I want Gillard to survive by a vote or two so that Labor gets the flogging they richly deserve. There are enough idiots out there who would vote for Labor with KRusty the Clown at the helm that could see them back into power.
I want Federal Labor flogged like NSW Labor or QLD Labor. I want to see them struggle to get enough seats to form a cricket team.
Whitlam was before my time so I can’t say this is the worst government in Australian history (and talking about from Jan 26, 1788 onwards, including Governor Bligh and the Rum Corps in my estimation). If it’s not then it’s a close runner-up.
Naturalman1975, you were about during the horror of Whitlam. Who takes the top spot? Whitlam’s Labor or Rudd/Gillard Labor?
For all his faults (and they were many), Whitlam was a patriot who was dedicated to doing what he believed (rightly or wrongly - in my view often wrongly) was best for his country, not just what was best for his party. He gets a lot of respect from me for that. He also went out there and got things done - again, I might not agree with all of those things but he was a leader and was ready to lead. He also always treated the Services with respect (perhaps partly because of his service as an RAAF officer during the Second World War) which in the 1970s in the aftermath of Vietnam was a somewhat controversial position for a Labor politician. For those reasons, I'd put him ahead of Gillard and Rudd.
I also believe that he did this nation a tremendous service on November 11 1975 when, despite disagreeing with it, he accepted the decision of the Governor General and called upon his supporters to express their opinions at the ballot box under the rule of law, rather than through violence. We were quite seriously concerned at the risk of civil unrest and he had the self control and enough respect for the Constitution to do the right thing. He was a lousy Prime Minister - but he was a credit to that office in the way he left it. Constitutionally.
The first Whitlam ministry 2 to 19 December was half decent.
After that he brought in, among others, Lionel Murphy (Australian most corrupt Senator, later most corrupt High Court Judge) and wiseguy Al Grassby (who gave Australia multiculturalism and the Calibrain Mafia)