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The election of the Labor government led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in December 1972 marked a major change in Australia’s approach to international peacekeeping. To a large extent, the change grew out of the philosophy of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). A self-declared ‘internationalist’ party, in government it was far more willing than its conservative predecessors to look to the United Nations to help solve world problems, and hence it was keen for Australia to play its part in international peacekeeping missions. This approach was championed by Whitlam, who was also Minister for Foreign Affairs in the first year of his government.