Australian Labor Party's 1972 Campaign

The Australian Labor Party’s 1972 campaign slogan ‘It’s Time’ was used numerous times leading up to the election. The campaign comprised of various television commercials with the popular jingle playing throughout it. The initial goal was to popularise the phrase and create public awareness of the Labor Party. The central theme of the movement and was commended for its effectiveness and for generating excitement. The words ‘It’s Time’ were used to signal that there was a need for a major shift away from the conservative and conventional policies of the 1950s and 60s. After 23 years of uninterrupted Liberal governments, a fresh new face was necessitated in order to bring Australia into a progressive new era. It was ‘time’ for social justice,
On the back of the recent landslide referendum on the recognition of Aboriginal people in the national census, the Whitlam government greatly increased the social and political rights of first nation Australians. The government instituted a policy of ‘self-determination’ which decentralised decision making powers to indigenous communities. They allowed Aboriginals to claim land and brought more Indigenous voices into the policy making process. From the outset, Whitlam made Indigenous affairs a top priority for his government and indicated that justice had to be served in order for Australia to move forward as a country. The subsequent Fraser Government committed to continue these reforms. A powerful example Whitlam’s loyalty to this issue was in his remarks to an Aboriginal tribe where he declared Indigenous ownership of a Victorian river. Whitlam in his speech to the Gurindji people stated “these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands this piece of the earth itself as a sign that we restore them to you and your children
This administration was the first in decades to drop anti-communist rhetoric and formerly recognise China, North Korea and Eastern Germany. Despite overwhelming international and domestic criticism, Whitlam pressed forward in his foreign policy goals and paved the way forward for many western societies. Robert Manne in his book The Australian century political struggle in the building of a nation, points out that “such recognition was part of a broad foreign-policy realignment with the cold war super-powers… Australia, almost alone among western nations, recognised the post-war Soviet annexation of the three Baltic States according to law rather than fact.” Whitlam also took a strong non-colonialism stance and abhorred the continued western occupation of post-World War 2 countries. It is safe to say that Australia’s foreign policy is forever changed by the Whitlam