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Concept
John Kerr (governor-general)
Summary
Sir John Robert Kerr (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constitutional crisis, which culminated in his decision to dismiss the incumbent prime minister Gough Whitlam and appoint Malcolm Fraser as his replacement, unprecedented actions in Australian federal politics.
Kerr was born in Sydney to working-class parents. He won scholarships to Fort Street Boys' High School and the University of Sydney, where he studied law. His legal career was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served with the Australian Army's Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs (DORCA) and attained the rank of colonel. After the war's end he became the inaugural head of the Australian School of Pacific Administration. Kerr returned to the bar in 1949 and became one of Sydney's leading industrial lawyers. He joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was briefly an endorsed candidate for the 1951 federal election. He let his membership lapse after the party split of 1955.
Kerr served terms as president of the New South Wales Bar Association and the Law Council of Australia. He was appointed to the Commonwealth Industrial Court in 1966, later serving on territory supreme courts and as Chief Justice of New South Wales (1972–1974). On the nomination of ALP prime minister Gough Whitlam, Kerr was appointed governor-general in July 1974. The Whitlam government did not hold a majority in the Senate, and following a series of controversies in 1975, most notably the Loans Affair, the Liberal opposition leader Malcolm Fraser called on the Senate (where his coalition had a majority) to defer consideration of the supply bills in an attempt to force an early election. Kerr regarded the situation as untenable, believing the prime minister was obliged to either resign or call a general election, which Whitlam was unwilling to do.
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