Gough Whitlam Contribution

“Maintain your rage and enthusiasm.” (20th Anniversary: Maintain your Rage, 2014) This was the simple yet heavily implicating request left by Edward Gough Whitlam as he expounded his controversial dismissal from his position as Prime Minister of Australia. Born on 11th of July, 1916, Whitlam, who was a member of the Australian Labour Party, was known as “a force to be reckoned with” (40th Anniversary Of The 1974 Joint Sitting Of Parliament, 2014) and was a crucial figure in developing many Government schemes regarding the environment, heritage and federal legislation on human rights. He had created himself a legacy which lived on throughout the late years of his life and, although he passed away October 2014, his contributions will be imprinted
His contributions can arguably outweigh the offerings of any other Prime Minister in Australian history. In the first year of his term (1973) he addressed civil rights issues regarding Australia’s indigenous population, and reopened an embassy in Peking, recommencing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. Gough had noticed that various defence department could be merged into a single agency so he took the time to neaten that up. In the same year he opened a national gallery in Canberra, organised the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 and established the Australian Development Assistance
Today we still see his policies in effect. His successors in government not only admire and aim to be like him, but have often followed through with his work or have modelled their proposals off of his. In particular, the Fraser government continued with Whitlam’s reforms and modelled the National Aboriginal Conference from his National Aboriginal Consultative Counsel. On 11th of July, 2014, the Hon. John Faulkner said:”Tomorrow, 11 July, marks Gough’s 98th birthday, a time to celebrate his longevity, his resilience and his extraordinary contribution to this nation.” (In Memoriam, 2014) This clearly tells us that even long after his work in government his legacy lives on. His policies regarding civil rights have given individuals the chance to reclaim land and have a say, his toil helped to set up life-saving systems such as Medicare and his dismissal is still one of the most controversial and talked-about topics in Australia. Whitlam is a hero and a role-model and he will hold a significance that isn’t going to dwindle for a long