol
That's what losing means
@@glenchapman3899 good old democracy hey?
@@antaguana Yep - going into an election you know the rules and have to design your campaign around that. Liberals did an excellent job in that respect and tore Labor a new one
It gets even more interesting when you ask where Harold Holt went.
Davey Jones' Locker probably.
"Adjustments" is possibly the most threatening thing you've said on this channel
2:23 “Emus seize Perth”
Luckily that’s where I live
"Emus'up to something"... I just can't
Booooo unfunny joke. Stop beating the dead emu
@@FirstNameLastName-ig2im boooo to your comment then.
The evolution of the emu state with each new news release was awesome
Let's be honest here. Emus could seize Perth and Sydney's response would be "we don't care"
Emus would seize it during the away game of Origin and hold teddy & val holmes hostage, those birds arent dumb
As Australian I agree
Sydney can do their own thing, as long as they don't infect Perth with the delta variant
Koalas could sieze Sydney and Western Australians + Queenslanders response would be "lol who cares about easterners/southerners"
Actually, I wonder, just HOW much of Australia would need to be seized by emus before Sydney actually cared?
0:17 Unity is Strength (Belgian motto in French) - Stroopwafels are delicious (in Dutch)
"cause Gough was tough 'til he hit the rough
Hey, Uncle Sam and Jon were quite enough"
It was this Midnight Oil lyric back in the early 80's that led me, as a Canadian, to a deep dive into Aussie politics . From the song "Power and the Passion" released in 1982
Another good song is Gough by The Whitlams, a Sydney band who named themselves after him.
The singer of midnight oil actually ran for office too and was the minister for education for some time (if memory serves)
@@kieranwalsh2058 Yes I know, I was extremely let down by one thing in particular he did while education minister.
@@ChaingunCassidy Do share, elections are coming up soon in Australia and I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Labor. I have my own issues with them on the state level here in Adelaide too
2:24 "Emus seize Perth"
Nothing of value was lost.
2:12 - he should've tried to borrow money from James Bissonette instead.
I literally stop what I’m doing and focus attentively whenever a new video is dropped. These are phenomenal!
🟦SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
Are the emus holding a beak to your head?
Thank you so much for making this video! As an Aussie who happens to be a big history lover, it's really good to see videos on your channel discussing the richness of Australian history
"Emus seize Perth" love it
I had to pause this half a dozen times to inspect the details of the frames and then recover from laughing out loud. You have this wonderful collection of stock phrases that you use at exactly the right time for maximum effect, and they're always both expected and unexpected, which is part of what great and memorable entertainment consists of. These videos may last only 3 or 4 minutes but the amount of work is clear in each individual frame. Thank you.
This situation sounds familiar back in Canada during 1926, which is called The King-Byng affair which the Prime Minster at the time wanted to call an election but was declined but the Governor General, which he gave the Prime Minster role to the opposition leader which last for 3 days as a no confidence was called and succeed
Very similar. I believe in Canada the firing of King was allowed at the time but the incident started a precedence for the GG to never interfere. In Australia it is still debated if the firing was legal and if the Queen overstepped.
@@andrewwyatt8445 yeah it was state in the statute of Westminster 1931 as it removed the ability for the Governor General to do that
@@andrewwyatt8445 No it isn't.
The reserve powers of the G-G weren't in doubt and still aren't
@@andrewwyatt8445 Buddy, the Queen didn’t *do* anything. Hell, the GG never even told her what he was going to do until he went and did it
@@Edmonton-of2ec exactly. The only thing the GG asked was if he had the authority to do so in the first place, but never stated definitively that he was going to do it
Good summary except you forgot one bit at the end namely that the native people of Easter Island were so impressed with the way Malcolm Fraser resolved the crisis that they erected numerous stone likenesses of Fraser (called Moai) on the island in his honour.
I love all the little references to Australian culture hidden in the cartoon, things someone not from Aus probably wouldn't pick up on
Actually there was a precedent in Australia. In May 1932 the governor of NSW sacked the state premier Jack Lang.
You'd think i'd get tired of watching these, but, fun fact: no
@@aratirao9007 Shut up
As a Belgian, I'm glad to see my country represented when we're talking about national crisises. But "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk" is about the least Belgian thing you could have added in the background. Stroopwafels is a Dutch dish and no Belgian ever eats it because, well, we hold a grudge.
and fries are french ;)
From what I could tell, "Stroopwafels zijn heerlijk" means "Syrup waffles are delicious". Thanks for telling us that's an unpopular opinion in Belgium! Is that grudge related to Dutch rule in Belgium from before 1831?
KOM VECHTEN DAN
I thought it was a delightful little tongue in cheek thingy: having a french sentence being serious about Belgium; and a dutch/flemish sentence being total nonsense in this context (although it is totally true whenever real stroopwafels are the context). If feels like an exaggerated version of what might really happen in a conversation between a Walloon and a Flemish politician (like: 'We're doing so well together'; 'Yeah, whatever...').
@@Hand-in-Shot_Productions nah. Dutch people are just a tad arrogant. It's not a serious grudge. Just a friendly rivalry.
"Countries, have constitutions"
UK: nervous sweating...
EDIT: Just to clarify: this was a simple joke about the UK not having a single codified constitution. More pointing out how most of the things the UK does is because that's the way it is and not that's because the constitution says so.
@@mojowwwav4357 the magna carta was more about the few making sure the king followed the rules.
@@mojowwwav4357 Most countries have a written constitution, a single document or a fixed set of documents that describe how to organize and run the country, and usually make it at least moderately difficult to change it on a whim.
The UK, however, has an uncodified constitution made up to statutes, common law, conventions, and treaties. Experts don't even always agree which documents are part of it. There are some things believed to be core to the constitution, such as rule of law and separation of government powers between at least judicial and legislative branches (there's debate over whether there's a true executive branch), and the devolution of legislative powers to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland ate probably considered part of the constitution and hence very hard or impossible to change. It maybe they're not. After all, there's no single document that says they can't.
@@JarrodFrates Although I agree with everything you've said, FlappetyFlippers was wrong and Mojoww was right to correct to him.
The UK _has a constitution_ - you even said so yourself. It's uncodified, sure, but that doesn't mean we haven't got one.
It's not not codified nor is it even fully written, like most countries - but the UK does have a constitution. This is the benefit (some would argue drawback) of never having to declare independence from another power or having a violent revolution*
*Obviously we had the Civil Wars and Interregnum, but that hardly counts since the royal/parliamentary system that existed before was restored not long after.
@@DylanSargesson I don't believe that any constitution is fully written or fully unwritten - thats why the terms aren't used as much, and 'codified' and 'unmodified are preferred.
To give an example of the most famous written constitution, the American Constitution. When it comes to the State of the Union, the Constitution specifies only that the President "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union".
It doesn't specify it has to be every year, nor that it must be a speech. Jefferson actually wrote letters, believing that a president going and speaking to Congress had a 'King lecturing from his throne' feel. Presidents before Jefferson had given speeches, but Jefferson set a precedent and it wasn't until Wilson that the annual speech became normal.
But there is nothing in the Constitution requiring it. It is an unwritten convention. Biden could hire a skywriter if he wanted. It might be criticised but it wouldn't be unconstitutional.
The 'only two terms' thing was a convention as well. It wasn't until FDR ignored it that people decided to codify it in law.
There are other examples. The point is, I don't think any constitution is purely written or purely unwritten.
'Adjustments' has the same vibe as 'altering the deal'.
Make a Video about how Magnificent Sulaiman the Magnificent is
Who was he?
@@F.R.E.D.D2986 Your mother.
@@F.R.E.D.D2986 the dude who wore an Orion and Expanded into Hungary
@@breaderikthegreat3224 what is an orion
@@mikeoxsmal8022 onions from the Orient
The Federation Star as the broken window is a great touch - well done.
2:49 "Welcome to Genious Town, Population: You" Please, never leave this kind of humor, is just gold.
FINALLY someone simplified this event for me to understand what was up
If Gough Whitlam took a loan from James Bissonette instead, none of this would have happened.
I was looking for this comment! This needs more likes
Never knew about the CIA part and claim of a grand intelligence conspiracy. Thank you
Yeah, but it was bullshit. Hence not discussed anymore
@@darkjudge8786 Was the fact that John Curr was a member of and went on many holidays payed by the Australian Association of Cultural Freedom which was funded by the CIA through the NED bullshit? Was the appointment of Marshall Green the architect of the CIA coup in indonesia as ambassador to australia right after whitlams election bullshit? Was CIA officer Victor Marchetti saying that in response to whitlam that "a kind of chile (referring to coup) was set in motion", bullshit?
Can’t even spell John Kerr’s name right
@@bobbobson563 Whitlam was denied supply by the Parliament. He publicly proposed to govern without supply, obtaining the money by forced loans from the banking system. The last person to try that crooked and unconstitutional trick was King Charles I. He quite rightly lost his head as a result.
Whitlam should have been eternally grateful that the result for him was merely being humiliated by the Australian people at the election held about three weeks after he was sacked. Whitlam was a grossly incompetent and narcissistic Prime Minister at the head of a pack of wannabe Marxists and self-admitted perjurers, whose only claim to distinction was that they at least equaled his incompetence.
It is more a foot-note, because the C.I.A. didn't have to do anything but sit and watch.
If it wasn't for the Double Dissolution, we might have seen an assassination instead....
1:10 - "You lost, nerds."
The King-Byng Affair (Canada) could be another addition to the constitutional crisis series (also affectionately known as the King-Byng thing)!
Australian Constitution: Includes New Zealand
New Zealand: *TRIGGERED*
We don't care tbh, it's funny if anything.
@Insert Name Here Australia already gets half of their team from Fiji and New Zealand, Quade Cooper still can't get Australian citizenship.
It's interpreted as an offer rather than a claim.
Not sure if your sarcastically avoid this factoid, but I beleive its a reference to the fact the constitution does include New Zealand and their opt in to becoming part of Australia any time they want to. Covered in a previous video.
@@Cryten0 how is he trying to avoid it? He's directly saying that NZ is mentioned in the Australian constitution.
I do agree, Stroopwafels zijn inderdaad heerlijk, Mr. History Matters!
Great little fun thingy there; made me rewind to read the french counterpart and that made me smile even more :-)
But stroopwafels are Dutch, not Belgian. :p
@@anthonyfarshaw8619 That’s what a Dutch person would say.
@@anthonyfarshaw8619 but Belgium w/o Walloon is South Netherlands tho...
0:22 not wanting to be left out 😂😂😂
Thank you for the simple meme 2:49
Belgian King: I do not agree with this law
Belgian goverment: and I do not agree You are capable of making decisions
Actually, it was the King who himself suggested and requested that he should be declared unfit to reign so that the bill can be passed by the Government. The King being a religious Catholic, didn't want to sign the Abortion Law himself so he requested the government to do it for him.
King: I don’t agree with your law
Belgium: I don’t agree with your You
@@petyrbaelish4311 I am Belgian and can confirm it is the true story
Belgium has a ton of interesting political deadlocks. Barring the recent ones we are famous from (like years without government), there's also the scholar war (tensions between Catholics and liberal/socialists over de-catholicisation of the schools), the Question Royale (eventual removal of Leopold III because he had been too close to the germans during WW2, but Flemmish wanted him in and Walloons wanted him out), or the flemish movement in the 60s like the split of the leuven university between walloons and flemmish ("wallen buiten").
@@evoluxman9935 don't forget all that terrible shit they did to Africans. Chopping off body parts and whatnot.
@@petyrbaelish4311 Religious people are so stupid. So he believed he did nothing wrong because he effectively got other people to pass the law?
Malcolm Fraser visited mum's school after being PM. She was about 6 at the time and excitedly ran home to tell my grandfather that she shook hands with the Prime Minister. When she told him he replied "I would have spat on his foot." She didn't understand at the time but does now.
Can we have more topics from the extremely unstable 1970s?
There's very little easy to access material on the changes that brought forward modern globalization
I agree.
⬜SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
1970s was a bad year for many countries including uk and usa
Love that you pick these semi obscure questions! Every single video you post is interesting, my man. Keep it up!
Emus "are up somthing"
Emus seize Perth
Shocking.
They're nice enough to run the government. How's that been going?
🟢SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
Emus might as well be running Perth for all the rest of Australia knows...
@@201bio The emus have done an alright job with the pandemic. No restrictions, no masks, no community infections in Perth
@@perthdude21 heh maybe we should put the emus in charge here in Sydney then hahaha
@@201bio Well, if they come knocking at your door, embrace your emu overlords hahaha
»Turns out Yuh Huh« was the funniest part
Im really happy about this. I really love the how and why question videos but i missed the videos on specific historical events. Glad these are back.
I am Aussie and I had NO idea that this even happened! They don’t teach us Australian history in school but they make us analyse Stan Grant’s speech! Thank you very much for this!
As an Australian history teacher, I can confirm that many teachefs have an ideological bent that isn't helpful. They'll do exactly that and play Stan Grant yet not even teach Gough Whitlam's set of self-determination policies which were far more important in changing the lives of Indigenous Australians for the better.
Up until 2013, we used to teach Gough Whitlam in 9-10 but it was basically taught as a Liberal Party ad and it was "Gough Whitlam spent too much, Kerr had to step in"
They conveniently gloss over such figures as Jack Lang and Gough Whitlam, lest the people start getting ideas.
You didn't get taught about the dismissal? Your social studies teachers did you a disservice! I went to high school in the 80's, barely 10 years after it happened and we were taught about it.
"Countries have constitutions."
The UK sitting in the corner like "mhmm yup definitely".
Well we do have a constitution. Just not one codified in a single place. We have several important documents (magna carta, bill of rights, amongst others) that between them form our constitution
@@reddragon3132 : I would describe that less as a Constitution, and more as a Constitutional Pile. I hope that someone has an actually organized listing somewhere.
Our form of government is "Constitutional Monarchy". We invented parliamentary democracy and yet managed to keep the Monarch while everyone else had revolutions :)
@@cazza358 but you did have a revolution... You know Oliver Cromwell and all
@@nahometesfay1112 which only rule for like a decade until the people said this commonwealth/Republic is stupid and that Richard Cromwell don't want the Lord protectorship title
Okay, now talk about the time one of their prime ministers crapped himself at a McDonald's.
And the follow up in Parliament House.
To be fair the man himself denies it happened. Then again, who the hell would admit they shit themselves at a McDonald's after getting drunk at a rugby game?
◻️SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
@@aratirao9007 shut up
We've got a good thing going with our politics.
I loved the subtle wink to the emu war
Love that you cought the little base in the middle of australia.
0:37 That misrepresents the reality of the situation. Australia had passed the Statute of Westminster in 1942 effectively ending any real influence the British government had over the Australian government. Yes, technically there was the question of the British parliament and government being to legislate for Australia but in reality that never happened. While the Australia Act of 1986 removed any last power of the British parliament to govern or legislate within in Australia whatever power Britain had not exercised this ability for decades, well before Gough Whitlam was PM.
Thank you for the clarification. Tight analyses like that are necessary to fill all the holes... in the story, I mean.
But your GG still had the power to muck with things. In Canada we put our GG in their place in the 30's.
@@michaelthomas5433 In Ireland we just decided to get rid of our Governor General entirely in the 30s.
@@michaelthomas5433 The good old King-Byng Affair... Yeah, I was surprised when I first heard of the Australian crisis because I figured that they would have learned from our mess decades years earlier. Bloody stupid of Buckingham Palace to have advised anything but complete neutrality when they already had the King-Byng Affair on the record. They knew it would be a constitutional crisis.
@@Jotari A hell of a lot of us would LOVE to replace the viceroy's position with a ceremonial president or some similar ribbon-cutting muppet that isn't a British royal proxy but the damned office exists by virtue of the 1867 constitution and would require a constitutional amendment to remove/replace. Our amendment formula doesn't make it easy (min. 7 provinces representing at least half the population - getting 7 provinces to agree on ANYTHING, even that the sky is blue, is hard) and we've got several thorny constitutional issues that would absolutely be higher priority at any constitutional renegotiation (indigenous rights and land claims, the role/nature/existence of the Senate, the status of Quebec and/or francophone cultural-linguistic rights, representation of the West, possible revisions to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and perhaps the very existence of the monarchy...). The list goes on and no politician wants to open that can of worms. The question of the G-G's job would be some minor amendment that very few people cared about compared to the meaty stuff.
The Canadian G-G is generally viewed as a mostly powerless ceremonial figurehead who rubber stamps things and dissolves parliament/reads throne speeches when told to, but it isn't a very popular office (although the new G-G is viewed as symbolic because she's our first indigenous G-G and we've been coming to terms with some painful history in recent decades). I honestly expect that we'll get rid of the G-G when we finally abolish the monarchy or repatriate it (i.e. have our own distinct royal family - some monarchists like the idea but most citizens aren't too keen to pay for some pampered royals).
Mr. Prime Minister, I guarantee our secret intelligence hasn't found any involvement of Emus in this crisis.
3:31 - the window is broken in the shape of the Commonwealth Star, the seven-pointed star on the flag. Nice touch!
This reminds me of your old explanation videos and I love it! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for another episode of „question's i never asked before, but are interesting”.XD
🔵SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
4:00 the moment History Matters started rapping
I enjoyed the sneaky references to the dreaded Emu Wars.
That sneaky bois rug
This kills me
Another similar, albeit less dramatic, situation like this happened in Canada in 1926 with the King/Byng affair.
I will have to rewatch this several times because I have absolutely no clue what happened.
Same😭😭
do Americans really?
This is a very quick summery, I recommend researching it further.
Double Dissolution is an interesting concept, a way to start over if there is a dead-locked government....
@@dodovomitory3496 not american.
@@lostbutfreesoul Yes but you can call a Double Dissolution after a piece of legislation is defeated 3 times, then of course you call said election and still cannot pass legislation you can call for a Joint Sitting and potentially use your numbers in House of Reps to nullify the opposition senators.
I’ve been waiting for a video on this and you have delivered a amazing video as usual
Your video made me understand this event far more than anything else in my (Australian) education and experiences.
When America finds out a Labour Party wins in a democratic country:”someone is a bout to get liberated”.
As an Aussie I’m glad they did
@@lordpolish2727 leave
I'm surprised that this one didn't involve the military like in Latin America
@@lordpolish2727 have fun with no super, medicare, ndis, and general workers rights numbnuts.
@@mat2000100 it would be too obvious if they did this in australia
This is actually one of my favourite aspects of constitutional monarchies like the british commonwealth ones, if there is ever stupid gridlock in government, the monarch/governor general can quickly step in and get things moving again. It can prevent some disastrous edge cases that come up in democracies, leading to more efficient government.
Or a coup in all but name..... (btw I agree with you)
There is actually another very interesting and similar case which happened rather recently, but went sorely underreported.
In 2013 in Tuvalu, another of the queen’s realms, the government lost its parliamentary majority in a by-election. The opposition, which now had a majority, intended to table a motion of no confidence. The PM however refused to let parliament sit, arguing that it had already sat once for the year, and the constitution didn’t require more.
The Governor-General then proceeded to overrule the PM and recall parliament anyway. The speaker of parliament, an ally of the PM, sabotaged the session however, and declared the session disbanded before the opposition got to table their no confidence motion. The Governor-General, at this point highly frustrated at the PM’s grossly undemocratic acts in frustrating parliament, again summoned parliament to sit.
The PM, in response to this, called Buckingham Palace and told the queen to dismiss the Governor-General, and replace him with one of the PM’s allies. The Queen, rightly so, told him to kindly piss off and did no such thing. The Governor-General then proceeded to dismiss the PM, appointed the opposition leader as the new Prime Minister, and summoned parliament again, which confirmed the Governor-General’s actions the next day.
@@MonarchistMusic Thats great, never heard about that myself. Glad to hear it work out for them and Governor-General/Gueen worked to protect democracy and not let it get bogged down in what is "technically legally correct" with the PM not allowing parliament to sit.
I disagree although I'm open to the idea of some form of the Governor-General existing. Currently the position of the Governor-General is occupied by an individual who is undemocratically elected (even worse they're appointed by a Family that is given special political privileges based on their birthright). If the position was instead democratically electable & the power was redistributed among multiple people then I'd be more favourable to the idea although I still think it shouldn't exist. The position of the Governor-General contemporarily (and historically) is just too authoritarian.
Love your videos mate. As an Aussie, I knew of the sacking, but not the intimidate details, cheers. Nice to know corruption has been thriving in Australia for a long time!
THIS CHANNEL has quickly become one of my faves
🔸SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
These subtexts are too god damn hilarious! 😂 I learn more with history youtube channels than I ever did in school, especially with comedy mixed in! Great work, HM! 👍🏾
0:11 Belgium in 1990 didn't look like that, those are the pre-WW1 borders
Oh my god excellent, I've always hoped for more Australia content!
"Emus 'willing to run government' - Spokesbird" lol
1:45 I saw that Queensland flag happy my states getting recognition
The Emus seized Perth in just 1 day? (2:22)
EDIT: it seems they were quite successful in their campaign in the long run (3:36)
I like how the shape of the shattered glass at 3:32 is the same shape as the star on the Australian flag
I can’t believe how well you nailed the 70’s fuzzy hair. Hats off to you sir.
3:36 "More like John Cur, amirite?"
Funny though, since there's a PM with that as his name plus three more letters.
You should make a video about the world's reaction to the fall of France in World War 2
Thanks for these videos they’re great
"The PM could have the Governor General removed by sending a letter to the Queen." Which is literally the first thing Fraser did after he got in to his office.
🔶SERCH ADITYA RATHORE, HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE HISTORIC CONTENT LIKE HISTORY MATTERS
Completely untrue. Kerr served for another 2 years until the end of 1977 when he resigned.
What are you talking about? Kerr served for two more years and retired.
Incorrect.
@@CtrlDPredator
That's a pity.
As a person who's been mostly blind all of their life. I'm glad that channels like this make videos on history and other things. This channel has made a lot of dots connect in life that didn't at first. I can't get enough of it now. Depending on the topic I will go learn more about a specific conflict. For information purposes. But just to get the jist of a situation. But made sensible, these videos are lovely.
Episode ideas: Why was Europes reaction to Oliver Cromwells republic different to Frances Revolutionary republic?
Battle of Brunanburh?
Kingdom of Bernicia?
Cromwell's state wasn't a declared republic was it? The King position was temporarily vacant or something
@@Warsie The king was EXECUTED and Cromwell made “Lord protector” of the “Commonwealth” so it was effectively a military dictatorship and de facto republic.
Considering the king was executed that should have made the other kings of Europe nervous but when the French Revolution happened the other nations of Europe attacked but they didn’t with Britain so my question is how did the other countries of Europe respond and in what way was it different to their response to the French Revolution?
The first question is pertinent and something interesting that I didn't totally thought about
@@victorhugofranciscon7899 Thanks. 👍
This is one of the more confusing yet in depth videos History Matters has ever done.
Wow, your characters of Sir John Kerr and Gough Whitlam are just perfect. There's even an early model John Howard.