Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to acknowledge the remarkable life of Margaret Whitlam, who died surrounded by her family on Saturday at Sydney's St Vincent's Private Hospital. Margaret Whitlam has been praised for blazing a new trail for first ladies, however, my impression was that she never saw herself in that way. As Margaret told biographer Susan Mitchell during a 1987 interview, 'I just saw the role of the Prime Minister's wife as being human towards other humans and not treating them badly.'

I first met Gough and Margaret when I was the new federal member for Fremantle when they came to Perth for the annual John Curtin Memorial Lecture, and we had a lovely dinner afterwards organised by another great Labor personality the Hon. John Cowdell. Margaret was an incredible presence that evening. Comfortable in her own skin and listening to Gough talk in his usual expansive way about the Australian political universe, but also happy to let him know when she thought he had said enough and of course to offer her own opinions. Margaret Whitlam was not content to play the compliant, silent wife. As she put it, 'What am I to do? Stay in a cage wide open to view and say nothing? That's not on, but if I can do some good, I will certainly try.' It is telling to me that her response to being asked her view of the first lady's role was often to say, 'I'm still finding it.'

Even today, Margaret Whitlam's outspoken frankness, much like the prime ministerial legacy of her beloved husband, Gough, resonates with the Australian community. Margaret came from a relatively privileged background but from a young age she assumed a responsibility to help those less fortunate than herself and would become, in the Whitlam family's words, an outspoken advocate for women's rights, social issues and the arts. It was as Sydney University, where she studied for a degree in social work, that Margaret Dovey first met 'dreamy' Gough whom she recalled falling in love with in an instant. She represented Australian swimming at the 1938 Empire Games and practised social work at Parramatta District Hospital in Sydney's west.

She and Gough married in 1942 and their relationship remained one that was based on mutual love and deep respect. Gough Whitlam admired her wit and intellect, and she ensured that he remained grounded. Their relationship was described by the Whitlam family as a true political and personal partnership. The couple would have celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary on 22 April this year. The political partnership of Gough and Margaret was an extraordinary time in Australian political history. Just as Australia as a whole has benefited from the massive legal, social and cultural reforms brought in by the Whitlam government, so have Australian women been fortunate to have had such a feisty role model in Margaret Whitlam at the dawn of the modern women's liberation movement with the many important changes that have improved the lives of women. Margaret stood alongside the Whitlam Labor government when it made the broad, sweeping, modernising impacts that have changed our country in many ways, and for the better: the Family Law Act; the Racial Discrimination Act; the Sex Discrimination Act; the first federal legislation on human rights, environment and heritage; the Trade Practices Act; the Legal Aid Commission; Medibank; free university education; the Australian Film, Television and Radio School; the National Gallery of Australia; the Law Reform Commission; the Australia Council; the consumer affairs commission; and the Heritage Commission, among many, many other measures. I know that Margaret Whitlam, as a passionate advocate for social justice, equality for women and the arts, would have wholeheartedly approved of these changes and quite likely had an influence on at least some of them.

Later in life Margaret's contributions to the arts ranged from acting as the chair of the inaugural Australian opera conference to serving on boards of the Sydney Dance Company. Graeme Murphy, a leading Australian choreographer, referred to her as 'a beautiful lady'. In 1983 Margaret was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her extraordinary contribution and service and in 1997 she was made a National Living Treasure. Margaret Whitlam was a gutsy, passionate and warm-hearted woman who has been an inspiration to many Australians. She will be missed. Our thoughts are with Gough Whitlam and the rest of the Whitlam family at this time.

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