Gough Whitlam's life after politics
Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has passed away at the age of 98. We take a look back at his life after the end of his political career.
Whitlam stayed on as Labor leader until the 1977 election, another heavy defeat. The magic was never recaptured.
Yet there was still a long, rich life ahead and he finally became Australia’s longest lived prime minister.
Whitlam wrote extensively into his 80s, including a book about Italy, a great love.
Academic and national honours were showered on him. There were visiting professorships and seats on boards and councils, usually involving foreign relations.
The Hawke government sent him to Paris as ambassador to UNESCO. For Whitlam, this was a delicious symmetry, for Fraser had earlier offered the post to Kerr, then withdrawn it after a public outcry.
Whitlam never forgave Kerr. But in later years he and Fraser made common cause on issues as diverse as the republic, Aboriginal reconciliation and media ownership.
He remained a great Labor hero, who could always command a rapturous reception. He never stopped giving advice, even if it didn’t always work out. His last protege was Mark Latham.
In 2007 he and Margaret became the first national life members of the ALP, an honour previously bestowed only at the state level.
Yet East Timor haunted him and in 2007 the 90-year-old had to give evidence at an inquest into the killing of five Australian newsmen at Balibo in 1975.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Whitlam’s achievements were mixed.
He reformed Labor and showed it could be a party of government. He changed it from a party of working class struggle to one for the middle class. He understood the importance of the suburbs.
By the breadth of his interests - particularly in the arts and cultural diversity - he made Australia a richer place.
Future Labor governments benefited from Whitlam’s achievements while learning from his mistakes.
They understood the importance of discipline and the centrality of economic management.
Menzies before and Fraser, Hawke and John Howard after all ruled for much longer.
But none so personally defined his era through the excitement and theatre he brought to politics, or through the power of his presence and the potency of his ideas.
He led Labor to its first victory in 23 years at the December 1972 election on the back of the famous “It’s Time” campaign.
He was sensationally sacked on November 11, 1975 by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.
Mr Whitlam's family say there will be a private cremation and a public memorial service.
His children Antony, Nicholas, Stephen and Catherine issued a statement about their father’s death on Tuesday.
“Our father, Gough Whitlam, has died this morning at the age of 98. A loving and generous father, he was a source of inspiration to us and our families and for millions of Australians,” his children said in a statement.
There will be a private cremation and a public memorial service.
His wife Margaret died in March 2012.
