The Whitlam Government was highly controversial during its short tenure but achieved some major reforms. Formal relations with China were established, conscription laws were repealed, all remaining Australian forces were withdrawn from the Vietnam War, universal healthcare was introduced and some remaining discriminatory provisions of the White Australia policy were abolished. Tertiary education fees were abolished for a period. However, these and other enthusiastic reforms came at a high price: "By mid-1975, inflation hit 17.6 per cent and wage rises hit 32.9 per cent. The economy boomed in 1973 and the first half of '74, but then suffered a severe recession." The Whitlam Government was re-elected for a second term at the 1974 double-dissolution election but, following the dismissal, was heavily defeated by the new Fraser Government in the 1975 election.