Gough Whitlam

Biography

Edward Gough Whitlam was born in Kew, Melbourne, in 1916, the son of a federal public servant who became Commonwealth Crown Solicitor, and spent his formative years in Canberra. He studied arts and then law at the University of Sydney. In the Second World War he served as a navigator in the Royal Australian Air Force, and he joined the Labor Party in 1945.

Elected for the Sydney seat of Werriwa at a 1952 by-election, he became deputy Labor leader in 1960 and leader in February 1967. He modernised the party's organisation and policies and led it to victory in December 1972, ending 23 years of conservative government.

His government moved quickly: it ended conscription and Australia's role in Vietnam, recognised the People's Republic of China, abolished university fees, introduced universal health insurance and advanced Aboriginal land rights. It was re-elected in 1974, but faced a hostile Senate, economic troubles and scandals such as the Gair Affair and the Loans Affair. When the Senate blocked supply in 1975, Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed him on 11 November, and Labor was heavily defeated at the election that December.

He led the opposition until after another defeat in 1977 and left parliament in 1978. He later served as ambassador to UNESCO from 1983, chaired the National Gallery of Australia and helped win the 2000 Olympics for Sydney. He died in Sydney in October 2014, aged 98.