I think he benefitted, obviously, but i'm not into a conspiracy thing involving him, as he would have done anything to bring about the Labour downfall anyway . . . i suspect Kerr got his marching orders from his many buddies in the CIA (well documented) at the instigation of the Nixon administration, which saw Whitlam as dangerous. It simply fell out that Kerr had no opportunity before the Watergate debacle had overtaken Tricky Dick . . .
I have been referring to Kerr as the cur Kerr, in deference to the description of Fraser as Kerr's cur, and Whitlam commented on that as follows:
"What the Establishment may call poor taste I must, in the circumstances of 1974 and 1975, call the truth of the matter.
"The fact is, it has always been the Establishment's first line of defence to raise the mealymouthed cry of poor taste whenever its interests or, in the case of people like Sir John Kerr and Sir Garfield Barwick, its tools are under attack.
"Let's cut through the humbug on this matter. In the orchestration of the destruction of my Government, no rumour or innuendo, from moral turpitude to financial corruption, was deemed outside the rules of the game, because in this country the Establishment makes its own rules and sets its own canons of taste."
Crazy times!