Gough Whitlam 1916-2014

A great Australian and a great PM.

RIP

One of the only politicians, that i've seen at least, who actually wanted to do something positive for the People. Couldn't do what he wanted... but that's another story.

RIP Gough.

everything he wanted.

RIP Gough

i enjoyed the speeches ... and the humour ... was my first time voting ... had come of age a couple of years earlier

the ... It's Time campaign ... was indelible

An irresponsible buffoon.

Thank God for Kerr.

What garbage......Kerr was the irresponsle one who got some of what he deserved when he was pissed at the Melb

Cup.

What a pompous pr ik he was.

Whitlam did more for the country than Kerr or any from the right wing side of politics.

A man who shaped the nation and a man I am privileged to call a close mate. RIP Goughy

Before my time. He had been sacked a good 5 years before I was born. Done a bit of reading on the man. Thanks for medicare Gough, a great thing. Thank feck we're not like the yanks. They had free uni degrees in the 70s? WTF? I'm doing a degree now, only costing a lazy 25K. Where is my free uni degree He forged relationships with China, stopped oil drilling on the reef... did a bit in 3 years.

RIP

It was one economic catastrophe after another.

Kinda'like Latvia or whoever sent their country broke daytrading.

People are just numbers to you right wing zealots.....

Gough showed us that we live in a society not an economy.

What a joke of a statement ......the things he did for people ...real people ...

and all JFC is worried about is the state of the books.

Says a lot about the priorities of the right wingers.

People were people before and after Gough.

But during Gough people increased their chance of poverty, thanks to his delusions.

How about a Governer General who decides to get pissed at an official function like the Melbourn Cup

what a disgrace.

JFC sounds like David Flint.

Do you have an issue with Bob Hawke sculling beers at the cricket AFL? Disgraceful?

Liberals hate the poor. FACT.

Just gotta see Scum bag Abbot's work to understand that.

Give him a break he wasn't on the job he'd been retired 30 odd years. F/F/S

Kerr was on offical duty.

I'm hardly the one to criticise anyone else for social faux pas involving alcohol.

Goodness me. Irresponsible behaviour from someone at a race meeting!

But going back a year Kerr did the admirable and proper thing to save the nation from an inebriated binge spender.

There was an actual vote soon after.

And boy did the people speak!

I don't have an issue with sculling beers. I'm all for it, and I don't give 2 sh1ts about a bloke getting p1ssed at the races either. You throw the word 'disgrace' around a tad freely no? Just sayin. Chill the feck out dude. No one hates like you do man, you need a hug.

A GG pissed at any formal occasion  should be a sackable offence.

I don't hate anyone...... never have and never will.

So please don't tell me i do.

I've been known to get pissed, so a GG getting pissed makes me feel a common bond.

A year back when said GG was called upon to do his job for once, he performed courageously.

And the people didn't disagree.

I have any number of issues with my State of Excitement compatriot (sorta).

His irresponsible sculling prank within a kilometre of alcoholic infused violence and death in Kings Cross is certainly one.

A GG should only be allowed to sack their butler and staff and the sooner we are rid of them altogether the

better.

Total waste of space.

We're straying from the theme here.

I'm certainly for a republic, as I hold minimal truck with English domination.

Here, I'd prefer to see a ceremonial position so that PMs could focus on important work.

But back in Gough's time, under different circumstances, it's hard to see how Kerr could have preformed his duties better.

Oct 21, 2014 -- 8:37AM, jfc wrote:

I have any number of issues with my State of Excitement compatriot (sorta).His irresponsible sculling prank within a kilometre of alcoholic infused violence and death in Kings Cross is certainly one.

So you can get p1ssed at the races but you can't scull a beer within a km of a place where there has been booze related violence? Do you not think such things happen near Flemington? When as Aussies did we became the most easily offended people on the planet?

RIP Gough, you made us a better people, a better nation. Thanks for your service.

RIP Gough, man of wisdom who shaped Australia today very quick witted.

Hawke's sculling prank just highlighted his irresponsibility and his delusions. Who on earth is interested in a geriatric's drinking prowess? If that hastens his end, then good riddance!

Kerr would have had a tough year after doing the hard but right thing. Who cares whether he overreached on the hospitality? I'm certainly not one to cast stones.

Whitlam's memory was demonised by conservatives to excuse his dismissal

The constitutional crisis of 1975 is a reminder of the lengths to which politicians on the right will go in

the pursuit of power

David Marr   
theguardian. com 21 October 2014

Gough Whitlam dismissal Gough Whitlam addresses reporters outside parliament in Canberra after his dismissal by the governor general during the constitutional crisis of 1975. Photograph: Keystone/Hulton Archive

A few great events in the history of this country are known simply by their year: 1788 means European settlement, 1915 means Gallipoli. And 1975 is the name we give to the ruthless clawing down of Gough Whitlam.

Scarcely any constitutional lawyers left alive applaud Sir John Kerr for what he did to the Labor prime minister on 11 November that year. Not all the plotters are dead. From time to time fresh details emerge of the outrages planned behind closed doors by Kerr and his circle. But the verdict of both the law and history has been savage: there was no justification for the sacking of Whitlam.

The many mistakes of his government were not for the governor general to correct. The electorate would do that in good time. But the opposition was impatient. A mighty panic was running in Australia. The fate of the nation was said to be at stake. The newspapers of all the proprietors were urging vice-regal intervention.

Whitlam’s weakness in the crisis was his deep attachment to convention. He was not the radical here. Since blocking supply was last threatened in the UK in the early years of the century, an upper house cutting off the government’s cash was considered beyond the democratic pale.

But not by the Liberal and Country parties in Australia. Whitlam went to the polls when the opposition threatened supply in 1974 and stared down Malcolm Fraser when he threatened again in 1975.

But the lawyer and historian in Whitlam never really believed the opposition would carry out its threat. From the sidelines, an elderly Bob Menzies urged the party he created to do the right thing and pass supply. Liberal senators were on the brink of cracking. Then Kerr struck.

November 11 was a day of no constitutional significance. Whitlam went to Yarralumla with money to govern for at least another fortnight and the undisputed support of the House of Representatives. That’s how we make governments in this country: confidence and supply.

Whitlam wanted to call an election for half the Senate. There were good prospects this would give him control of the upper house. Instead of accepting his advice, which every convention dictated, Kerr sacked him and installed Fraser to take the country to a double dissolution.

Whitlam returned to the Lodge shattered. He might have contested Kerr in the high court. Instead he chose the traditional ground: parliament. That afternoon Kerr refused to receive the Speaker bringing news to Yarralumla that Whitlam had won vote after vote of confidence in the house.

Whitlam believed his martyrdom would win him re-election. But not for the last time, Australia showed itself to be a practical nation. The country was bitterly divided over the sacking but keen to be rid of Labor. Labor’s mistakes and the climate of fear did their work.

Whitlam never recovered. His political magic deserted him. Defeat in 1975 was followed by a second terrible defeat in 1977. He lived on for decades, a great presence in Australia, a hero to his people and a prime minister whose memory had to be demonised all the more extravagantly by the right to excuse the manner of his downfall.

After the sacking, the constitution was cleaned up to make one key breach of convention in 1975 impossible. The sacking happened only because New South Wales and Queensland rorted the Senate by appointing enemies of Whitlam to Labor vacancies. That can’t happen any more. But little else has changed.

Malcolm Turnbull once remarked to me that 1975 was “a sui generis **** up”. Yet it still hangs like a question mark over politics in this country, a reminder of Australia’s strange vulnerability to panic and the lengths to which politicians who call themselves conservative will go in the pursuit of power.

Kerr has his defenders still among the politicians of the Coalition. Those who say 1975 is over and done with should pay attention to Tony Abbott over the next few days as he puts in a good word for Kerr. Since the prime minister’s university days, Kerr has been one of his particular heroes. Abbott has an unshakeable belief that 1975 was right.

And vouching for Kerr will remind Australians that this ugly coup isn’t behind us.

One side of politics will still not disown what he did and oppose any attempt to be rid of the ancient and contested powers of the governor general which remain, in ruthless hands, ready to wreak havoc on Australian democracy.

jfc...you enjoying your medicare card gough brought in?...I thought so

What a pity Marr couldn't have exposed his expose before the election at the time.

rip great man....

Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting
Till one day a tall stranger appeared in the land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ndC07C2qw

jfc, showing his true colours. What a pompous tool.

agreed, a total lack of respect - as they say in the classics - if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all

Shame he didn't make it to 100, Settle Wombler He had a bloody fair innings.

not sure there's much joy amongst the aches and failing faculties and running gear in your 99th year

RIP Gough.

Very complex era of our nations political history.

Was Gough Whitlam a good or bad PM?
Was Malcolm Fraser right or wrong?
Was John Kerr weak or strong?


Opinions divided:

GW-

“elder statesman” or

“leader of the worst government in Australia’s history

One belief in common :

"no Prime Minister changed Australia more than Gough Whitlam"

Perhaps more important than the emotional and political narrations of 1975 and the many legal constitutional  debates since then  -----what did the people of Australia think was best for Australia and its future generations at the 1977 election

1977 election ---time for labour to resume power_??

"Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug Anthony, in government since 1975, was elected to a second term over the Australian Labor Party Opposition led by Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam. While the Coalition suffered a five-seat swing, it still had a substantial 48-seat majority in the House."

----48 seat majority.


Very difficult to ignore the historical facts relating to the average Australian and their political opinion as to what was best for Australia in 1977.



RIP Gough...and well done for the many good things you were able to do in a very short period as PM

Tried to do too much too fast with the world economy decline making it all the more difficult but still achieved a hell of  a lot. 

Rather than consider the judgment of those in 1977 who were doing it tough, think of how the changes Gough made - or started - are impacting us today.  Economically, I'd suggest the biggest of which was opening the door to China

Closer to home it's hard to believe a lot of suburbs didn't have indoor toilets until after he came in and made it happen

Big picture or small he changed Australia forever - in the main for the better imo

Ending conscription was a big one for me, personally. I was in the second last group, before it ended, and luckily for me, my number didn't come up.

good timing Castiron

Once Gough got in he helped us find our identity.....news readers started to talk like Australians......Commonwealth Of Australia were deleted from bank notes....Compulsay spraying of Pommys when departing from Station Pier.  Yes Gough was the peoples Prime Minister.   One of us.

well said Mike

gough wanted Australia to be owned by Australians, he forced out big overseas banks, had plans for Australia becoming a republic and run by our very own president...man of wisdom.

pity the queen and frazer plotted a plan to rid him

and Rupert

this current adult government is trying to dismantle most of Gough's acheivements..****s

[   This image is no longer available.   ]

In 1974, Gough Whitlam abolished university fees for all Australians. In 2014, Tony Abbott abolished university fees ........for his daughter.


says it all aye..

umm health care isn't free....we all pay
why should I pay uni fees for someone to go on and make a nice living....?
Rudd/Gillard I believe started changing the single parents benefit to newstart..

Gough did a lot of good things however spent like a drunken sailor in a you know where...

Gough showed us that we live in a society not an economy


1/2 true....every society needs an economy all the same, otherwise we'd be broke and printing worthless money

medibank/medicare is much cheaper than the alternatives but yes, we do pay

why should you pay someone else's uni fees?  because you will want to take advantage of their skills down the track - it's an investment

Howard started the changes to the single parents pension, Labor made them worse - it was a disgrace

Gough Whitlam and the Rupert Murdoch memory hole

Rodney E.Lever
independentaustralisdotnet
24 10 2014


With Gough Whitlam’s legacy now being reconsidered and debated, one thing the Australian media are not prepared to discuss is the role of Rupert Murdoch in his dismissal, writes Rodney E. Lever.

WITH THE SAD PASSING of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam this week, it is interesting to recall how his illustrious record has been besmirched and distorted over the years – even in recent years – and how certain elements involved in his dismissal have been removed from view — and placed down the memory hole.

Last year, for instance, I saw the two episodes of the ABC’s documentary about the Whitlam era, called Whitlam: the Power and the Passion.

Having been closely involved at that time, I was amazed at Australia’s national broadcaster’s either incompetence or deliberate burying of the truth.

The ABC reeled out all the false allegations thrown at the Whitlam Government by Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers at the time, with no evidence whatsoever to back them up. It simply repeated ugly and untrue stories from The Australian — stories that have been since been shown to be contrived, exaggerated and false.

Did they mention that John Howard was one of the busy bee Liberals who secretly brought Khemlani to Australia and took him to a Canberra hotel with his two suitcases of records of supposed dealings with the Whitlam Government. After long days and nights sifting through the papers, Howard and his colleagues found nothing – absolutely nothing – which could be held detrimentally against Whitlam and his government?

No. There was no mention of that. Nor have I seen any mention of this in the welter of articles about Whitlam and his dismissal this week.

This is just one part of the concerted misinformation campaign carried out by the Murdoch press at the behest of a furious, jilted, Rupert Murdoch in 1975.

In 1975, Rupert Murdoch came back from England, where he had just purchased The News of the World. He came expressly to destroy a government which, three years earlier, he had helped to elect.

Murdoch had hated Menzies. He also hated McMahon, who was in the pocket of the Packers.

He campaigned for Whitlam in 1972, with all the emerging power of his newspapers and expected rewards in return.

From Whitlam, he got nothing back, not even condescension, for Whitlam certainly had at least the same level of personal ego as Rupert Murdoch — perhaps even more.

Miffed by Whitlam’s failure to reward him for his support in the election and Whitlam’s failure to accept the Murdoch view on how to run the country, Rupert began his ugly, ruthless campaign to bring Whitlam down. It was the most savage attack on an elected government in the history of this country — with the possible exception of the attacks on Julia Gillard and Labor’s reforms in the last term of Parliament.

Joan Evatt recalls this vicious propaganda campaign:

    In the early stages of the campaign, there had been criticisms from highly regarded journalists about their copy being so altered that their stories bore no resemblance to articles that had been filed. Placement was pushed back, headlines were deemed by them as scurrilous and not reflective of the content, and so the outraged allegations of not just media bias, but direct editorial interference, precipitated a strike of journalists.

Denis Cryle in a 2008 book outlined journalists’ complaints:

    …the deliberate and careless slanting of headlines, seemingly blatant imbalance in news presentation, political censorship and, more occasionally, distortion of copy from senior specialist journalists, the political management of news and features, the stifling of dissident and even palatably impartial opinion in the papers’ columns…

In the Murdoch Papers, Dr Martin Hirst detailed some firsthand accounts of the overt anti-Whitlam pro-Liberal bias of the Murdoch press, including by former Murdoch employee Alan Yates:

    Alan Yates was a third-year cadet on the Daily Mirror and recalls the dismissal ‘shocked the entire newsroom’. Yates was on the AJA House Committee and says that while Murdoch was not necessarily in the newsroom, ‘his editors and his chiefs of staff were certainly involved in day-to-day selection of editorial content’. Alan Yates has said that he felt powerless as a ‘junior reporter’, but remembered his copy being altered to favour the Liberal Party’s viewpoint:

    ‘When questioning the chiefs of staff and chief sub-editor about this I was clearly told that that was the editorial line, the editorial people had thought that it was a stronger angle. Therefore I was left not too many options to go.’

Murdoch’s journalists rebelled at the vicious campaign and many resigned from the company in disgust

Alas, I was not among them. I was the senior executive of News Corp in Queensland and the lone breadwinner for my family and the father of six children, all at a critical stage of their education. I felt unable to walk away from my job so easily as some of the other journalists. But the events of those days brought me to consider resignation at a more appropriate time.

The mainstream media, by ignoring this sad episode, are touching up historical events to make them more palatable to certain current actors — specifically Rupert Murdoch. By doing so, they tarnish the Whitlam legacy and mislead the Australian people.

In effect, the mainstream media are sending Rupert Murdoch’s – and its own – role in the premature downfall of Gough Whitlam down Australia's growing memory hole, thereby doing the Australian people a manifest disservice.

You can follow Rodney on Twitter @RodneyELever. You can also purchase the original John Graham cartoon at the top of the piece from the IA store.

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Right on, comrade.

In the Sheer Journalistic Bastardry Stakes it's a photo finish between Hatchetjobongough and Hatchetjobonjulia, both by Murdoch out of Self Interest.

(wouldn't want to have been the racecaller trying to spit that one out)

By the way, Self Interest was a champion mare.

Paul Keating once famously said, "Always back Self Interest. At least you know it's trying".

Soon after I heard Geraldine Doogue relating that Keating quote to Margaret Throsby, I was disconcerted to see Self Interest debuting on a screen at Canterbury.

For whatever reason I just could not resist backing Self Interest.

Then it was scratched at the barrier.

So with the refund I was truthfully able to testify that:

I've never lost money backing Self Interest.

I believe the quote originated with former NSW Premier, Jack Lang, who was Keating's mentor.

That quote was also used by Fred Daley many times.

R 8 no 12 at the Valley tomorrow for omen punters

Gough also has a version of that joke.

October 19, 1989: Whitlam wrote for the  London Daily Telegraph - "The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race."

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/gough-whitlam-dead-his-memorable-quotes-20141021-1193jd.html#ixzz3H2zyvtcL

You'd reckon it would have originated before Lang.

Self-interest itself certainly did.

he was the PM Australia had to have....even right wing mugs would agree IMO