Can You Help?

This website is in imminent danger of being shut down. It has been online since 1995, but the personal circumstances of the owner, Malcolm Farnsworth, are such that economies have to be made. Server costs and suchlike have become prohibitive. At the urging of people online, I have agreed to see if Patreon provides a solution. More information is available at the Patreon website. If you are able to contribute even $1.00/month to keep the site running, please click the Patreon button below.


Become a Patron!


Governor-General’s Speech Opening Parliament: 1987

Sep 14, 1987

Following the Hawke Labor government’s re-election on July 11, 1987, the 35th Parliament was opened by the Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen, on September 14, 1987.

Address by Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen at the Opening of the 35th Parliament.

Honourable Members of the Parliament of Australia:

At the elections for both Houses of Parliament held on 11 July 1987, the Australian people once again elected the Labor Government and, with an increased majority, decisively renewed its mandate to pursue the task of national reconstruction.

The Government enters its third term in office with a full agenda of reforms to continue this essential and historic task. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Governor-General, Hawke, Opening Parliament, Parliament Tagged With: , ,

Governor-General’s Speech Opening Parliament: 1983

Apr 21, 1983

The Hawke Labor Government was elected in March 1983, the first victory for the ALP since the Whitlam dismissal and electoral defeat in 1975.

The Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen, opened the 33rd Parliament on April 21, 1983.

Govenor-General Sir Ninian Stephen’s Address to Open the 33rd Parliament.

Honourable Members of the Parliament of Australia here assembled:

At the elections for both Houses of Parliament on 5 March 1983, the people of Australia declared firmly for a change of government and for a change of national direction.

You have been called together to consider a wide-ranging program of legislation designed to give effect to the mandate of the people.

The new Government has assumed office at a time of Australia’s gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression fifty years ago. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 1983 Federal Election, A.L.P., Governor-General, Hawke, Opening Parliament, Parliament Tagged With: ,

Fraser Calls Early Election As Hawke Replaces Hayden

Feb 03, 1983

At the time, it was described as the most dramatic day in Australian politics since the Dismissal of the Whitlam government.

HaydenRumours abounded on the morning of February 3, 1983 that Bill Hayden’s leadership of the ALP was under threat from Bob Hawke. Speculation had also begun that Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser might call an early election.

I was attending the funeral of the Victorian state Labor member for Springvale, Kevin King. There was an air of expectation as Labor notables and party activists mingled outside after the service. Some not-so-discreet preselection lobbying was underway but many of us were interested in events further afield.

In Brisbane, the ALP’s National Executive was putting Bill Hayden to the sword. Back at the funeral, one Victorian MP told me of a cryptic conversation he’d had with Bob Hogg, the Victorian ALP’s State Secretary. This was a time before mobile phones, the internet and continuous news. Political information passed around like Chinese whispers. As the funeral finished, we still weren’t sure if Hayden had gone. People who turned on their car radios heard reports that Fraser was on his way to see the Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 1983 Federal Election, A.L.P., Audio, Fraser, Governor-General, Hawke, Liberal Party, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , ,