1975: The Ballads of the Whitlam Dismissal

by Stephen Stockwell

Overview

1975 The Ballads of the Whitlam Dismissal uses bush ballads and investigative journalism to commemorate the Whitlam Dismissal in 1975 with forensic detail, smoking guns, the guilty called to account and Australian democracy given a gentle push to maintain our independence.

Gough was confronted by an army of opponents: the Murdoch and Packer press, monarchists, militarists and misogynists, an antiquated judicial system, Buckingham Palace, the US government's CIA and Australia's own Governor General, John Kerr.

It was Kerr who stabbed Whitlam in the back after Whitlam appointed him as GG. People will argue about the politics but everyone agrees this is an epic story with mythological dimensions, King Lear meets Game of Thrones."

With 50 years hindsight, it is time for Australia to make up its own mind about what happened on 11 November 1975.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780645184846
Publisher:	Publicious Pty Ltd
Publication date:	08/07/2025
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Stephen Stockwell is Professor Emeritus in Journalism and Communication at Griffith University Australia. Previously he worked as a journalist at 4ZZZ, JJJ and Four Corners and as a press secretary. He plays keyboard and sings for Brisbane punk band, The Black Assassins, was on the editorial collective of the Cane Toad Times 1983-91 and participated in its latest 2024 edition. He wrote Political Campaign Strategy (2005) and co-edited The Secret History of Democracy (2010). Since retiring he has been exploring politics with poetry and produced The Voyage and the Vision (2021) and The Phoenician Sonnets (2023). He lives at Burleigh Heads on the land of the Kombumerri clan of the Yugambeh people.