Best gough whitlam biography of williams

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He began his formal schooling with kindergarten at Chatswood Church of England Girls’ School, followed by primary school at nearby Mowbray House School, and then Knox Grammar School (1925-27).

In 1927 Fred became assistant crown solicitor in the still embryonic Canberra, and his family joined him the following year.

Three days later he was sworn in as Australia’s twenty-first prime minister. There was neither a high school nor a hospital; major roads were unsealed; and the area was without sewerage. Whitlam’s planned countermeasures were parliamentary, involving securing a confidence vote in the House of Representatives and the passage of supply in the Senate, thereby returning to office with both the explicit confidence of the House and supply.

He and his sister, Freda, grew up in a secure, close family milieu of the law, books, and discussion of current affairs. To remain in Werriwa, the family relocated in 1957 to Albert Street, Cabramatta. In June 1978 he was appointed AC. On 31 July 1978 he resigned as member for Werriwa. He returned immediately to visit Darwin and oversee the initial relief and reconstruction effort.

He had been the Labor Party’s longest-serving leader. Calwell, a generation older than Whitlam, was an adherent of the White Australia policy which Whitlam abhorred, and an opponent of state aid for non-government schools. After graduating, Whitlam began his legal studies, while also co-editing and contributing to the Sydney University Law Society journal, Blackacre.

Gough Whitlam: His Time: The Biography Volume II. 2nd ed. The dismissal had shaken his core political beliefs, and he was a diminished figure as leader and in parliament.

Seeing the Fraser government dismantle some of his government’s key reforms, including Medibank, was particularly difficult for Whitlam. Although recognising communist China had been Labor policy since the 1950s, the visit was a bold move so close to an election.

‘It Was Unfolding Like a Greek Tragedy.’ Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2012, 4

  • National Archives of Australia. His interest in strengthening Australia’s relationship with Indonesia included favouring its eventual integration of the Portuguese colony of East Timor, provided this was through an internationally acceptable act of self-determination by the East Timorese people, a position that was incompatible with Indonesia’s forcible annexation in December 1975.

    Whitlam Institute Prime Ministerial Collection

  • Whitlam, E. G. The Whitlam Government 1972-1975. Making Modern Australia: Gough Whitlam's 21st Century Agenda. Clayton, Vic.: Monash University Publishing, 2017
  • Hocking, Jenny. He was a member of the State Bar Council (1949-53). Foreign ownership restrictions over mining and resource investment caused further strain with the mining sector and the Treasury.

    best gough whitlam biography of williams

    Pouring sand from his hands into those of the Gurindji elder and leader of the walk-off, Vincent Lingiari, Whitlam said 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’ (Whitlam 16 August 1975).