Gough Whitlam

As Whitlam considered the Senate unrepresentative he opposed the admission of its ALP leaders to the party's governing bodies. The Victoria branch of the party had long been a problem; its executive was far to the left of the rest of the ALP and had little electoral success. Most Labor leaders including Evatt Deputy Leader Arthur Calwell Eddie Ward and Reg Pollard were in their sixties twenty years older than Whitlam.

Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC (born 11 July 1916) known as Gough Whitlam (pron. Subsequently the Opposition which controlled the Senate was emboldened by government scandals and a flagging economy to challenge Whitlam. The circumstances of his dismissal and the legacy of his government remain part of Australian political discourse.