Gough Whitlam A tribute

John Faulkner — 2014

When Gough Whitlam died on 21 October 2014, his legacy to the Australian people was a nation transformed. With all royalties going to the Whitlam Institute, this tribute traces his extraordinary life through the photographers' lens from his childhood and meeting his great love Margaret, to the soaring successes and shattering defeats of his political life and his ongoing enthusiasm for the great cause of a fairer, more mature Australia. To the Australian public, Gough Whitlam is the 'It's Time' prime minister; the prime minister who swept away 23 years of conservative government; the prime minister of free education, universal health care, women's liberation, Aboriginal land rights, and the final withdrawal from Vietnam. These achievements are matched by the enduring power of the drama of the Dismissal, the instantly recognisable images of the front steps at Old Parliament House, of 'maintain the rage' and 'Kerr's cur'. But Gough was more than this. To the Labor Party, he was our longest-serving Federal leader, a talented and dedicated politician who spent twenty years on the backbench, the frontbench and in the leadership working to reform Labor's structures and policies. Rarely patient, sometimes reckless, always persistent, Gough cajoled and nudged and occasionally bludgeoned internal ALP structures into a form that could take the party to victory. - Senator John Faulkner