For the sake of completeness, here’s pretty much everything else, from January 1975 all the way through to the end of the election.

WHITLAM’S FATE SEEMS IN DOUBT Jan. 19, 1975

SYDNEY, Australia, Jan: 18—The survival of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam as Australia’s leader is increasingly in doubt.

Special to The New York Times

The opposition Liberal and Country parties will have two opportunities this year—in May and November—to force an election by denying the Government access to money, through their control of the Senate, the upper house of Parliament.

While the opposition may let these opportunities pass rather than find itself presiding over a stagnant economy, Mr. Whitlam cannot be sure that he will not face an early election. His standing is at its lowest ebb both in his Labor party and in the public at large.

There is a strong possibility that if the economic situation worsens, Mr. Whitlam may face a challenge to his leadership of the Labor patty, with Deputy Prime Minister James F. Cairns the leading contender for his job.

It is just over two years since Mr. Whitlam led Labor to its first national election victory in 23 years. He was hailed then as the party’s redeemer and the country’s first leader of international stature since Sir Robert Menzies retired as Prime Minister in 1966.

But this week, as Mr. Whitlam neared the end of a 39‐day tour of 14 nations, he was being cast in the press here as willful, irritable, intemperate and lacking in judgment. Two public displays of ill humor during his European tour prompted some of the adverse comment. Critics also took him to task for being away from Australia at a time of deepening economic recession.

Economy a Problem

The economic situation is Mr. Whitlam’s most serious problem. Last week the Government announced that the number of unemployed had risen to 267,000, or 4.53 per cent of the Australian work force. The figures, the highest since the Depression, were a severe blow to the prestige of the Labor party, which is pledged to a policy of full employment.

By the end of this month the number of Australians out of work is expected to exceed 300,000, raising the unemployment rate to 5 per cent.

In a 1972 election speech Mr. Whitlam said Labor’s first goal would be to “restore genuine full employment.” The number of registered unemployed declined from 100,000 in 1973 to 80,000 early in 1974, but then soared to the present high total.

Inflation, which hit 20 per cent last year, remains a problem, too. The Bank of New South Wales reported early this month that the Australian economy displayed an “unaccustomed sluggishness, falling growth and increasing rate of inflation.” The report criticized the Government for tending to aggravate the rate of inflation in “pursuing its social and political objectives regardless of the condition of the economic fabric.”

New Peevishness Shown

Mr. Whitlam has displayed an uncharacteristic public peevishness as the economy has deteriorated. In Italy he pushed away a television camera held by an Australian cameraman.

When an ore carrier struck a bridge in Tasmania earlier this month causing at least nine deaths Mr. Whitlam, then in The Hague, said at a news conference that “it is beyond my imagination how any competent person can steer a ship into the pylons of a bridge.” A day later he apologized.

Mr. Whitlam’s remarks were interpreted here as a mark of his embarrassment at being abroad during two Australian disasters in less than two weeks. When a cyclone struck Darwin on Christmas Day, Mr. Whitlam interrupted his European tour for a brief visit to the stricken city. He was subsequently criticized for resuming his tour.

Deputy. Wins Approval

Some political analysts here believe that Deputy Prime Minister Cairns’s stock has risen because of the cool‐headed manner in which he dealt with national problems in the absence of the Prime Minister. Others have suggested that Mr. Whitlam appears bent on political suicide. His European tour, it is said, was made against the advice of senior Labor party officials.

His decision to go ahead with the tour appeared especially illadvised to many because it followed a major, swing against Labor in state elections in Queensland in December in which the state Labor party leader was defeated.

But despite criticism, Mr. Whitlam is reported to be planning other trips. He is scheduled to attend a meeting of Commonwealth prime ministers in Jamaica in April and is also believed to be contemplating trips to Japan and the Middle East.

Since becoming Prime Minister in December, 1972, Mr. Whitlam has made 11 overseas trips. The Sydney Morning Herald said that compared with former prime ministers, Mr. Whitlam had turned his term into an “almost continuous Cook’s tour.”

Prospect of Australian Election Silences Whitlam’s Critics at Party Meeting

Feb. 9, 1975

TERRIGAL, Australia, Feb. 8 —At Terrigal, a resort town where a foaming white surf boils in from the Tasman Sea, it was difficult this week to distinguish Australians on vacation from delegates to the Australian Labor party’s policymaking conference.

Special to The New York Times

Around the pool of the Florida Hotel delegates drank beer, ate prawns from Tuggerah Lake or lay in the sun.

In the second‐floor conference room, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, Robert J. Hawke, the Labor party’s president, and other officials, casually dressed in sport shirts and slacks, played down the possibility that they might face a political crisis this year if the Opposition forces an election through its control of the Senate, the upper house in Australia’s two‐chamber Parliament.

‘One Parliamentary Leader’

But the party was clearly preoccupied with the prospect of an early election and its possible defeat because of public discontent over persistent inflation and growing unemployment.

Delegates who had recently criticized Mr. Whitlam remained silent as Mr. Hawke set the tone of the conference by stressing the need for unity and optimism.

As far as the party is concerned, Mr. Hawke said, “there is one parliamentary leader—Gough Whitlam.”

Mr. Hawke added: “There is no challenge to his leadership, and there will be no challenge to his leadership as long as he wants to retain it.”

The political correspondent of The Sydney Morning Herald commented: “Nothing is more conducive to party loyalty than a pending election.”

Vietcong an Issue

The spirit of unity was threatened several times by disputes reflecting differences between Mr. Whitlam and other officials but was preserved by compromise. A resolution advocating recognition of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam was approved against Mr. Whitlam’s strong opposition but was later superseded by a resolution inviting the Vietcong to set up a liaison office in Australia, which the Prime Minister supported.

Both the Labor party and the Opposition Liberal party seemed this week to be gearing themselves for an election battle.

In his address at the Terrigal conference, Mr. Whitlam hit out at the Liberal party’s leader, Bill Snedden, and his closest advisers, whom the Prime Minister described as a “contemptible rabble” with “an extraordinary combination of irresponsibility and arrogance.”

Mr. Snedden, at a news conference in Canberra, said concerning the Government’s economic policies: “I don’t think they could manage a flock of homing pigeons.”

He also announced plans for a number of Liberal party rallies and said that there “could be an election.”

The Terrigal conference followed moves by the Government to revive the stock market, stimulate the economy and halt the growth of unemployment.

The conference dropped plans to introduce a capital‐gains tax and to tax the use of cars for business purposes. In return for a deferment by car manufacturers of plans to lay off thousands of workers, it cut the sales tax on cars and introduced quotas on imported ve hicles, reversing its previous commitment to lowering tariff barriers.

The Labor party also dropped a platform clause stipulating that it should “legislate against monopolies and strengthen existing trade‐practices legislation.”

Leftists Oppose Moves

Instead, it recognized the need for an “efficient and prosperous private sector and an environment within which business could “plan on a reasonably long‐term basis to receive reasonable returns on investment.”

The new clause was strongly opposed by the left wing of the party on the ground that it represented a “change in direction in fundamental labor policy” and a rejection of socialist principles. But the leftists were a weak minority at Terrigal.

The steps taken by the Government to meet the threat of an election may avert an election. If the Labor party can preserve the public image of unity created at Terrigal and if the economy shows some improvement toward the middle of the year, the Opposition may no longer be tempted to force an election.

PARTY IN AUSTRALIA ELECTS NEW LEADER

March 22, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, March 21—Malcolm Fraser, a wealthy 44‐year‐old landowner was elected leader of the Liberal party today in a victory that was seen as a shift to the right for Australia’s major opposition party.

As Liberal leader he is also leader of the opposition alliance of Liberal and Country parties and would head the Government if Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his Labor party lost the next election.

The new leader has been described as urbane, intelligent and politically astute; critics say he is aloof and arrogant.

A ballot of the 64 Liberal Members of Parliament gave Mr. Fraser 37 votes to 27 for Billy Mackie Snedden, who prefers to be called Bill Snedden, party leader for two years. The ballot followed a week of intense campaigning that has left the party bitterly divided.

Earlier this year the Whitlam Goverment’s chances of staying in power seemed slim to political analysts, but in recent weeks public opinion polls have shown a slight gain in Labor’s standing. At the same time Mr. Snedden’s rating slumped.

Mr. Fraser, who has an 8.000‐acre ranch in the State of Victoria, has been a Member of Parliament since 1955. He served as Minister for the Army, for Defense and for Education and Science in successive Liberal‐Country cabinets.

3 ALLIED LEADERS ASSURED BY FORD

May 8, 1975

WASHINGTON, May 7—President Ford personally assured three of America’s closest allies today that the United States would not forget its worldwide responsibilities or turn inward as a result of the setbacks in Indochina.

Starting a month of highlevel meetings here and abroad with leaders of allied nations, Mr. Ford told the Prime Ministers of New Zealand. and Australia separately this morning that the defeats in Cambodia and South Vietnam had “in no way weakened the United States’ resolve to stand by its allies and friends in Asia and elsewhere,” the White House said.

Later, Mr. Ford met at the White House with Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Britain to discuss ways of strengthening the North Atlantic alliance and the forthcoming meeting of heads of government of member countries, scheduled for Brussels on May 29 and 30.

Tomorrow Mr. Ford sees Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, whose country, while not bound by any treaty to the United States, is concerned about the future of Southeast Asia.

These leaders arrived in Washington after having attended a Commonwealth meeting in Jamaica.

Last night, in his news conference, Mr. Ford, in affirming American commitments, grouped together countries with which there were defense treaties and those where there were none.

He said the United States wanted “to tie more closely together” South Korea and the United States, “to reaffirm our commitments to Taiwan,” and to work “more closely” with Indonesia, the Philippines and other Pacific nations.

The United States has a defense treaty with South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, but none with Indonesia.

At the White House today, Ron Nessen, the spokesman, was asked about the comment on South Korea, Mr. Nessen said the United States wanted to “let North Korea know how we would respond to any increased tensions.”

He said the affirmation of the commitment to Taiwan did not mean any change in policy toward the Chinese Government in Peking.

The White House took advantage of what might otherwise be regarded as routine meetings to underscore Mr. Ford’s determination to maintain American commitments abroad.

A White House official said:

“With respect to New Zealand and Australia, the President wants to re‐affirm our commitments in the Pacific after the events in Vietnam.”

“The meetings give the President the oportunity to talk broadly on American foreign policy attitudes after Vietnam, not only in the Pacific and East Asia, but world‐wide,” the spokesman said. “He wants to make it plain that the United States intends to play a vital role in the Pacific area in a continuing search for stability and peaceful progress.”

The United States is committed under the ANZUS Treaty to come to the defense of New Zealand and Australia in an attack in accordance with Constitutional processes.

The United States is bound, to the defense of Britain and the other members of the Atlantic Alliance by a similar treaty,

In a news conference at his embassy later, Prime Minister Wallace E. Rowling of New Zealand praised Mr. Ford for adopting “a very strong, outward‐looking stance” toward the Pacific and Asian areas.

Mr. Rowling said:

“There was some fear, not a great fear, held by nations in the Pacific and Southeast Asian region following Vietnam and the conclusion of the military struggle there, that there might have been a tendency on the part of the United States Administration to say that, “Well, that episode being over, let’s retreat back to the American scene and leave the Pacific and Southeast Asian peoples, in effect, to their own devices.”

“Now the President has indicated that so far as he is concerned that is far from the case and I suggested that we welcomed American interest in the region.”

Mr. Rowling spent 70 minutes with Mr. Ford. The session with Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of Australia lasted 55 minutes.

Both Mr. Rowlint, and Mr. Whitlam discussed economic issues. Mr. Rowling, in particular, told newsmen that he was more worried about the economic stability of countries like Indonesia and Malaysia than about overt aggression. He said poor economics bred insurgencies.

Australia Planning to Sell $100‐Million Issue in U.S.

May 26, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, May 25 (Reuters)—The Australian Government announced yesterday it planned to sell up to $100‐million (American) worth of bonds in the. United States.

The Minister for Social Security and Acting Treasurer, Bill Hayden, said a registration statement for the proposed is sue of bonds had been filed with Australia’s Securities and Exchange Commission.

Proceeds of the sale will form part of the Australian Government’s borrowing program for 1974–75.

Mr. Hayden said the proposed loan was the first to be issued by Australia in the United States since 1963, when the interest and equalization tax; was introduced in America. The tax was removed last year.

Mr. Hayden said the offering would be underwritten by an international group of investment banking firms headed by Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.

His statement followed a week of controversy over the revoking of authorization for the Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor, to raise a $2‐billion (Australian) loan overseas.

AUSTRALIA SHIFTS CABINET MEMBERS

June 6, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, June 5 (Reuter) — Prime Minister Gough Whitlam announced a sweeping Cabinet shuffle tonight, demoting Deputy Prime Minister James F. Cairns from the powerful Treasury post to the Environment Ministry.

The changes involve 12 of the 27 Cabinet assignments. Ten ministers were assigned to new jobs, one was given an additional ministry and another was named to the Cabinet only 48 hours ago being given his first ministerial post.

The Labor and Immigration Minister, Clyde R. Cameron, up to now a powerful voice among senior ministers, also suffered a loss of rank. He was named to a junior post as Science and Consumer Affairs Minister.

Mr. Cameron protested his, demotion and said he would tell Mr. Whitlam tomorrow whether he would agree to resign his present post.

Today Mr. Cairns, who only a few months ago was regarded as the second most powerful figure in the Labor party Government, went before Parliament to acknowledge that he had been relieved as Treasury Minister because of implied misjudgment.

Tells of Oil‐Loan Move

He told of the Government’s search for a big Middle Eastern, oil loan, his contact with a Melbourne financier hopeful of arranging such a loan, letters to the financier missing from the Treasury files and the doctoring of one letter.

Mr. Cairns said the Government sought some of the petrodollars from Middle East oil‐exporting countries as long‐term loans.

“We were aware that the Saudi Arabian monetary authority was a significant potential lender,” he said. “We considered that it was desirable that these matters should be properly explored outside financial channels.”

Mr. Cairns said the Prime Minister thought he had wrongly involved himself in “an agency relationship” with the financier.

Cabinet Reshuffle in Australia Jars Leadership of Labor Party

June 9, 1975

SYDNEY, Australia, June 8—A major reshuffle of the Cabinet by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam last week has created dissension within the leadership of the governing Labor party.

The changes, involving 13 members of the 27‐member Cabinet, drew criticism from Labor party officials inside and outside the Government.

In a week of political drama, the Deputy Prime Minister objected to the Prime Minister’s plans while the Minister for Labor and Immigration refused to give up his portfolio.

James F. Cairns, the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, eventually agreed to accept the Environment portfolio but Mr. Whitlam had to oust Clyde Cameron, the Minister for Labor, by asking the Governor General to revoke Mr. Cameron’s commission. Mr. Cameron later agreed to become Minister for Science.

‘Dirty Tricks’ Seen Mr. Cairns was removed from the position of Treasurer in a dispute over letters written to a business friend, whom he asked to make inquiries about the possibility of the Government’s obtaining overseas loans. Mr. Cairns asserted that the letters had been removed from his office without his knowledge and that an important paragraph, stressing the unofficial nature of the inquiries, had been omitted from one that was sent first to the Attorney General’s office for a legal opinion and then to the Prime Minister.

At Mr. Cairns’s request, the Prime Minister has initiated an inquiry into the removal of the letters. Newspaper editorials criticized the actions of both Mr. Cairns and the person or persons responsible for the removal of the letters. The Australian, a national newspaper, called for a royal commission of inquiry.

The Australian Financial Review said it appeared that Mr. Cairns had been “guilty of gross impropriety” and added that the behavior of whoever took the letters was “even more disturbing.”

“It is an affair which could prove to smack of Watergate in its implications for the Government and for the public service,” The Financial Review said.

“Not only do bureaucrats play politics,” it said. “Some of them, it appears, go for ‘dirty tricks.’”

While Mr. Whitlam has been successful in his effort to reshape the Cabinet, he has created some ill feeling that could work to his disadvantage.

A political writer commented in The Australian: “The changing of the guard has been a ruthless exercise in political subjugation. One day Mr. Whitlam, like Caesar, will face his Ides of March.”

The opportunity for a Cabinet shuffle arose with the resignation from Parliament of Lance Barnard, the Defense Minister, who is expected to receive an ambassadorial post.

Before the controversy over Mr. Whitlam’s Cabinet changes, political analysts were predicting a close by‐election battle for the Tasmanian seat held by Mr. Barnard. Now the Opposition Liberal party, in a position to capitalize on the Labor party’s leadership problems, as well as the issues of continuing inflation and unemployment, believes it has a good chance of winning the byelection and reducing Labor’s margin in the House of Representatives from five to three seats.

Australian Leader Ousts His Deputy In a Loan Scandal

July 3, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, July 2 (UPI) — Prime Minister Gough Whitlam dismissed his. Deputy Prime Minister, James F. Cairns, today because of his activities in, obtaining overseas loans for a real‐estate company employing his stepson.

The Governor General, Sir John Kerr, terminated Mr. Cairns’s commission as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment after he refused to resign.

In a letter to Mr. Cairns, Mr. Whitlam said that he could not accept documents given him by Mr. Cairns as “satisfactory explanations of the issues raised.”

It had been reported that Mr. Cairns’s stepson, Phillip, while on his stepfather’s staff as an electoral secretary, was a director of real‐estate comparty seeking loans from overseas.

On Tuesday, Mr. Whitlam gave Mr. Cairns 24 hours to explain his stepson’s role in the real estate company.

The Prime Minister also released a letter signed by Mr. Cairns to a Melbourne businessman, George Harris, offering Mr. Harris a 2½ per cent commission on any loan Mr. Harris could raise.

It was the second cabinet crisis in a month involving Mr. Cairns.

Last month, Mr. Whitlam demoted him from the top Treasury job to Minister of Environment after revelations involving his banding of Government attempts to raise billion‐dollar loans from Arab sources.

Both Mr. Whitlam and Mr. Cairns are members of the Labor party.

Whitlam Discloses A Search for Loans From Arab Agents

July 10, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, July 9 (UPI)—Prime Minister Gough Whitlam said at an emergency session of Parliament today that his Labor Government had sought a $4‐billion loan from unofficial Arab sources partly to nationalize and develop Australia’s vast energy resources.

Mr. Whitlam said that the attempts to raise the money through channels outside the usual international banking establishment had been unsuccessful but that his Government was continuing its efforts.

He said the money was needed to finance a uranium‐enrichment plant, a transcontinental pipeline to gas fields on the western shoreline, a system to convert coal deposits into oil, a tanker fleet and modernization of railroads.

The Opposition leader, Malcolm Fraser, said the loan‐raising efforts were amateurish “fumbling bumbling.”

“The Government has become ensnared in a web of incompetence,” Mr. Fraser said. “The whole affair raises implications of deceit and an illegal conspiracy to defraud.

Mr. Whitlam said: “To maintain and to increase ownership by the people of Australia of our own resources calls for immense sums of money far beyond even our very high propensity to save.

We need foreign capital, but as loan funds, not equity. If the opportunity presents itself with a reasonable chance of success, we shall try again.”

The Prime Minister called the first special peacetime parliamentary session to answer charges that Government ministers, acting against the advice of the Treasury and the National Loan Council, had been dealing directly with privete agents.

The controversy has already led to the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. James Cairns.

Minister’s Ouster Approved In Australian Parliament

July 15, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, July 14 (AP)—Members of the ruling Labor party voted 55 to 33 in Parliament today to approve the dismissal by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of his Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister, James F. Cairns. Mr. Whitlam ousted Mr. Cairns on July 2 because of charges of improprieties in the raising of foreign loans. Mr. Cairns, who has not admitted any improper activities, asked the parliamentary caucus to re‐elect him to the Cabinet today.

The caucus turned him down, electing the Minister for Overseas Trade Frank Crean, the new Deputy Prime Minister, and Joseph Berinson as Environment Minister.

Political commentators said the election of Mr. Crean was a slap at Mr. Whitlam, who had ousted Mr. Crean from the post of treasurer last November. Mr. Whitlam has been accused by many Labor members of Parliament of dismissing Mr. Cairns without consulting first with the Cabinet or the caucus.

He Admits He’d Lose a National Election Today in Australia

Aug. 3, 1975

MELBOURNE—In the first heady days after he came to office in 1972, Australia’s Prime Minister Gough Whitlam moved fast and with style. He changed the country’s foreign policy, recognizing Red China, withdrawing Australian troops from Vietnam, demonstrating to the United States that Australia would be an ally but not a subservient one. He changed the national anthem, introduced a new honors system not identified with Britain or the Queen, and moved for equality of opportunity in education, a national health scheme and a better environment.

But in recent weeks, Mr. Whitlam’s Labor party has been hit by reports of scandal and by internal unrest and has suffered a major reverse in an important regional election. The Prime Minister, who has a reputation for political ruthlessness and brinkmanship, has been told by his party to stop making decisions without consulting others. Even he admits that if a national election were held now, Labor would lose.

What went wrong? Some of the blame has to be attributed to the weaknesses, even the style, of the Prime Minister. Knowledge of economics has never been one of his strengths. Possibly influenced by his party’s union base, he allowed large wage increases which outpaced productivity.

As the private sector, suffered, he indulged in heavy Government spending. He and his ministers talked threateningly about multinational companies, and refused to define policy on minerals development.

Under his leadership, inflation soared alarmingly (from 4.6 to 17.6 per cent) and unemployment rose from 110,197 (or 1.95 per cent of the work force) to 245,975 (or 4.1 per cent). Pessimistic observers are already predicting that that figure could reach 400,000 by Christmas.

Australia, because of its natural endowments, should have been buttressed against international inflation caused by energy shortages. But under Labor, the search for minerals, particularly off‐shore oil and gas, has practically stopped. In the absence of any spelt‐out policy on mineral ownership, major companies are unwilling to increase their investment.

Additionally, through apparently ad‐hoc decisions which have often been dismantled as quickly as they were made, plus a high casualty rate of treasurers—three in the last eight months, each armed with conflicting views—the Australian economy has appeared to hiccup its way along.

The second of the three, Dr. Jim Cairns, was sacked mainly because he forgot whether he had signed a letter empowering a former dentist to borrow billions on Australia’s behalf.

Mr. Whitlam began with a promise of open government but he has isolated himself increasingly from his own backbenchers, the press and ordinary Australians. As President Nixon liked to “tough it out,” Mr. Whitlam like to “crash through.”

It was Australia’s abundance of energy resources which caused the loans affair that led to Dr. Cairns’s downfall and the threat to the Government. At first Mr. Whitlam was secretive about the reasons why he and some senior ministers attempted to raise $4‐billion, without Loan Council approval or Treasury awareness, through fringe‐area dealers who stood to gain large commissions, but it has emerged that the intention was to buy back minerals and energy equity from overseas, establish transcontinental pipelines and chemical complexes to convert coal to oil and gas to gasoline, and enter the field of uranium enrichment. It also has been learned that the plan, which would have had a heavily detrimental effect on Australia’s balance of payments, was not subject to any feasibility test.

The Opposition Waits

There have been comparisons with Watergate, but there have been no suggestions of criminality on the loans affair. The worst charges made against the Whitlam Administration are of gross mismanagement of the economy and short‐cutting the Constitution.

Opposition leader Malcolm Fraser, of the LiberalCountry party coalition, has the power, through a majority in the Senate, to force an election in November by refusing money for the budget which is due this month. So far he has kept his options open, saying that only “exceptional and reprehensible circumstances” would cause him to prevent Labor from running its full term until mid‐1977. He may yet choose to interpret the loans scandal as exceptional and reprehensible.

A Liberal victory would not greatly affect Australia’s foreign policies. It would probably mean an end to Labor’s ideas of resources diplomacy and Involvement with the bloc of developing countries, and firmer support for the American alliance (particularly in the Indian Ocean, where the base on Diego Garcia is a controversial subject, and in military installations in Australia). It would certainly mean more incentive for overseas investment in the search for minerals and energy.

Ironically, as he began his 1972 campaign, Mr. Whitlam posed these rhetorical questions: “Are you prepared to maintain at the head of your affairs a coalition which has lurched into crisis after crisis, embarrassment piled on embarrassment, week after week? Will you again entrust the nation’s economy to the men who deliberately, but needlessly, created Australia’s. worst unemployment for 10 years . . . the worst inflation for 20 years?”

When he does decide to make his move, Malcolm Fraser will hardly have to change a word of the script.

Anxiety Grips Australia Despite Good Life

Aug. 11, 1975 By Ian Stewart Special to The New York Times

SYDNEY, Australia, Aug. 10 — Australians traditionally think of their land as a cornucopia, bountiful in beef and sheep, blessed with vast grazing areas and with huge mineral resources. Australia, as many put it, is “the lucky country.”

But while life for most Australians remains comfortable for the moment, many are not so sure about the future. Economic pressures that the Government seems powerless to ease have created a climate of uncertainty.

People Concerned

The beef and wool industries are in a severe slump. Farmers are shooting or giving away their cattle because they can no longer afford to feed the herds. And major plans to develop mineral deposits have been postponed or even abandoned because of inflation and confusion over Government policies.

In conversations throughout the country, people express deep concern about the future and apprehension that the luck of “the lucky country” may have run out. The question of money dominates many of these conversations.

A stockbroker’s secretary complains that her boyfriend has put off their wedding because interest rates on home (loans are too high. A messenger at Parliament House borrows $2 from a friend; he never has any money in his pockets these days, he says, because his wife needs it all for housekeeping. A suburban shopkeeper confides that he has borrowed to pay last year’s taxes but doesn’t know how he’s goidg to keep up the payments.

With business confidence sagging, a major worry for the (man in the street is whether the will have a job tomorrow.

Inflation and a big budget deficit have forced the Government to revise plans for spending money on education and social welfare; it had promised bold new ventures in both these areas. Australians feel they are at the mercy of events over which they have no control, that things are getting out of hand.

Life Still Comfortable

While there is anxiety, most Australians still are reasonably well off. In terms of American dollars, the average Australian earns about $190 a week. The country has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Since fewer than 2 million of Australia’s 13 million people live in rural areas, and more than 7 million are concentrated in five coastal cities, most have all the prerequisites of a highly industrialized and urban society as well as many of its problems.

Prof. Leonard Broom, an American who heads the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, believes a significant characteristic of Australians is their “affection for leisure time.”

Leisure preoccupies both executives who retire in their 40’s and salaried workers. A 32‐year‐old regular at the Rosevillee tennis courts recently gave up a well‐paid job as an electrical engineer to indulge his passion for tennis. He now drives a taxi so he can work the hours he pleases.

But with all this, the anxiety remains. And events in Canberra, the capital, have not helped to restore public confidence.

The Government has undergone a series of leadership struggles, has been tarnished by a controversy over an unconventional search for loans and has failed to counter unemployment significantly or to dampen inflation.

Defeat for Labor Party

Disillusionment with the Government was reflected in a severe defeat for the Labor party Government of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in a federal by‐election and in the narrow margin by which the South Australian Labor government won a state poll. Only the popularity of the state Premier, Don Dunstan, saved his government from defeat.

Voters seem to have been doubly disenchanted with the Government because the Labor party came to power in 1972 with the promise of new and inspiring goals and, in Mr. Whitlam, a leader who generated an excitement long missing from Australian politics.

Promising to “buy back Australia” from foreign investors, to give equality to women and a better deal to aborigines, and to loosen the nation’s links with the British crown, the Labor party convinced the electorate that it was “time for a change.”

Health Plan Approved

Donald Horne, a lecturer in politics at the University of New South Wales, believes the Whitlam forces “more successfully matched trends and moods among marginal voters” than did the coalition of Liberal and Country parties, which had been in power for 23 years.

But the Government failed to live up to the electorate’s expectations. Its ministers seemed helpless in the face of the worst inflation and unemployment Australia had experienced in more than 40 years, arguing over policies and priorities.

Much of the legislation formulated by the Government was blocked by Opposition control of the Senate, but it did register a significant achiever ment with the introduction of a national health program, called Medibank, to meet basic medical and hospital charges.

Two important features of the Government’s social welfare program still to be introduced are a retirement program and a national compensation plan for sickness and accident benefits. But growing demands for spending cuts could result in the shelving of these plans. Educational institutions financed by the Government fear that it will not be able to meet their requests for increased aid.

Mr. Whitlam’s personal standing declined as he changed treasurers three time and clashed publicly with senior Labor party officials.

His Government was strongly criticized after two senior members of his Cabinet initiated inquiries without official approval about loans from private Arab sources. Although critics have been unable to point to any outright illegality in the loan negotiations, the failure of the Government to divulge full details of the affair prompted charges of a “cover‐up” and comparisons with the Watergate conspiracy.

Public Spending Up

Because Australia produces 70 per cent of her crude oil requirements, the international energy crisis can be blamed only to a limited degree for inflation here. The Government’s failure to hold down public spending and excessive wage increases is seen as a prime cause of a 16.3 per cent rise in living costs last year and an expected inflation rate of 17 to 20 per cent this year.

Union demands, backed by strikes, won workers an average 25 per cent increase in wages last year. English immigrants are credited with introclueingsome of the militant tactics of British shop stewards. Some key union leaders, such as lion Ross, whose power workers shut down New South Wales industry for long periods earlier this year, are members of the Communist party.

The Government’s greatest embarrassment has been unemployment, which remains at more than 4 per cent. It was at 1.6 per cent when Mr. Whitlam came to power pledging to “restore full employment.” An unemployed person is entitled to $47 a week, or $78 if he is married, with $9 for each child under 16.

The prospects for an early economic recovery are not bright. Lack of business confidence was reflected in the suggestion made by an economist to a group of prominent businessmen recently that they “find a nice quiet beach” for a year or two.

Potential Is Great

Businessmen believe the country has tremendous potential. It is among the top producers of bauxite, uranium, iron ore, tin, nickel, silver, Iead, zinc, manganese and anthracite coal, and supplies 46 per cent of all the iron ore and anthracite required by the Japanese steel industry. But the full potential of the universal resources is untapped.

Many development plans have tlowed to a halt. A petrochemical project planned by a consortium of Alcoa of Australia, I.C.I. Australia Ltd. and the Mitsubishi Corporation was abandoned last month after costs had almost tripled from the original estimate. Dickering between the consortium and the Government over details helped delay the project to a point where it no longer appeared financially feasible.

Rex Connor, Minister for Minerals and Energy, has been (severely criticized by the mining industry for not laying down a clear‐cut policy line leaving companies with large foreign equity uncertain about dhow far the Government plans to go in its “Buy back Australia” plans.

Meanwhile, the Government in a sense is operating at the mercy of the Opposition, which as the power to force an election because it controls the Senate. The uncertainty of the Government’s future is cornpounding the uncertainty of the (business community and the public at large.

Australian Budget Exempts the Poor From Paying Tax

Aug. 20, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 19 (UPI)—The Labor Government today introduced its 1975–76 budget, which contains a radically new income tax system that will exempt 500,000 low‐income workers from paying a tax.

The budget, aimed at easing effects of the recession, called for wide‐ranging cuts in income land company taxes, but increases in excise taxes on beer, spirits, tobacco and gasoline.

Treasurer William Hayden told the House of Representatives that corporate taxes had been reduced by 2.5 per cent to help stimulate business confidence. He doubled rates of depreciation on all new plants as an added incentive to raise production and investment in the ailing economy.

A foreign aid program for $500‐million, an increase of $54.8‐million, also was announced.

Faced with unemployment of just under 5 per cent and inflation of 16 per cent, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his Cabinet have chosen a budget that reduces the increase in government spending by 50 per cent and encourages the corporate sector to expand.

Australian Minister Resigns and a Crisis Erupts

Oct. 15, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, Oct 14 (Reuters)—The Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor, one of the most powerful figures in the Australian Cabinet, resigned today, precipitating a political crisis that could bring down the administration of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

The 68‐year‐old Mr. Connor, known as “the strangler” because of his tough, brusque policies and manner, was forced out of the 27‐man Labor party Cabinet because of his involvement in Government attempts to borrow $8‐billion in foreign funds—mostly Arab oil money.

The Opposition has accused the Labor party of being unfit to govern because of its secret attempts to raise dollars through freelance financial operators instead of through normal treasury channels.

Mr. Connor’s resignation—said to have been demanded by Mr. Whitlam — came 24 hours after a London‐based commodities dealer and financier, Tirath Khemlani, signed an affidavit saying that the minister had lied to Parliament about the loans.

Mr. Whitlam told the House of Representatives that he himself had been misled about the loans but said he did not feel called upon to resign.

Portfolio Taken Over.

The Prime Minister announced that Mr. Connor’s portfolio had been taken over by the Agriculture Minister, Ken Wriedt.

The crisis gripping Mr. Whitlam’s Government, in power since December, 1972. appeared to have given the Opposition leader, Malcolm Fraser, the handle he has been seeking for months to force an early election to topple the Labor party.

In response to the so‐called “overseas loans scandal,” the Opposition Liberal Country party was ready to move in the Senate, where it has a slim majcrity, to block the Government’s budeet bill. This could force Mr. Whitlam to call an immediate election for at least half the 60 Senate seats.

Mr. Connor is the second victim of the loans scandal, which erupted in July and led to the downfall of the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer James F. Cairns.

Whitlam in Australia Defies Opposition Demand

Oct. 16, 1975

CANBERRA. Australia. Oct. 15 (Reuters)—Australia headed for a constitutional crisis tonight after Prime Minister Gough Whitlam defied an Opposition ultimatum that it would stop the supply of money to his Labor Government until he called a general election.

In what is almost certain to be a bitter and perhaps protracted battle, Mr. Whitlam’s Opposition rival — the Liberal‐Country party coalition leader, Malcolm Fraser—can use a slender majority in the upper house of Parliament to block the funds, needed to carry on day‐to‐day business.

But Mr. Whitlam, in office for 34 months, went on television tonight to tell 13 million Australians that his Government refused to bow to resignation demands from the Opposition.

The demands followed revelations about secret Government attempts to raise up to $8‐billion—mostly from Arab countries—to develop mineral resources.

The matter of the loans led to the resignation yesterday of the Minerals and Energy Minister, Reginald F. X. Connor, after his unauthorized involvement with a London‐based Pakistani money and commodities dealer, Tirath Khemlani.

Mr. Fraser then announced that the Opposition coalition would delay all Government budget bills in the Senate until Mr. Whitlam agreed to an elec. tion.

The Opposition—outvoted by Labor in the House of Representatives—holds a slim majority in the 60‐member Senate. This gives it the power to block finance by repeated delay.

Australia Senate Stops Budget; Opposition Bids Whitlam Quit

Oct. 17, 1975

CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 16 (UPI)—The Australian Senate rejected the Government’s annual budget today and the Opposition said that it would block its passage until Prime Minister Gough Whitlam resinned.

Hours before the Senate vote of 29 to 26, Prime Minister Whitlam told the House of Representatives that rejection of his budget would result in “utter financial chaos.”

The vote in the 60‐seat Senate was along strict party lines, with 29 opposition LiberalCountry party senators voting against the budget and 26 of the Government’s Labor party senators voting for it. Two senators were absent.

Opposition members, who control 30 Senate seats, said they would pass the budget only if the Prime Minister resigned immediately and called a general election, dissolving both houses of .Parliament.

In a heated debate in the House before the Senate vote, Mr. Whitlam deicribed the leader of the Opposition, Mal, colm Fraser, as “a man without hohor, without principle—a man who knows what is honorable; yet who does the thoroughly dishonorable.”

Mr. Whitlam, loudly cheeredi by Government supporters, midi the Opposition’s actions posed “a grave constitutional crisis.”

In reply, Mr. Fraser said the actions of the Opposition were necessary because of what he termed Government mismanagement and impropriety on the part of Mr. Whitlam and his Cabinet.

Without the Senate’s approval of the budget, the Government will run out of funds within weeks and be unable to meet its payroll or provide vital services.

Mr. Whitlam was expected to respond to the demand for general elections with a proposal to call for an early Senate election next month, political sources said. The election would normally be held in May.

General Strike Threatened

CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (AP)Australia’s leading trade unionist threatened today to call a general strike if the Opposition continued to block the Labor Government’s budget.

The warning came from Robert Hawke, president of both the Australian Council of a’rade Unions and the Labor party, before more than 3,000 trade unionists and government workers demonstrating outside Parliament House.

AUSTRALIA FEELS EFFECT OF CRISIS

Oct. 23, 1975

SYDNEY, Australia, Oct. 22—An Opposition drive to bring down the Government of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by denying it funds is going into its second week with both sides refusing to back down.

With shortages already beginning to appear, cutbacks have been ordered in travel authorizations for ministers and Government employes, and federal police and customs officers have been told to restrict the use of official automobiles and boats.

The Opposition Liberal and Country parties, accusing the Labor party Government of impropriety in loan negotiations and responsibility for the nation’s economic difficulties, are demanding that Mr. Whitlam submit his Cabinet “to the judgment of the people” in national election.

Until he does, the opposition says, it will continue to use its slim majority in the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, to block budget legislation. It did so last Thursday and reaffirmed its position today as the Government attempted to have the legislation reintroduced in the Senate.

Treasurer William G. Hayden has warned that the nation could grind to a halt and denounced the opposition’s action as reckless at a time of “delicate economic recovery.” If the cash crisis continues beyond Nov. 30, he said, there would he no money for the armed forces, and within a few more weeks hospital services, education and housing programs would be without funds.

The Opposition acted after the resignation Oct. 14 of the Minister for Minerals and Energy, Rex Connor, said by Mr. Whitlam to have misled Parliament in connection with Government negotiations for a loan of up to $6‐billion in foreign funds, mostly Arab oil money.

The resignation capped a series of Opposition attacks on the Government over the loan negotiations, which were conducted through unconventional channels.

The Opposition has defended its action on the ground that the Government had lost the confidence of the public not only because of the loan affair but also because of severe unemployment, inflation and widespread business collapses.

In blocking the money bills last Thursday, the Opposition did not reject the budget but enacted a resolution in the Senate delaying acceptance until an election is called.

‘Act of Aggression’

Mr. Whitlam, attacking what he called the Senate’s “act of aggression,” has said he will not hold a general election at its behest. There has been speculation that he might call an election for half the Senate, which he has the power to do over the next few months, in an attempt to break Opposition control.

The leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Reginald Withers, said the bills would be held in the Senate until Mr. Whit lam accepted the reality of th