Interpreting the Dismissal. Paul Kelly’s influence

Diminished accountability, the Executive stacking the system to use mediating institutions as weapons against political opponents, the ‘whatever it takes to win' mentality – if these can be seen as markers of the modern political status quo, then this condition has a parallel in the dismissal of the Whitlam government.

For perhaps most Australians, the political crisis of 1975 has faded to become barely relevant history. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to trace the present detestable malaise of our politics to the unresolved issues of 1975.