John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on a matter of public interest—I could say ‘a milestone’ of public interest. Tomorrow, 22 March 2007, Gough Whitlam becomes the longest-lived of all Australia’s elected prime ministers. Tomorrow Gough will be 90 years, eight months and 11 days old. It will be more than 54 years since he was first elected to parliament in November 1952. It will be more than 34 years since he became Prime Minister on 2 December 1972. And it will be more than 27 years since he retired from parliament on 31 July 1978.

He surpasses John Gorton, previous holder of the record for prime ministerial longevity, having already passed Billy Hughes, Joseph Cook, Stanley Bruce and Robert Menzies. Only one other Prime Minister has lived longer: Frank Forde, who of course also has the distinction of the shortest term as Prime Minister. Never elected by either public or party room, Forde was Prime Minister for only seven days after John Curtin’s death. Perhaps the brevity of the experience contributed to his longevity. Frank Forde reached the age of 92. I am sure we all hope Gough Whitlam will surpass his innings as well.

This milestone of longevity is an opportunity to reflect on Gough Whitlam’s lifelong commitment to Australia’s public life, but his remarkable longevity is hardly the greatest of Gough’s achievements. The quality of his contribution far outweighs the extent of his endurance. His life has been one of public service and dedication, not only during his decades in parliament but also before his election and after his retirement. Throughout it all, he has been committed to consistent principles. As Gough himself said, launching Labor’s campaign in 1972, when describing Labor’s program:

Our program has three great aims. They are:

• to promote equality
• to involve the people of Australia in the decision-making processes of our land
• and to liberate the talents and uplift the horizons of the Australian people.

Those great aims were Whitlam’s aims from the early days of his political involvement. He has always believed in the role and responsibility of the national government guiding the nation to achieve those goals.

From his first political involvement as a young RAAF navigator in WWII, eager to see Curtin’s Labor government granted wider postwar reconstruction powers, Gough Whitlam has believed in the principle that concrete improvements can be secured for the Australian people through legislative and constitutional reform. To that end Gough has devoted more than six decades of his life. As a parliamentarian and backbencher he used the parliamentary committee system to explore the potential of constitutional reforms, including fixed parliamentary terms—a cause he continues to fight for today. As a Labor activist he pursued party reforms to make the party a viable alternative government, and policy reforms to make Labor’s platform one that truly met the needs of modern Australia.

As Prime Minister, well, the list of the Whitlam government’s legislative reforms is familiar to all of us: replacing Australia’s adversarial divorce laws with a new, no-fault system; improving the position of women and our Indigenous population; introducing the Trade Practices Act; slashing tariff barriers; ending conscription; introducing Medibank, the precursor to Medicare; and education reforms like needs based funding for schools and free university education; not to mention foreign policy achievements such as establishing diplomatic and trade relations with the People’s Republic of China.

After retiring from parliament Gough Whitlam continued to devote his life to public service, serving as Australian Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, chairing the General Assembly of the World Heritage Convention in 1989, serving on Australia’s Constitutional Commission, and chairing the Australia-China Council. In 1999 he campaigned for the republic referendum—another stage in Gough’s lifelong commitment to involving the Australian people in the decision-making processes of the land and for constitutional reforms to improve our democracy.

Politics is no profession for the easily frustrated. More than his endurance, Gough Whitlam’s persistence commands our respect. As a successful young barrister, Whitlam did not seek a political career as the easiest way to make a buck, nor did he pick a political party on the basis of a swift path to the front benches of government or use his public career to enrich himself in private retirement. Gough chose the party that best represented his belief in the reforming power of government, the power of good government to transform people’s lives for the better. He worked hard to be preselected to contest the seat of Werriwa for the Australian Labor Party. He put in 30 years of tireless effort on the tough ground of opposition. And, after his parliamentary career ended, he has kept on working steadily for the causes he believes in.

When others might have become discouraged, or disillusioned, or simply felt that they had given enough of themselves, their time and their energy, Gough has remained indefatigable, irrepressible and unflagging. For more than six decades in politics, Gough Whitlam has aimed at targets higher than personal success or vindication. His energy and enthusiasm, combined with the continuing powerful relevance of his goals, have made him a hero to many Australians and a towering figure in Australia’s political landscape. He has never ceased to strive to ‘promote equality, to involve the people of Australia in the decision-making processes of our land and to liberate the talents and uplift the horizons of the Australian people’.

Achieving this record of longevity—the longest-lived elected Australian Prime Minister—is a cause for congratulation. But the fact that Gough Whitlam’s long life has been one of such unflagging public service is a cause for appreciation. So today I not only wish to congratulate Gough on reaching this milestone but also wish to thank him, as I am sure many Australians also would, for his achievements, his persistence and his dedication.