Loans affair

This article is part of a series about Gough Whitlam
Early life World War II service Member for Werriwa (1952–1978) Deputy Labor leadership Labor Party spills 1967 1968 1976 May 1977 Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1972–1975) Vietnam War withdrawal National Sewerage Program Medibank Advance Australia Fair 1973 Murphy raids 1973 referendum Gair Affair 1974 referendum Loans affair Papua independence Family Law reform Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Palace letters Ministries First Second Third Elections 1969 1972 1974 1975 1977 Related It's Time Birthplace
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The Loans affair, also called the Khemlani affair, was a political scandal involving the Whitlam government of Australia in 1975 in which it was accused of attempting to borrow money from the Middle East by the agency of the Pakistani banker Tirath Khemlani (17 September 1920 — 19 May 1991) and thus bypass the standard procedures of the Australian Treasury and violate the Australian Constitution.

Minerals and Energy Minister Rex Connor and Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns misled Parliament and were forced from the Whitlam Cabinet over the affair. This was a key precursor to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, which led to the dismissal of the government in 1975.^[1]