"Now see here, I DID walk across Lake Burley Griffin and that should count for something" - Gough to God, explaining why he should have a go at the Heavenly Leadership, while Margaret looks on resigned.

RIP

Gough often joked about his status as a deity but he was also a regular bloke. One Saturday morning in '75 when he was at 2KY in Kings Cross to record a radio broadcast, he came down the grand winding staircase in the foyer (the building used to be a nightclub) when the young technician leading the way lost his slip-on shoe. Gough stooped to pick it up, and then handed it to the young bloke who was quite chuffed. A small gesture but significant nonetheless.

Thanks for posting that Jules, you beat me to it. What an amazing 3 years!!!

How many of us would not have a university degree without him?

How many Vietnamese babies would not have been adopted because of the White Australia Policy?

How many women would still be working in the same job as men with less pay?

How many of us have been divorced with the dignity of the "No Fault" rule?

These are ways I've been affected, who else has had their lives changed for the better due to Gough?


RIP...
I reckon the saints are going to have to move over for him in heaven!

One of the enduring myths of the Left is that Gough brought the troops back from Vietnam.
He DID NO SUCH THING.
All our combat troops had been pulled out by about February 1972. The election was in December 1972. At that time there might have been a handful of advisers left in Vietnam, and a few Diggers to guard the Embassy. That's who Gough brought home.
Whitlam also refused to help any Vietnamese who had been working with Australian forces, saying he did not want Australia to play host to "(expletive) Vietnamese Balts."
And at the election immediately after he was quite rightly sacked, he lost by a record margin, proving what the public thought of the pompous, posturing poseur.

Tony

jules47 wrote:

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RIP Gough - gone to join Margaret.

Just read this elsewhere, and thought I would share Gough Whitlam's term of office with you all -

RIP Gough Whitlam. We are unlikely to see his like again. He changed Australia allowing us to start emerging from the skirts of the British Empire and brought about such things as universal health care, land rights for indigenous Australians, free and open access to tertiary education, the start of equal rights for women and many more the least of which was to stop conscription and bring our troops home from Vietnam. There is no doubt that the Australia we all enjoy today had its beginning with Gough. My thanks for a great man.

It was the Whitlam Government that:

1. ended Conscription,
2. withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam,
3. implemented Equal Pay for Women,
4. launched an Inquiry into Education and the Funding of Government and Non-government Schools on a Needs Basis,
5. established a separate ministry responsible for Aboriginal Affairs,
6. established the single Department of Defence,
7. withdrew support for apartheidSouth Africa,
8. granted independence to Papua New Guinea,
9. abolished Tertiary Education Fees,
10. established the Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme (TEAS),
11. increased pensions,
12. established Medibank,
13. established controls on Foreign Ownership of Australian resources,
14. passed the Family Law Act establishing No-Fault Divorce,
15. passed a series of laws banning Racial and Sexual Discrimination,
16. extended Maternity Leave and Benefits for Single Mothers,
17. introduced One-Vote-One-Value to democratize the electoral system,
18. implemented wide-ranging reforms of the ALP's organization,
19. initiated Australia's first Federal Legislation on Human Rights, the Environment and Heritage,
20. established the Legal Aid Office,
21. established the National Film and Television School,
22. launched construction of National Gallery of Australia,
23. established the Australian Development Assistance Agency,
24. reopened the Australian Embassy in Peking after 24 years,
25. established the Prices Justification Tribunal,
26. revalued the Australian Dollar,
27. cut tariffs across the board,
28. established the Trade Practices Commission,
29. established the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service,
30. established the Law Reform Commission,
31. established the Australian Film Commission,
32. established the Australia Council,
33. established the Australian Heritage Commission,
34. established the Consumer Affairs Commission,
35. established the Technical and Further Education Commission,
36. implemented a national employment and training program,
37. created Telecom and Australia Post to replace the Postmaster-General's Department,
38. devised the Order of Australia Honors System to replace the British Honors system,
39. abolished appeals to the Privy Council,
40. changed the National Anthem to 'Advance Australia Fair' (confirmed at 1977 Referendum),
41. instituted Aboriginal Land Rights, and
42. sewered most of Sydney. (Hard to believe, isn't it, that Sydney wasn't even sewered 40 years ago???)

The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government on November 11, 1975 was the most dramatic political event in the history of Australias Federation."

 

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 I might have missed it in your list Jules, but also gave the vote to 18 year olds, said if they are old enough to serve their country and die for it they should be able to vote (before that the voting age was 21).   RIP Gough!

(he had a nice chat to me many years ago in the Liverpool RSL in NSW, I was in uniform at the time).

-- Edited by Vic41 on Thursday 23rd of October 2014 02:23:29 PM

I liked the young female interviewed on TV who said she was glad Gough had given women the vote. She seemed genuinely surprised when informed that it had happened in 1908 BG (Before Gough).

Cheers, Tony