Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC
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Our guest today was Prime Minister from December 1972 to November 1975. Born in Melbourne, he attended the University of Sydney and was a flight-lieutenant navigator in the Pacific War. He was admitted to the New South Wales bar in 1947.
When he became Prime Minister in 1972, he abolished conscription, withdrew the remaining Australian troops from Vietnam, banned sporting teams from South Africa, changed Australia's voting on South African questions in the UN and negotiated diplomatic relations with China.
His government established the Australia Council, the Australian National Gallery and the Film Commission. It abolished tertiary fees, introduced welfare payments for single parent families and reduced the voting age to 18 years.
He resigned from parliament in 1978 to pursue an academic career and became the first National Fellow at ANU.
Since then, amongst his many appointments he has been a visiting Professor at Harvard, Australian Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris and an honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
He is the author of three books, The Truth of the Matter, The Whitlam Government 1972-1975, and Abiding Interests, which covers his activities at home and abroad after Parliament.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome…… Mr Gough Whitlam
