Gough Whitlam’s 1974 re-election: 'government by double dissolution'

In the double dissolution election of May 1974 Gough Whitlam's Labor government achieved an historic second victory. It was followed by the equally historic Joint Sitting of both houses of parliament, which remains the only Joint Sitting ever held under section 57 of the Constitution, and at which 6 of the Whitlam government's most significant policies were legislated. Despite its undoubted significance the 1974 election has been largely overlooked, even forgotten, in the tumultuous history of the Whitlam government. This article explores the nature and significance of the 1974 election, its constitutional and political innovations under the unique provisions of s. 57, and its implications for the events of 1975 and the Governor-General's unprecedented dismissal of the Whitlam government.