Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken aim at the sacking of Gough Whitlam, 50 years after the historic dismissal.

In a speech at Old Parliament House on Monday night, Albanese condemned the sacking of his Labor predecessor, saying there was no real precedent for the move.

“Make no mistake: November 11th, 1975, was not a constitutional crisis, it was a partisan political ambush,” he said.

“The dismissal was a calculated plot, hatched by conservative forces which sacrificed conventions and institutions in the pursuit of power.”

Whitlam was sacked by governor-general Sir John Kerr on November 11, 1975, because of a deadlock in parliament over Labor’s budget.

Liberal leader Malcolm Fraser was installed as caretaker prime minister. The Coalition won the subsequent election in a landslide.

But Albanese said the election result should not be seen as an endorsement of Kerr’s actions.

“Behind all the various schemes and subplots … lies an overt refusal to respect the mandate, or even acknowledge the legitimacy, of a Labor government that had secured a majority in two consecutive federal elections inside three years,” he said.

Labor figures see Whitlam as a reforming hero who introduced the precursor to Medicare, took the first steps towards Indigenous land rights and abolished the white Australia policy.

But his legacy is deeply contested: Many on the conservative side of politics believe the then-Labor government failed to properly manage the economy and was too hasty in introducing its landmark reforms.

Former Liberal PM John Howard said Whitlam made a “terrible mistake” by Kerr would allow him to continue leading the nation.

Howard, a junior member of the Fraser opposition in the lead-up to the dismissal, said Whitlam didn’t handle the politics of the saga well.

“I think he just assumed that Kerr was his man and would do his bidding, and that was a terrible mistake,” he said.

“He should have worked out for himself that Kerr might exercise the reserve power and dismiss him.”

Howard argued that public sentiment had turned against Whitlam well before he was sacked.

“People didn’t vote according to their feelings about the dismissal,” he said.

The former Liberal prime minister, who will be interviewed at Old Parliament House on Tuesday to relive the saga, said Labor had appeared to be in a hurry to introduce major reforms because it had been in opposition for more than two decades before returning to power.

“He was very much in a rush,” Howard said.

“But you can be in a rush towards the wrong objective.

Howard said increased spending and a larger public service were some of the Whitlam government’s flawed plans.

Albanese has also announced plans to erect a statue of Whitlam at Old Parliament House.

“Australians will be able to stand with Gough, put an arm around the great man’s shoulders, and remind ourselves that if we maintain our enthusiasm, it’s always time,” he said.

He said the statue would welcome Australians to the building where Whitlam served as prime minister and on whose steps he was ultimately dismissed.

-with AAP