It emerged into a period of societal and political change, with the end in 1972 of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and of conscription, into emerging socialist perspectives on civil rights and the women’s liberation movement which swept a Federal Labor Government, led by Gough Whitlam, into power after 20 years of conservative rule, which in 1974 abolished fees for universities and colleges of advanced education, opening up educational opportunities previously denied the underprivileged.