The recent release of the Whitlam government’s cabinet papers from 1972 and 1973 have revealed much new information about one of Australia’s most reformist governments. Readers can examine the inner workings of the government as if sitting at the cabinet table with the major players of the day. These papers are important because cabinet is at the centre of executive government, comprising the most senior members of the ministry. The cabinet papers include submissions to cabinet, decisions and departmental files kept by bureaucrats. They expose the inner workings of the cabinet process and illuminate executive political power in action.
The newest papers, from 1973, have revealed a government keen to implement its mandate, dealing with a wide range of issues such as foreign policy, defence, the economy, health, Aboriginal affairs, education and social services. Speaking at the embargoed media briefing in December 2003, Whitlam argued that these papers would serve to demolish the many myths about the Whitlam years. Namely, that they did too much too soon, had little regard for the economic consequences, paid little attention to the proper practices of government, that they ignored public service advice, and that they were driven by centralism. Perhaps.
But what these papers do show is a strong-willed prime minister firmly in command of his government. The 1973 papers illustrate the work of a cabinet driven by a grand Whitlam-Labor vision to achieve social reform, confident and prepared for the task. The depth and breadth of the work is apparent. That year was the government’s high point. But more importantly, it is the government’s earliest days, documented in the 1972 cabinet papers, that reveal much about the tragic fate of that first Labor government in 23 years.
As the 1972 election approached, the contrast between Prime Minister William McMahon and Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam could not have been more apparent. McMahon was the fifth prime minister in five years, being elevated to office at the fag end of the Liberal’s long reign. Since the disappearance of Harold Holt the government had been fraught with disunity. By November 1972, McMahon’s approval had fallen to 33 per cent, while Whitlam’s had risen to 46 per cent.
The government was clearly rattled by a resurgent Labor Party with Whitlam as leader, confident after its strong showing at the 1969 election when it won 18 seats. In contrast to Whitlam, McMahon lacked a commanding political performance in the parliament and