A Hop Through Australia's History |
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1975 - The Whitlam Sacking
Seat in Senate becomes vacant
State of Queensland must fill seat,
Labor's Whitlam hopes for good man
Country Party has him beat.
Queensland places Labor-hater
On the Senate's scarlet bench,
Who now gives the Opposition
Enough votes the power to wrench.
Their procedure's very basic -
Just block all of Whitlam's laws,
Continually for five months running
Scheming in the corridors.
Whitlam were he in Westminster
Would have offered to resign,
But in Oz he just hung in there
Waiting maybe for a sign.
Then one bright November morning
He gets Governor-General's sack,
And its swiftness is to Whitlam
Like a Club across the back.
Full of moral indignation
He fights hard to keep his job
Not realising that Australians
Resent keenness at the top.
Certain of his moral rightness
He knows he'll get back his gig
But voters hate self-assurance
And end up giving him the flick.
The moral of this story's simple
And it really can't be missed:
If you don't care about your post,
You'll never be dismissed.
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![[RT pic]](/robert.jpg)