The dismissal: the day the governor general sacked the Whitlam government – in pictures.

 Extract from The Guardian

On Tuesday 11 November 1975, governor general Sir John Kerr used his reserve powers to break a growing constitutional deadlock in Canberra and dismissed the Whitlam government. Having summoned Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, the leader of the Coalition, to Government House at Yarralumla, Kerr sacked the prime minister over Labor’s failure to obtain supply in the Parliament.

He commissioned Fraser as caretaker prime minister, on the condition he could pass the budget bills through parliament and immediately call an election. Whitlam stayed on as Labor leader until 1977, but never returned to government. Fraser was prime minister until 1983. Fifty years on, this day remains one of the most historic days in Australian political history

Gough Whitlam on the steps of Parliament House after the governor general’s official secretary David Smith read a proclamation dissolving both houses of Parliament. Smith’s proclamation ended with the phrase ‘God save the queen!’ This prompted Whitlam to deliver his iconic rebuttal: ‘Ladies and gentleman, well may we say, “God save the queen”, because nothing will save the governor general.’ Photograph: National Library of Australia

Tue 11 Nov 2025 01.00 AEDT

Gough Whitlam looks on as the governor general’s official secretary David Smith reads the proclamation dissolving both houses of federal parliament on the steps of Parliament House at about 4.50pm on 11 November 1975. An angry crowd had gathered outside the building after hearing the government had been sacked earlier that day. Photograph: National Archives of Australia

A few hours after being dismissed as prime minister, Gough Whitlam addressed reporters and the public outside Parliament House. Sir John Kerr had named opposition leader Malcolm Fraser to lead a caretaker government until a federal election, scheduled for December.Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

The new caretaker prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, leaving Parliament House amid a day of high drama. Fraser had forced the crisis by blocking budget supply bills in the Senate for weeks. Photograph: National Archives of Australia

Prime minister Malcolm Fraser (L), governor general Sir John Kerr (middle) and deputy prime minister Doug Anthony leave Government House after Fraser’s cabinet is sworn in.Photograph: National Archives of Australia

Members of the Fraser cabinet after the swearing-in ceremony at Government House: (L-R) Andrew Peacock, Philip Lynch, Malcolm Fraser, Sir John Kerr, Doug Anthony, Ian Sinclair and Reg Withers.Photograph: Angus Kendon/Angus Kendon/National Archives Australia

ACTU boss and Labor party national president Bob Hawke speaks at a lunchtime rally outside Parliament House a day after Gough Whitlam’s dismissal. Photograph: D Thomas/National Archives of Australia

Huge crowds gather in Canberra to protest the dismissal, as Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser gear up for a bitter federal election campaign. Voters went to the polls on 13 December. Photograph: Angus Kendon/National Archives of Australia

Protest signs show the emotion of the day at the lunchtime rally at Parliament House the day after the dismissal.Photograph: Angus Kendon/Angus Kendon/National Archives Australia

Gough Whitlam is given a hero’s welcome at the lunchtime rally outside Parliament House. As many as 5,000 people gathered, with public servants, students, and transport and building employees protesting Kerr’s actions. The rally passed a motion condemning Whitlam’s dismissal and called on workers to donate ‘a day’s pay for democracy’ to the Labor party.Photograph: Angus Kendon/Angus Kendon/National Archives Australia