5th Labor Government: 1969 - 1977

The **5th Labor Government** was formed on the 26th of June 1969 in the Kingdom of Dissau with Viggo Tauar as Prime Minister. The 5th Labor Government entered government less than a year after exiting government in 1968 after winning the 1969 Dissauian General Election. The reason for the National Moderate Party losing the election was because they had begun reversing the highly supported Labor policies that had been implemented in the 4th Labor Government as well as Prime Minister, Otto Weisbach's support for the War in Vietnam. After entering government, Labor began facing problems under the leadership of Tauar due to his unpopularity, so the called a vote of no confidence in his leadership and rallied behind ex-Prime Minister, Astryd Rigby, in the leadership election. Rigby was elected as leader and took on her 2nd premiership as Prime Minister. Rigby intended to push on with her left-wing and progressive of policies of the previous Labor government, believing that left-wing and progressive policies were the most successful and forward-thinking policies. She led her party to a larger majority in the 1972 Dissauian General Election and a slightly reduced majority in the 1973 Dissauian General Election. Her party began to weaken in the mid-70s and failed to secure an outright majority in the 1976 Dissauian General Election. This forced her to make concessions in left-wing policy by forming a coalition with Free Liberal. She attempted to secure a majority government in the 1977 Dissauian General Election but failed, losing the election to National Moderate. The 5th Labor Government officially dissolved on the 10th of October 1977.

## Significant Policies

* The Abortions Act 1969 relegalized abortions up to the 14th week.
* The Divorces Act 1969 allowed divorce between to married individuals under any circumstances.
* The Protection of Children Act 1969 recriminalized the hitting of children by teachers as a form of punishment in Dissauian schools.
* The National Strikes Act 1970 recognised striking as an inalienable right in Dissau.
* The National Oil Company Act 1970 established the National Oil Company in Dissau.
* The Familial Separation Act 1971 allowed any child aged 12 or over to determine which parent they want to live with after separation of the family. Those under the age of 12 will still be acted with accordingly after a judge determines who is the more suitable parent and if both are unsuitable the child will be sent elsewhere.
* The State Housing Act 1971 reorganised the way that the government builds state housing by making local councils more in control of the subject.
* The Health & Safety Act 1972 introduced a National Board for Health & Safety in the country that would control workplace health and safety, including frequent checks on employers and employees.
* The Reallocation of Seats Act 1972 reallocated the seats for the next general election by increasing the seat count from 218 to 247.
* The National Forestry Company Act 1972 established the National Forestry Company in Dissau.
* The Illegal Immigration Act 1973 accepted illegal immigrants into the country if they have a spouse and/or a family.
* The Minor Offences Act 1973 introduced a rehabilitation system for offenders who commit small criminal acts such as petty theft, drinking underage, pickpocketing, traffic offences, etc. The rehabilitation system would ensure that the person would only receive fines or/and community service for their acts.
* The Nurseries Act 1973 introduced state-owned nurseries for infants aged between 3 and 5.
* The South Africa Act 1974 banned relations, trade, and support for South Africa.
* The Eviction Act 1974 protected renters from being evicted without a reason by a landlord.
* The Oil Taxation Act 1974 introduced a tax for importing and exporting oil in the country.
* The Protection of Employees Act 1975 introduced a long list of protections for employees in the country.
* The National Theatres Act 1975 bought many theatres around the country and enabled the construction of a large quantity of new theatres under the government's control.
* Rights of Animals Act 1975 set out a set of rights for animals in the wild and in captivity.
* The Rape Act 1976 established the new meaning of rape as "an act of unwanted sex between two individuals." This meaning encompassed a multitude of acts that were not considered rape before the act, one of which was marital rape.
* The Protection of Children Act 1976 banned the taking and distributing of sexual photos of children.
* The Marriages Act 1977 increased the minimum age of marriage from 16 to 18.
* Employees working in state-owned sectors saw major wage increases each year between 1969 to 1975 until slowly down dramatically in 1976 and 1977.

### Immigration

Rigby set a new stance on immigration under her 2nd premiership by supporting a major increase in immigration by mainly supporting asylum seekers and refugees. She planned to increase immigration to 20,000 yearly, a goal that was criticized by the media and National Moderate. Her government initially accepted 1,000 immigrants in 1970 but increased that to 8,000 in 1971 and 4,000 in 1972. Her government introduced the Illegal Immigrants Act 1973 that accepted illegal immigrants if they had a spouse and/or family. The act was controversial but Rigby fully supported the act and hoped to accept even more immigrants into the country. Immigration increased to 13,000 in 1973, 14,000 in 1974, and 22,000 in 1975. Rigby's government saw the increase as a major victory for the country but National Moderate, Christian Conservative, and Free Liberal opposed the mass immigration. Immigration decreased to 12,000 in 1976 and because of the party entering into a coalition with Free Liberal in 1976, immigration decreased to 6,000 in 1977.

## Foreign Policy

Tauar did not make many decisions on foreign policy whilst in power but he did accept the People's Republic of China as the true China. Tauar was known for trying to make as little foreign actions as possible, attempting to isolate Dissau more except from trade.

When Rigby became Prime Minister in 1970, she changed the country's stance on China by recognising the Republic of China as the true China but exerted the idea that Rigby was open to changing that position if the PRC changed. Rigby also became the First Prime Minister to officially recognise Palestine as the rightful country. She had previous accepted the two-state solution when she Prime Minister between 1961 to 1968. Rigby's decision became controversial in 1974 when she asserted this claim as the majority of the population in Dissau supported Israel but she did not fall back on her opinion. Rigby continued to oppose totalitarian communist regimes like that in the Soviet Union and relations between the Soviet Union and Dissau in the 70s were very bad. Rigby supported the Chancellorship of Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt in Germany and became quite close with Brandt. Rigby also supported the Premiership of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the United Kingdom, calling Wilson an "icon for democracy" in 1976. Rigby officially banned relations, trade, and support for South Africa in 1974 and called for an end to apartheid.