Kerr, John Robert (1914–1990)

Australian lawyer who as governor general 1974–77 controversially dismissed the prime minister, Gough Whitlam, and his government in 1975.

He was the son of a Sydney boilermaker. After graduating from the University of Sydney, where he studied law, Kerr embarked on a legal career on the New South Wales circuit, becoming a judge of the Australian Supreme Court 1966–72, and chief justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales 1972–74. He was appointed governor general in 1974 and achieved notoriety with the events of the following year. His dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government in November 1975, after the Senate had blocked the budget, divided the country. The government had suffered a defeat in the Senate, but retained a majority in the House of Representatives. Kerr called upon the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Fraser, to form an administration. Continuing widespread controversy over the correctness of his actions was a factor in Kerr's retirement in 1977.