VIP Aircraft Affair
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VIP Aircraft Affair
The VIP aircraft affair was an Australian political controversy relating to the use of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) VIP aircraft by the Holt Government and its predecessor the Menzies Government. It occurred in the lead-up to the 1967 Senate election. In an attempt to avoid negative media coverage, Prime Minister Harold Holt provided vague and inaccurate answers to parliamentary questions about the VIP fleet, notably denying the existence of passenger manifests which might confirm instances of misuse. Air Minister Peter Howson became aware of the inaccuracies and sought to protect Holt, but their statements were soon subjected to further scrutiny, leading to accusations that they had conspired to mislead parliament. The situation came to a head in October 1967, when the opposition moved to call senior public servants before the Senate, but was defused somewhat by the decision on the 25th of October of John Gorton, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, to table the "m ...
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Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration – 31 March , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * Second World War * Berlin Airlift * Korean War * Malayan Emergency * Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation * Vietnam War * Operation Astute, East Timor * War in Afghanistan (2001–present), War in Afghanistan * Iraq War * American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present), Military intervention against ISIL , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , website = , commander1 = Governor-General of Australia, Governor-General David Hurley as representative of Charles III as Monarchy ...
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John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a long-serving government minister. Gorton was born out of wedlock and had a turbulent childhood. He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, after finishing his secondary education at Geelong Grammar School, and then returned to Australia to take over his father's property in northern Victoria. Gorton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1940, and served as a fighter pilot in Malaya and New Guinea during the Second World War. He suffered severe facial injuries in a crash landing on Bintan Island in 1942, and whilst being evacuated, his ship was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. He returned to farming after being discharged in 1944, and was elected to the Kerang Shire Council in 1946; he later served a term as shire presid ...
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Political Scandals In Australia
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science. It may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and nonviolent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but also often carries a negative connotation.. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or limitedly, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it. A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising internal and external force, including war ...
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1967 In Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1967 in Australia. Incumbents * Monarch – Elizabeth II * Governor-General – Lord Casey * Prime Minister – Harold Holt (until 17 December), then John McEwen (from 19 December) **Opposition Leader – Arthur Calwell (until 9 February), then Gough Whitlam * Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick State and Territory Leaders * Premier of New South Wales – Robert Askin **Opposition Leader – Jack Renshaw * Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin **Opposition Leader – Jack Houston * Premier of South Australia – Frank Walsh (until 1 June), then Don Dunstan **Opposition Leader – Steele Hall * Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece **Opposition Leader – Angus Bethune * Premier of Victoria – Sir Henry Bolte **Opposition Leader – Clive Stoneham (until 15 May), then Clyde Holding * Premier of Western Australia – David Brand **Opposition Leader – John Tonkin Governors and Administrators * Governor of New South Wales â ...
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1968 Liberal Party Of Australia Leadership Election
A leadership election in the Liberal Party of Australia, the party of government in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 9 January 1968. It followed the disappearance and presumed drowning of previous leader Harold Holt, who had been declared dead on 19 December 1967. The contest was won by Senator John Gorton in a party room ballot; he was sworn in as prime minister the following day, replacing caretaker John McEwen. Background Incumbent party leader Harold Holt sensationally disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria on 17 December 1967. William McMahon, the incumbent Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party was assumed to be his probable successor, however, John McEwen, the interim Prime Minister and leader of the Country Party (the junior Coalition partner), announced that he and his party would not serve in a government led by McMahon. McMahon subsequently withdrew. McEwen himself had been encouraged to remain Prim ...
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Disappearance Of Harold Holt
On 17 December 1967, Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea near Portsea, Victoria. An enormous search operation was mounted in and around Cheviot Beach, but his body was never recovered. Holt was presumed to have died, and his memorial service five days later was attended by many world leaders. It is generally agreed that his disappearance was a simple case of an accidental drowning, but a number of conspiracy theories surfaced, most famously the suggestion that he was a spy from the People's Republic of China and had been collected by a Chinese submarine. Holt was the third Australian prime minister to die in office, after Joseph Lyons in 1939 and John Curtin in 1945. He was initially replaced in a caretaker capacity by John McEwen, and then by John Gorton following a Liberal Party leadership election. Holt's death has entered Australian folklore, and was commemorated by, among other things, the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre. ...
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Liberal Party Of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Australia Party and has since become the most successful political party in Australia's history. The Liberal Party is the dominant partner in the Coalition with the National Party of Australia. At the federal level, the Liberal Party and its predecessors have been in coalition with the National Party since the 1920s. The Coalition was most recently in power from the 2013 federal election to the 2022 federal election, forming the Abbott (2013–2015), Turnbull (2015–2018) and Morrison (2018–2022) governments. After the Liberal Party lost the 2022 Australian federal election, Morrison announced he would step down as leader of the Liberal Party. Deputy Leader Josh Frydenberg also lost his seat, making senior Liberal MP Peter Dutton ...
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Table (parliamentary Procedure)
In parliamentary procedure, the verb to table has the opposite meaning in the United States from that of the rest of the world: *In the United States, to "table" usually means to postpone or suspend consideration of a pending motion. *In the rest of the English-speaking world, to "table" means to begin consideration (or reconsideration) of a proposal. Motions which use the word "table" have specific meanings and functions, depending on the parliamentary authority used. The meaning of "table" also depends on the context in which it is used. Difference between American and British usage Both the American and the British dialects have the expression "to table a topic" as a short way of saying "to lay a topic on the table" and "to make a topic lie on the table", but these have opposite meanings in the different varieties of the languages. The British meaning is based on the idea of parliamentarians gathering around a table with the bill laid upon so that all may point to sections for ...
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Leader Of The Government In The Senate (Australia)
The Leader of the Government in the Senate (historically also known as the Leader of the Senate) is the government's most senior cabinet minister in the Australian Senate and the main government spokesperson in the Senate. His or her Opposition counterpart is the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. The current Leader of the Government in the Senate is Penny Wong, appointed to the position on 23 May 2022, replacing Simon Birmingham. The current Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate is Don Farrell. Role and history According to constitutional convention, the government is formed in the House of Representatives and the Prime Minister is a member of that chamber and the Prime Minister is the leader of the Government in the House of Representatives. The Leader of the Government in the Senate has duties and privileges that parallel those of the Prime Minister, in that he or she has overarching responsibility for all policy areas and acts as the government's principal sp ...
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Opposition (Australia)
In Australian parliamentary practice, the Opposition consists of the second largest party or coalition of parties in the Australian House of Representatives, with its leader being given the title "Leader of the Opposition". The Opposition serves the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies that follow the Westminster conventions and practices. It is seen as the alternative government and the existing administration's main opponent in the Australian Parliament and at a general election. By convention, the Opposition Leader in the federal Parliament comes from the House of Representatives, as does the deputy, although the Government and Opposition may also both have leaders in the Senate. The Opposition is sometimes styled as ''His Majesty's Loyal Opposition'' to show that, although the group may be against the sitting government, it remains loyal to the Crown (the embodiment of the Australian state), and thus to Australia. The current Op ...
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Royal Australian Air Force VIP Aircraft
The Royal Australian Air Force operates a number of specialised aircraft to transport the King of Australia and other members of the Royal Family, the Governor General of Australia, the Prime Minister of Australia, senior members of the Australian government and other dignitaries. The RAAF's current Special Purpose Aircraft are two leased Boeing Business Jets and three Dassault Falcon 7x which are operated by No. 34 Squadron RAAF and are based at Canberra Airport. The Boeing Business Jets are custom configured Boeing 737-700s fitted with facilities such as conference tables, offices suites, secure satellite and communication capabilities. The two planes have a longer range than is standard for Boeing Business Jets. The Prime Minister regularly makes use of the aircraft for domestic and international travel. Prior to the acquisition of the 737s, passenger-configured RAAF Boeing 707s tanker-transports were used. These aircraft were larger than the 737s currently in use. In Augus ...
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Misleading Parliament
The misleading of parliament is the knowing presentation of false information to parliament, a very serious charge in Westminster system parliamentary assemblies. Government ministers who are found to have misled parliament will generally lose their ministerial portfolio. By convention, a minister found to have misled parliament is expected to resign or face being sacked. The Scottish Ministerial Code requires ministers to resign if they mislead the Scottish Parliament. For witnesses giving testimony to an Australian parliamentary committee, giving misleading evidence can be considered a contempt of parliament. Notable instances Australia * Motorola affair: John Olsen, Premier of South Australia, was forced to resign after misleading parliament. United Kingdom In 1994 the UK parliament's Treasury & Civil Service Committee noted that "the knowledge that ministers and civil servants may evade questions and put the best gloss on the facts but will not lie or knowingly mislead t ...
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