50 years on GOUGH WHITLAM DISMISSAL REVISITED

PUBLIC SERVANT SARA WAS ON THE STEPS THAT FATEFUL DAY

- Maisy Rae

For five decades, Sara Dowse has been reliving the moment Australia's 21st prime minister, Labor leader Gough Whitlam, was suddenly dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.

It was November 11, 1975. The day had begun just like every other for Sara, who worked as a senior executive in the Women's Affairs branch of the Prime Minister and Cabinet department.

That was until she heard that Whitlam had been dismissed.

Kerr had swiftly handed Whitlam a letter explaining the news, and then appointed opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister.

“For someone who was born in the United States, I couldn't understand why Gough didn't just tear up the letter,” Sara, now 86, tells New Idea. “It was a terrible shock for everyone.”