Happy Birthday Gough! 97 years old!

[Contrarian]

Written last year when he was 96.

Thanks, Gough, for giving us all a chance
Date
July 4, 2012


Gough Whitlam's visionary tertiary education scheme opened up doors for many.

NEXT week on the 11th of July Gough Whitlam will celebrate his 96th birthday, his first without his beloved wife, Margaret.

Many thousands, no millions, of baby boomers should join in a very loud chorus to sing the praises of this much maligned but incredible Australian.

Newspapers around Australia will probably acknowledge this milestone but to really appreciate what he did for this country, a perspective of his impact on ''ordinary'' Australians needs to be expressed.

Advertisement
Officially I am two years too old to be classed as a member of the baby boomer generation but I was one of the many fortunate people whose life was absolutely changed through the policies of former prime minister Gough Whitlam, Australia's greatest ever visionary.

As a working-class kid from the then very poor working-class suburb of Yarraville, it was beyond my wildest dreams to even consider having a tertiary education.

Even completing secondary education to sixth form (year 12) was not on my radar.

My old alma mater, Footscray Tech, only went to year 10 and if you lived anywhere west of the Yarra, your biggest decision after completing secondary school was to join the laudable but limited careers of carpentry, plumbing or other of the building trades. Whitlam changed all that.

Never has one man had such an impact on our nation in such a short time. No-fault divorce, universal health insurance, the first real recognition of indigenous people, a major step towards equal rights for women and access to justice for all, to list just a few of his major achievements.

But for me and many thousands like me, it was his creation of TEAS, the Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme, that changed my life and I believe allowed many of us to add so much more to our communities because of it.

At the ripe old age of 31 I was able to undertake what previously had been denied me; I gained entrance to Monash University. The rush of mature-age students into tertiary education in the late '70s indicated just how many of us had missed out on an education during the previous 23 years of conservative rule.

The consequence of Whitlam's education policy went well beyond just personal improvement.

Education has far greater impact for society than just leading people into professions or occupations, it often rounds them off as active members of their community and society gains because of this.

I had followed the usual course of the ''Westie'' masses and become a carpenter, then moved into teaching as a trade teacher. Thanks to Gough, my degree allowed me to teach history and politics in high schools, where I like to think I was able to influence many of the young charges under my care to think about matters political. (Unbiased, of course.)

Higher education also gave me the confidence and knowledge to participate in local government and play roles in other community activities throughout my life.

Forget the Khemlani affair and Rex Connor's delusional plans to run a gas pipeline across Australia, the fact that our country was dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century is something that all Australians should be grateful for.

Thirty-seven years on, today's modern Australia is a direct result of the Whitlam years.

Happy birthday, Gough, and so many thanks for giving me and many of my generation a chance at life that previously had only been the realm of the rich.

Geoff Cooper is a freelance writer.

Cue: Predictable boring rant by right wing redneck(s)

 

[Contrarian]

Gough Whitlam will always be revered as a supreme visionary, a reformist ahead of his time. And will be remembered always for being a hopeless economist. Many of his reforms stated below have never been scrapped by future Liberal or Labor governments.

A timeline of Gough Whitlam's life

GOUGH Whitlam's election heralded a period of unprecedented reform in Australia. But his period as prime minister is the country's most controversial to date.

A timeline of Whitlam's life shows the depth of his impact.

11 July, 1916
Edward Gough Whitlam is born in Melbourne, the eldest child of Frederick and Martha. His father was a lawyer who helped develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

1920s
Attends Mowbray House and Knox Grammar School in Sydney, then Telopea Park High School and Canberra Grammar School. He completes the leaving certificate in 1931, aged only 15, but is considered too young to go to university. He sits the leaving certificate exam three more times between 1932 and 1934.

1935
Enrols at the University of Sydney where he studies law and arts (BA, LLB). He wins a blue for rowing, and writes poetry, while there.

1941
Joins the Royal Australian Air Force. He serves as a Flight-Lieutenant navigator in the Pacific War and is discharged in 1945.

22 April 1942
Marries Margaret Dovey, with whom he shares an interest in politics, at Vaucluse in Sydney. They have four children: Anthony (1944), Nicholas (1945), Stephen (1950) and Catherine (1954). On the 60th anniversary of their marriage, Whitlam calls their union "very satisfactory".

1945
Whitlam joins the Australian Labor Party, having earlier handed out Labor pamphlets to his defence force colleagues.

1947
Whitlam is admitted to the New South Wales bar and federal courts.

1948, 1949 and 1950
He wins successive rounds of the Australian National Quiz, broadcast on the ABC to increase awareness of government bonds. He uses the 1000 pounds he wins to buy a block of land in Cronulla.

1950
Unsuccessfully contests the new NSW State seat of Sutherland, having previously run for local government election. He faces criticism he is a “silvertail”.

1952
Wins the Federal seat of Werriwa at a by-election in November. Nicknamed “The Young Brolga” for his imposing height (194cm) and imperious bearing.

March 19, 1953
Whitlam makes his maiden speech in parliament. Maiden speeches are customarily heard in silence, but Country Party member John McEwen interjects barely a minute into Whitlam’s speech, earning a reprimand from the Speaker. Whitlam's quick response marks him as an MP to watch in the future.

1960
Whitlam is elected Deputy Leader of the ALP.

1961
Gough rushes to Canberra to be by his sick father’s bedside. Frederick dies one day before the Federal election.

1962
Becomes a Queen’s Counsel.

1967
In February, Whitlam is elected Leader of the ALP, polling 32 first preference votes followed by Jim Cairns with 15, and succeeding Arthur Calwell. He initiates the practice of appointing Shadow Ministers. He remains Leader until December 1977, a record term for his party.

June 1971
Whitlam leads an ALP delegation to China. At the time, the Liberal-Country Party coalition government refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Asian giant.

1972
Whitlam launches the famous "It’s Time" campaign, saying the upcoming election is “a choice between the past and the future”. He promises to end military conscription and Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, diplomatic recognition of China, independence for Papua New Guinea, free university education and a national health scheme.

December 2, 1972
After 23 years in Opposition, the ALP is elected to government after receiving 49.6 per cent of the vote at the federal election. It does not have a majority in the Senate. Whitlam is sworn in on December 5, sharing all portfolios with deputy leader, Lance Barnard. The full ministry is sworn in on December 19.

1972
Military conscription, which had chosen young men by ballot according to their birthday, ends after eight years. “.. it is intolerable that a free nation at peace and under no threat should cull by lottery the best of its youth to provide defence on the cheap,” Whitlams says in his 1972 policy speech.

1972
Whitlam withdraws Australian troops from Vietnam, consolidating moves that had already been started by his coalition counterparts. He had been a vocal opponent of the war, and had he had addressed Vietnam peace rallies in Australia as early as 1965.

1972
Establishes the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and backs land rights saying: “ We will legislate to give aborigines land rights - not just because their case is beyond argument, but because all of us as Australians are diminished while the aborigines are denied their rightful place in this nation.”

1972
The Whitlam Government establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. A year later, the Australian embassy is opened for the first time in 24 years in Peking.

1973
Welfare payments are introduced for single-parent families and homeless people.

1973
Voting age reduced from voting age 21 to 18 after a campaign that points out young men who were conscripted weren’t allowed to vote.

1973
The death penalty for federal crimes is abolished.

1973
The government controversially purchases Blue Poles by US artist Jackson Pollock for the National Gallery at a cost of $1.3 million. At the time, it is the highest price ever paid for a modern American painting.

1973
The national health care scheme Medicare is established, providing free health care to all Australians. It is funded by a levy.

1974
The government abolishes university fees, a move credited with significantly broadening enrolment to new social economic groups and women.

8 April 1974
Advance Australia Fair replaces God Save the Queen as Australia’s national anthem after national polling.

1974
The Senate blocks reform bills, and Whitlam calls a double dissolution. At the election on May 18, he again achieves a majority in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate.

September 1975
Papua New Guinea is given independence.

1975
The Family Law Act 1975 replaces the existing grounds for divorce with a single ground, irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

1975
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 enables Australia to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination.

1974-1975
The Whitlam government moves to sidestep the Loans Council to borrow $4 billion for ‘temporary purposes’ from foreign, undisclosed, sources, using the services of shady broker Tirath Khemlani. Treasury opposes the plan. Despite its concerns, echoed by the RBA, the Minister for Minerals and Energy Rex Connor continues negotiations until Khemlani is ultimately exposed as a fraud.

Connor and Treasurer Jim Cairns are eventually sacked for their roles in loans scandals.

October 1975
After a series of scandals, chiefly the Khemlani loans affair, the Senate - controlled by the Liberal-Country Party - blocks supply, cutting off the Whitlam Government’s access to funds to run the country. An unprecedented constitutional crisis emerges.

November 11, 1975
The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, sacks Whitlam as Prime Minister and appoints Malcolm Fraser caretaker Prime Minister. The incident - dubbed The Dismissal - makes Whitlam the only Australian to be ousted while holding a majority in the House of Representatives.

December 13, 1975
After a bitter campaign, Whitlam is comprehensively defeated in the federal election by Malcolm Fraser, whose Liberal-Country Party coalition achieves 56 per cent of the vote and 91 of the 127 lower house seats. Whitlam remains leader of the federal opposition.

1977
Whitlam is defeated in the federal election. He stands down from the ALP leadership and is replaced by Bill Hayden.

July 1978
Whitlam retires from political life. He is made a Companion of the Order of Australia, and accepts a position as the first National Fellow at the Australian National University.

1979
Accepts a position at a visiting professor at Harvard University. Four years later, he takes up a similar role at Adelaide University.

1979
Published a book about the events leading to his dismissal, The Truth of the Matter. He writes The Whitlam Government 1972–1975 in 1985, and Abiding Interests in 1997.

1983
Appointed Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO by the ALP Government of Bob Hawke. Made a member of the Order of Australia (1983).

1983 to 1989
Serves on the World Heritage Committee. He is made Member of Honour by the World Conservation Union in 1988 and chairs General Assembly of World Heritage Convention in 1989.

1985
Appointed to the Constitutional Commission.

1986
Appointed chairman of the Australia-China Council, a position he holds until 1991.

1987 - 1990
He serves as chairman of the Council of the National Gallery of Australia.

1995
With wife Margaret, is a member of Australia’s Olympic bid team which wins the 2000 Olympics for Sydney.

1996
Chairs the Advisory Board for the sixth edition of Dick Smith's Australian Encyclopaedia.

2001
Gough and wife Margaret are awarded the Sir Edward ('Weary') Dunlop Asialink Medal by the University of Melbourne.

2004
Whitlam backs protege Mark Latham in his unsuccessful campaign against Prime Minister John Howard in the 2004 federal election.

2007
Gough and Margaret receive National Life Membership at the ALP National Conference in April 2007. At the time, both have been members for more than 60 years.

2010
A spokesman confirms Gough Whitlam is living in an aged care facility.

Cue: Predictable boring rant by right wing redneck(s)

 

[Contrarian]

Gough Whitlam will always be revered as a supreme visionary, a reformist ahead of his time. And will be remembered always for being a hopeless economist. Many of his reforms stated below have never been scrapped by future Liberal or Labor governments.

A timeline of Gough Whitlam's life

GOUGH Whitlam's election heralded a period of unprecedented reform in Australia. But his period as prime minister is the country's most controversial to date.

A timeline of Whitlam's life shows the depth of his impact.

11 July, 1916
Edward Gough Whitlam is born in Melbourne, the eldest child of Frederick and Martha. His father was a lawyer who helped develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

1920s
Attends Mowbray House and Knox Grammar School in Sydney, then Telopea Park High School and Canberra Grammar School. He completes the leaving certificate in 1931, aged only 15, but is considered too young to go to university. He sits the leaving certificate exam three more times between 1932 and 1934.

1935
Enrols at the University of Sydney where he studies law and arts (BA, LLB). He wins a blue for rowing, and writes poetry, while there.

1941
Joins the Royal Australian Air Force. He serves as a Flight-Lieutenant navigator in the Pacific War and is discharged in 1945.

22 April 1942
Marries Margaret Dovey, with whom he shares an interest in politics, at Vaucluse in Sydney. They have four children: Anthony (1944), Nicholas (1945), Stephen (1950) and Catherine (1954). On the 60th anniversary of their marriage, Whitlam calls their union "very satisfactory".

1945
Whitlam joins the Australian Labor Party, having earlier handed out Labor pamphlets to his defence force colleagues.

1947
Whitlam is admitted to the New South Wales bar and federal courts.

1948, 1949 and 1950
He wins successive rounds of the Australian National Quiz, broadcast on the ABC to increase awareness of government bonds. He uses the 1000 pounds he wins to buy a block of land in Cronulla.

1950
Unsuccessfully contests the new NSW State seat of Sutherland, having previously run for local government election. He faces criticism he is a “silvertail”.

1952
Wins the Federal seat of Werriwa at a by-election in November. Nicknamed “The Young Brolga” for his imposing height (194cm) and imperious bearing.

March 19, 1953
Whitlam makes his maiden speech in parliament. Maiden speeches are customarily heard in silence, but Country Party member John McEwen interjects barely a minute into Whitlam’s speech, earning a reprimand from the Speaker. Whitlam's quick response marks him as an MP to watch in the future.

1960
Whitlam is elected Deputy Leader of the ALP.

1961
Gough rushes to Canberra to be by his sick father’s bedside. Frederick dies one day before the Federal election.

1962
Becomes a Queen’s Counsel.

1967
In February, Whitlam is elected Leader of the ALP, polling 32 first preference votes followed by Jim Cairns with 15, and succeeding Arthur Calwell. He initiates the practice of appointing Shadow Ministers. He remains Leader until December 1977, a record term for his party.

June 1971
Whitlam leads an ALP delegation to China. At the time, the Liberal-Country Party coalition government refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Asian giant.

1972
Whitlam launches the famous "It’s Time" campaign, saying the upcoming election is “a choice between the past and the future”. He promises to end military conscription and Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, diplomatic recognition of China, independence for Papua New Guinea, free university education and a national health scheme.

December 2, 1972
After 23 years in Opposition, the ALP is elected to government after receiving 49.6 per cent of the vote at the federal election. It does not have a majority in the Senate. Whitlam is sworn in on December 5, sharing all portfolios with deputy leader, Lance Barnard. The full ministry is sworn in on December 19.

1972
Military conscription, which had chosen young men by ballot according to their birthday, ends after eight years. “.. it is intolerable that a free nation at peace and under no threat should cull by lottery the best of its youth to provide defence on the cheap,” Whitlams says in his 1972 policy speech.

1972
Whitlam withdraws Australian troops from Vietnam, consolidating moves that had already been started by his coalition counterparts. He had been a vocal opponent of the war, and had he had addressed Vietnam peace rallies in Australia as early as 1965.

1972
Establishes the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and backs land rights saying: “ We will legislate to give aborigines land rights - not just because their case is beyond argument, but because all of us as Australians are diminished while the aborigines are denied their rightful place in this nation.”

1972
The Whitlam Government establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. A year later, the Australian embassy is opened for the first time in 24 years in Peking.

1973
Welfare payments are introduced for single-parent families and homeless people.

1973
Voting age reduced from voting age 21 to 18 after a campaign that points out young men who were conscripted weren’t allowed to vote.

1973
The death penalty for federal crimes is abolished.

1973
The government controversially purchases Blue Poles by US artist Jackson Pollock for the National Gallery at a cost of $1.3 million. At the time, it is the highest price ever paid for a modern American painting.

1973
The national health care scheme Medicare is established, providing free health care to all Australians. It is funded by a levy.

1974
The government abolishes university fees, a move credited with significantly broadening enrolment to new social economic groups and women.

8 April 1974
Advance Australia Fair replaces God Save the Queen as Australia’s national anthem after national polling.

1974
The Senate blocks reform bills, and Whitlam calls a double dissolution. At the election on May 18, he again achieves a majority in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate.

September 1975
Papua New Guinea is given independence.

1975
The Family Law Act 1975 replaces the existing grounds for divorce with a single ground, irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

1975
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 enables Australia to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination.

1974-1975
The Whitlam government moves to sidestep the Loans Council to borrow $4 billion for ‘temporary purposes’ from foreign, undisclosed, sources, using the services of shady broker Tirath Khemlani. Treasury opposes the plan. Despite its concerns, echoed by the RBA, the Minister for Minerals and Energy Rex Connor continues negotiations until Khemlani is ultimately exposed as a fraud.

Connor and Treasurer Jim Cairns are eventually sacked for their roles in loans scandals.

October 1975
After a series of scandals, chiefly the Khemlani loans affair, the Senate - controlled by the Liberal-Country Party - blocks supply, cutting off the Whitlam Government’s access to funds to run the country. An unprecedented constitutional crisis emerges.

November 11, 1975
The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, sacks Whitlam as Prime Minister and appoints Malcolm Fraser caretaker Prime Minister. The incident - dubbed The Dismissal - makes Whitlam the only Australian to be ousted while holding a majority in the House of Representatives.

December 13, 1975
After a bitter campaign, Whitlam is comprehensively defeated in the federal election by Malcolm Fraser, whose Liberal-Country Party coalition achieves 56 per cent of the vote and 91 of the 127 lower house seats. Whitlam remains leader of the federal opposition.

1977
Whitlam is defeated in the federal election. He stands down from the ALP leadership and is replaced by Bill Hayden.

July 1978
Whitlam retires from political life. He is made a Companion of the Order of Australia, and accepts a position as the first National Fellow at the Australian National University.

1979
Accepts a position at a visiting professor at Harvard University. Four years later, he takes up a similar role at Adelaide University.

1979
Published a book about the events leading to his dismissal, The Truth of the Matter. He writes The Whitlam Government 1972–1975 in 1985, and Abiding Interests in 1997.

1983
Appointed Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO by the ALP Government of Bob Hawke. Made a member of the Order of Australia (1983).

1983 to 1989
Serves on the World Heritage Committee. He is made Member of Honour by the World Conservation Union in 1988 and chairs General Assembly of World Heritage Convention in 1989.

1985
Appointed to the Constitutional Commission.

1986
Appointed chairman of the Australia-China Council, a position he holds until 1991.

1987 - 1990
He serves as chairman of the Council of the National Gallery of Australia.

1995
With wife Margaret, is a member of Australia’s Olympic bid team which wins the 2000 Olympics for Sydney.

1996
Chairs the Advisory Board for the sixth edition of Dick Smith's Australian Encyclopaedia.

2001
Gough and wife Margaret are awarded the Sir Edward ('Weary') Dunlop Asialink Medal by the University of Melbourne.

2004
Whitlam backs protege Mark Latham in his unsuccessful campaign against Prime Minister John Howard in the 2004 federal election.

2007
Gough and Margaret receive National Life Membership at the ALP National Conference in April 2007. At the time, both have been members for more than 60 years.

2010
A spokesman confirms Gough Whitlam is living in an aged care facility.

Cue: Predictable boring rant by right wing redneck(s)

 

[Contrarian]

[video=youtube;K9hZ7kjgFh4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9hZ7kjgFh4[/video]