What is John Kerr?
{{For|the American actor|John Kerr (actor)}} '''Sir John Robert Kerr''' (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was the 18th [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] of [[Australia]] from 1974 to 1977. He is famous for dismissing [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Gough Whitlam]] in 1975. This is one of the most famous events in Australian history. Even though the Whitlam government was not voted back in after being dismissed, Kerr's actions divided opinion and he continued to be disliked by many people. Prime Minister [[Gough Whitlam]] chose John Kerr to be Governor General in 1974. In 1974–75 the [[Gough Whitlam|Whitlam government]] thought about borrowing US$4 billion in foreign loans. A Minister, Rex Connor, had secret discussions with a loan [[broker]] from Pakistan. The Treasurer, [[Jim Cairns]], misled parliament about this. This made the new leader of the Opposition, [[Malcolm Fraser]] use the [[Australian Senate|Senate]] to stop passing money for the government until there was an election. Whitlam refused. In 1975 the opposition, led by [[Malcolm Fraser]], blocked government supply in the Senate. This meant that the government had no money. This was a big crisis in Australia. In order to end the crisis, John Kerr dismissed Whitlam and made Fraser the Prime Minister. Whitlam lost the election that was held a month later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/whitlam/in-office.aspx#section12|title=In office - Gough Whitlam (5 December 1972 – 11 November 1975) and Margaret Whitlam|first=Parkes|last=corporateName=National Archives of Australia; address=Queen Victoria Terrace|website=primeministers.naa.gov.au|access-date=10 January 2011|archive-date=19 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419124214/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/whitlam/in-office.aspx#section12|url-status=dead}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, John}} [[Category:1914 births]] [[Category:1991 deaths]] [[Category:Governors-General of Aust