Half a century on, it's time to reassess the Whitlam government's economic legacy

By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

After leading the Australian Labor Party to its first federal election victory in 23 years, Gough Whitlam wasted no time.

The Tuesday after his election on December 2 1972, he formed an interim two-man cabinet – a duumvirate – with his deputy Lance Barnard, and set about changing the nation.

Modestly, he took only 13 portfolios, while Barnard got 14. The pair governed the country for two weeks until the results of the election were formally declared and a full ministry sworn in. None of this, however, was…

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