"Explain the impact that the dismissal of Gough Whitlam and the labour party has had on the civic life of Australia in the twentieth century."

'The Dismissal' is a term that has come into general use since 1975, to describe the termination of the elected Whitlam ALP Government by the then Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. The event came as the culmination of one of the most tension-filled years in Australian political history. The Whitlam Government, elected in 1972 after 23 years of Liberal rule, was dealing with an economic downturn and facing considerable criticism following a number of scandals. Its ability to govern …

…Labor returned to power. With Bob Hawke and then Paul Keating as prime minister, the Labor government lasted for 13 years (1983-96), the longest period ever for a federal Labor government. This government was not as radical as Whitlam's and it was much better run. It never controlled the Senate, but it achieved most of what it wanted. There was never any suggestion that its budgets would be blocked. The anger of 1975 began to ebb away.