Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam (11 July 1916 – 21 October 2014) was the 21st Prime Minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party, and was its longest-serving leader. He was notable for being the head of a reformist and socially progressive administration that ended with his controversial dismissal by the governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 constitutional crisis. Whitlam is the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office by the governor-general.

• Well may we say "God save the Queen", because nothing will save the Governor-General! The Proclamation which you have just heard read by the Governor-General's Official Secretary was countersigned "Malcolm Fraser," who will undoubtedly go down in Australian history from Remembrance Day 1975 as Kerr's cur. They won't silence the outskirts of Parliament House, even if the inside has been silenced for the next few weeks … Maintain your rage and enthusiasm for the campaign for the election now to be held and until polling day.
  • On hearing the proclamation dismissing him from office, which ended with the previous official wording "God Save the Queen" which had been abolished by his government and unilaterally re-instated by David Smith, the Governor-General's Official Secretary, at that moment — the first of many changes undertaken by the so-called "caretaker" government. — Damien Murphy, "Gough Whitlam dead: His memorable quotes", Sydney Morning Herald (21 October 2014)

• We would do absolutely nothing. Now that's a blunt, truthful answer.
  • When asked what a Labor government would do if Indonesia were to invade East Timor, in an interview three days before the invasion. Sydney Morning Herald (5 December 1975)

• Let me make quite clear that I am for abortion and, in your case sir, we should make it retrospective.
  • After being heckled by a voter during a campaign trail. — Helen Davidson, "Gough Whitlam – in his own words", The Guardian (21 October 2014)

• If I begin my book with a review of the coup, it is only to show that my abiding interests for Australia did not end with it. They shall end only with a long and fortunate life.
  • Abiding Interests (1997), Foreword

• He reveals that he has been a poor politician, a bad judge and a malevolent individual.
  • Abiding Interests (1997), p. 44, on Garfield Barwick

• I was profoundly embarrassed by it and did all I could to change it.
  • Quoted in Paul Kelly, 100 Years – The Australian Story (Allen & Unwin, 2001), p. 196

• The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.
  • The Daily Telegraph (19 October 1989)

• When Sir Winton Turnbull [who represented a large rural seat], a slow and sometimes stumbling speaker, was raving and ranting on the adjournment and shouted: "I am a Count–ry member". I interjected "I remember". Sir Winton could not understand why, for the first time in all the years he had been speaking in the House, there was instant and loud applause from both sides.
  • From a speech during a debate on the question That Politicians Have Lost Their Sense Of Humour, Sydney Town Hall (24 May 2000)

• The Country Party never forgave him for saying that their members sat on the fence with both ears to the ground.
  • From a speech during a debate on the question That Politicians Have Lost Their Sense Of Humour, Sydney Town Hall (24 May 2000)

• Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.
  • Gurindji Land Ceremony Speech (16 August 1975)

• A conservative government survives essentially by dampening expectations and subduing hopes. Conservatism is basically pessimistic, reformism is basically optimistic.
  • Self-quoted in The Whitlam Government 1972–1975 (1985)

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Gough Whitlam

• Listen to an excerpt of Gough Whitlam's 'Kerr's Cur' speech on australianscreen online
• Gough Whitlam's 'Kerr's Cur' speech was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia Registry in 2007