Gough Whitlam, former Australian PM, dies at 98

[bilby]

A sad day for Australia.

Gough was Prime Minister from 5 December 1972 until his controversial dismissal by the Governor General, John Kerr, on 11 November 1975.

He was responsible for a huge number of important changes to Australian life, despite only being PM for 3 years.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/gough-whitlam-dead-martyr-for-a-moment-hero-for-a-lifetime-20141021-11931j.html

"With all my reservations," Gough Whitlam said on his 80th birthday, "I do admit I seem eternal." He warned, however: "Dying will happen sometime. As you know, I plan for the ages, not just for this life." Whitlam defied these intimations of mortality for another 18 years before dying happened. What were his plans for the next age, his afterlife? "You can be sure of one thing," he said of a possible meeting with his maker, "I shall treat Him as an equal."

He made people laugh, a rare quality in politicians. His wit endured. When a carer asked him, at 97, if he had four children, he replied: "So far."

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

On being repeatedly pestered by a punter on the campaign trail wanting to know Whitlam’s stance on abortion, he replied “Let me make quite clear that I am for abortion and, in your case Sir, we should make it retrospective.”

"When Sir Winton Turnbull (a Victorian MHR) was raving and ranting on the adjournment and shouted 'I am a Country member', I interjected 'I remember'. He 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."

A great man. He will be missed.

 

[DBT]

Sad, he was a decent human being. A shame that things went the way they did with the GG. So long, Gough Whitlam.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Sad, he was a decent human being. A shame that things went the way they did with the GG. So long, Gough Whitlam.

Yeah. Some politicians just make things difficult and jostle for power. He made things better.

He was also the first politician I caught out in the breaking of an election promise. My idealistic young self was devastated. Little did I know the flaws I would learn to forgive.

I'm sorry to hear this, but he can rest on his laurels.

 

[gmbteach]

He is the first politician I can remember my parents talking about, and one of the few I actually remembered before starting high school.

He will be missed.