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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-30 Daily Xml
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Whitlam, Hon. E.G.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:24): I rise today to pay tribute to a great Australian Prime Minister, Edward Gough Whitlam, and the passing of the man universally referred to and immediately present in the mind and memory as 'Gough', a person of intellect, ambition, vision, fortitude and optimism.

Following 23 years of conservative government, Gough Whitlam's government held office for 1,071 days, from 5 December 1972 to 11 November 1975. In that time it changed our institutions, our laws and our view of ourselves and our place in the world. It created Medibank (which survives today as Medicare), funded the construction of community health centres and new hospitals—particularly in the burgeoning outer suburbs—and created much-needed new and increased social security services and benefits. It abolished tertiary education fees and expanded university funding, established the Schools Commission and granted state aid to independent schools—all on the basis that equality of access to education was fundamental to a civilised and inclusive society.

It returned the land to the Gurindji people, and who could forget the extraordinary moment when the prime minister poured that sand into Vincent Lingiari's hands? I have to say I am often reminded of that with Paul Kelly's song, From Little Things Big Things Grow. The Whitlam government also established the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee and the Aboriginal Loans Commission and Land Fund. It drafted the Land Rights Act. It prohibited discrimination against and funded legal services for Indigenous people. It established the Family Court and brought in no-fault divorce. It created and funded women's support services and organisations and made great progress in the struggle for equal pay for women.

It established the single mother's benefit (which later encompassed all single parents) and, on the basis that women were in charge of their own reproductive health, gave them access to the contraceptive pill by removing the sales tax that then applied. It ratified the World Heritage Convention, negotiated treaties to protect our ecosystems and the species that relied on them, and otherwise legislated to protect our unique environment. It also established the Australian Heritage Commission, the Australia Council for the Arts and the National Gallery. Increased support was provided for local actors, producers and filmmakers through new Australian content requirements.

The Whitlam government withdrew our men from Vietnam, ended conscription, and freed resisters. Australia's relations with Asia were recast in a positive and constructive way. It cleared away the remnants of the White Australia policy, promoted multiculturalism, and increased both support services for immigrants and foreign aid. It engaged with the United Nations and took a principled position on apartheid.

The government renewed suburbs and cities, their public transport and their sewerage systems. It also lowered the voting age, abolished the death penalty, enhanced human rights protection through legislation and international agreements, and established the Law Reform Commission and legal aid. Many of these achievements—these indicators of a confident and mature country with a forward-looking, innovative, inclusive and compassionate people—remain to some degree today, some more than others.

The reforms I have outlined say much about the measure of the man we remember today. In a way, Gough Whitlam represents both the catalyst for and the embodiment of a time of extraordinary change. Today, I pay tribute to the prime minister who changed the lives of so many people through education reform, many of whom were the first in their family to receive a tertiary education. The impact of this has been generational. Today, beneficiaries of the Whitlam government's free university education hold positions of leadership in our universities, our medical institutions, our parliament, educational institutions, businesses and boardrooms.

Thirty-nine years tomorrow—Gough Whitlam's last month in office—the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 was enacted. It is one of the most significant human rights protections in Australia. Gough was a man of vision of which our nation continues to benefit.

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