"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.” ~Gough Whitlam (formally handed the Gurindji people at Wattie Creek in the Northern Territory title deeds to part of their traditional lands on August 16, 1975 -ABCNews)
Gough Whitlam, we remember you.Source: AIME, FB
RIP - 21 October 2014 at the age of 98
FAMOUS WORDS
"Conscription is an impediment to achieving the forces Australia needs. It is an alibi for failing to give proper conditions to regular soldiers. We will abolish conscription forthwith. By abolishing it, Australia will achieve a better army, a better-paid army – and a better, united society." ~Gough Whitlam speaks about abolishing conscription, one of the most divisive issues in Australian society during the 1960s and early 1970s. (ABC News)
"He is lofty, and I am eminent." ~Gough Whitlam compares himself to Malcolm Fraser in 1975. The pair later teamed up to join the republican movement in 1999. (ABC News)
"Hostility towards China distorted Australia's international affairs for 20 years until 1972, but reconciliation with China 30 years ago had produced a quarter century of constructive bipartisan relations with our region and the world, unmatched in Australian history." ~Gough Whitlam, speaking in 2002 about establishing diplomatic relations with China. At the time Mr Whitlam said "a generation of lost contact between our peoples has ended". (ABC News)
"I fly economy and I am a great man and I could fly economy for the rest of my life and I'd still be a great man. But most people around this table are pissants and they could fly first class for the rest of their lives and they'd still be pissants." ~Gough Whitlam
"I have more influence now than when I had the power." ~Gough Whitlam in 1997. (ABC News)
"I was profoundly embarrassed by it (the White Australia Policy) and did all I could to change it." ~Gough Whitlam quoted in Paul Kelly's 100 Years – The Australian Story published in 2001. (ABC News)
"My great objective as a parliamentarian was to dramatise the deficiencies and devise practical government programs to deal with them. It was a cause that went to the heart of our way of life." ~Gough Whitlam recalls his values as a parliamentarian. (ABC News)
"Poverty is a national waste as well as individual waste. We are all diminished when any of us are denied proper education. The nation is the poorer – a poorer economy, a poorer civilisation, because of this human and national waste." ~Gough Whitlam's 1969 election pitch for equal access to education. (ABC News)
"The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race." ~Gough Whitlam, writing in the London Daily Telegraph on October 19, 1989. (ABC News)
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BIO
Edward Gough Whitlam was Australia's 21st prime minister and a titan of the Australian Labor Party.
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