The Rise and Fall of Jim Cairns

Only a few short months ago, Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns, 60, was a man to watch in Australian politics. A onetime detective and university lecturer, he was running the government in the absence overseas of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam when a cyclone devastated the city of Darwin last December (TIME, Jan. 6). Cairns supervised the massive relief effort for the stricken areas so well that he was talked about as a possible replacement for Whitlam, who at the time was experiencing one of the popularity lows that have periodically marked his career.

But no sooner had Cairns come within reach of the top than his decline began. Last week Whitlam sacked his second in command in the midst of the worst political scandal in Australia's history. At issue were charges that associates of Cairns had used their influence to seek foreign loans for the government that would have brought them millions of dollars in commissions.

Actually, Cairns has been riding for a fall for some time. Eyebrows were raised last December when the Deputy Prime Minister hired attractive Shanghai-born Junie Morosi, 41, as his personal secretary. Inside and outside the government, many people considered her unsuited to the sensitive post partly because she had been associated with some companies which had been under investigation. Since November, Cairns had served in the cabinet as Treasurer as well as Deputy Prime Minister. He had been strongly criticized by opposition parties for his handling of Australia's economic policy. Last month, Whitlam transferred Cairns to the less sensitive Ministry of Environment.

Cairns' performance as Treasurer was questioned again last week when the Melbourne Age published documents indicating that his stepson Phillip and associates stood to gain more than $1.4 million in commissions if the government had managed to secure a $2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia. Phillip denied the allegations and there was no suggestion that Cairns himself would have profited in any way. Nonetheless, an angry Whitlam released a letter from Cairns to a friend of his named George Harris, in which the Deputy Prime Minister offered Harris' firm a 2.5% brokerage fee on any overseas loan it could arrange for the government. Cairns, who had earlier denied in the House of Representatives that he had ever made such an offer, claimed that he had no recollection of signing the letter. When he refused to resign, Whitlam fired him.

Slender Majority. Whitlam's firing of Cairns compounds the difficulties of the Labor Party, beset by economic problems and falling popularity. Only two weeks ago, it lost a by-election for a seat in Tasmania that it had held for 21 years. As a result, Whitlam's slender majority in the lower house has been reduced to three. Many political observers are predicting the financial scandal may well be the "extraordinary circumstances" that opposition Liberal and Country parties Leader Malcolm Fraser said he would need to take the country to the polls later this year.

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