Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. Whitlam remains one of the most controversial figures in Australian political history.

Out of office

Whitlam stayed on to fight the 1977 election, but there was never much chance that the Australian electorate would have him back. Labor was defeated nearly as heavily as it had been in 1975, and Whitlam resigned from Parliament in 1978. After a few years as a travelling lecturer, he was appointed Australian Ambassador to UNESCO by the next Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. Although Whitlam knew this was partly a ploy by Hawke to get him out of the country, he hugely enjoyed the Paris posting and made a great impression on other UNESCO delegates. He has published several volumes of memoirs.

Related Topics:
UNESCO - Bob Hawke - Paris

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Even in old age, Whitlam is a larger-than-life figure in Australian politics, with a ferocious intellect, a razor-sharp and often disparaging wit, and a towering ego that he never troubled to camouflage. The Labor historian Bob Ellis has described him as "the self-appointed deity of the Labor Party". He remains a revered figure in the Labor Party, and reviled (far more, for example, than Bob Hawke) by the conservative side of politics. The sole issue over which he has received sustained criticism from the left is his failure to oppose Indonesia's plans to annex East Timor, then Portuguese Timor.

Related Topics:
Bob Ellis - Bob Hawke - Indonesia - East Timor - Portuguese Timor

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Whitlam turned 80 in 1996, but still made regular public appearances and continued to comment on some issues, notably republicanism: in the 1999 referendum, he campaigned together on this issue with his old enemy Fraser. He felt the Hawke government had wasted its opportunities to continue the great Whitlam reform programme, but was more enthusiastic about Paul Keating's government. After 1996 he was scathingly critical of John Howard, but also of Kim Beazley, who was Labor leader from 1996 to 2001 - this feud apparently went back to Whitlam's dislike of Beazley's father (Kim Beazley, senior), who had been a minister in Whitlam's government.

Related Topics:
Republicanism - Referendum - Paul Keating - John Howard - Kim Beazley - Kim Beazley, senior

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Whitlam was delighted when his former research assistant and then MP representing his old seat of Werriwa, Mark Latham, was elected Labor leader on 2 December 2003, exactly 31 years after Whitlam's own election as Prime Minister. By that time Whitlam, 87, was increasingly frail and usually appeared in public with a walking stick, but his ability and willingness to make outspoken comments had not diminished, and he spoke frequently in praise of Latham.

Related Topics:
Mark Latham - 2 December - 2003

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Latham's diaries, however, were published in September 2005, and included a claim that Whitlam had dismissively remarked to Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon that he thought Latham - who had by then resigned as leader - should quit politics altogether. When Latham learned of the remark, he cut off all contact with his former mentor and described Whitlam's comment as "the cruellest cut of all". Whitlam subsequently claimed that he simply told Fitzgibbon he thought it was "unsustainable" for Latham to stay on as an MP because of his ill-health.

Related Topics:
2005 - Joel Fitzgibbon

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In April 2004 Whitlam spoke at a function marking the centenary of the Watson Labor government. Later in the year he appeared at Labor events during the unsuccessful 2004 federal election campaign, and appeared to be in good health. By late 2005, however, he was reported to be in declining health.

Related Topics:
2004 - Watson Labor government - 2004 federal election - 2005

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A member of the Australian Fabian Society, Whitlam was its President in 2002.

Related Topics:
Australian Fabian Society - 2002

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