Nixon announced he would visit China the following year. Finally, the incumbent Prime Minister William McMahon was no match for Whitlam, a witty and powerful orator. McMahon's position was precarious to begin with, for he had only emerged as Liberal Leader after a prolonged period of turmoil following the Coalition's unexpectedly poor showing at the half-Senate election held in 1970, and various state elections. In March 1971, Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser resigned from the ministry and declared that Prime Minister John Gorton was "unfit to hold the great office of Prime Minister". Gorton swiftly called for a vote of confidence in his leadership, which resulted in a 33-33 tie. Gorton could have continued with the result, but stated "Well, that is not a vote of confidence, so the party will have to elect a new leader.", and McMahon won the ensuing leadership contest against Billy Snedden. This turmoil was only further compounded by Gorton immediately being elected as McMahon's deputy; he was ultimately sacked by McMahon for disloyalty in August 1971. These changes all made the Coalition appear weak and divided, and consumed in internal struggles. McMahon was further weakened by concerns about inflation and negative press coverage. For example, Rupert Murdoch and his newspaper The Australian supported the ALP. The ALP ran a strong campaign under the famous slogan It's Time – a slogan which, coupled with its progressive policy programme, gave it great momentum within the electorate after 23 years of Conservative rule. The Coalition Party strongly opposed the opening of full diplomatic relationship with Beijing during Mao Zedong's regime concerning the continuation of non-transparent openness honesty on liberties and unprogressive current Chinese economy with valueless productivity. Results House of Representatives Senate A special Senate election was held in Queensland to replace Liberal senator Annabelle Rankin, who resigned in 1971. Neville Bonner, who had been appointed to fill the casual vacancy by the Queensland Parliament, won the Senate position – the first Indigenous Australian elected to parliament. The election was held at the time of the House of Representatives election as per Section 15 of the Constitution. Otherwise, no Senate election was held. Since then, every Australian federal election has included a half or full Senate election. Seats changing hands †Jeff Bate and Alex Buchanan contested their seats as independent candidates. Significance The 1972 election ended 23 years of Liberal-Country rule, the longest unbroken run in government in