Only 1 Australian Prime Minister has been forcefully removed from office by the head of state, the Governor General who is Queen Elizabeth’s representative in Australia and it very controversial. The Prime Minister was Gough Whitlam and the Governor General was Sir John Kerr. It began with a series of events in October 1975 when the Senate which was controlled by the opposition refused to pass the budget. This caused a practical shutdown of the government as no money was available to run the country. The Governor General, who is not elected, used his powers in the constitution to dissolve both houses of parliament and call a general election. He placed opposition leader at the time, Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister. Fraser went on to soundly win the election. Due to the controversy of a non elected head of state dismissing an elected official no Governor General since has thought about sacking a government.
