AustLit

Dr Jim Cairns PhD was a Labor politician who served in the Whitlam Government of the 1970s. He was an early opponent of the White Australia Policy and of the Vietnam War, and a major figure in the anti-Vietnam war demonstrations of the 1970s, leading 100,000 protesters through the streets of Melbourne in May 1970. He was a Member of the House of Representatives from 1955 to 1977 and served as Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Treasurer from 1974 to 1975. He is remembered for his involvement with the Khemlani affair that contributed to the downfall of the Whitlam Government in 1975 and for his association with his private secretary, Ms Junie Morosi.