Tuesday, October 21, 2014

THE WHITLAMS : A DYNAMIC DUO

At  the  historic handing over  of  the  land to the Gurindji, PM Gough Whitlam is  seen toasting   the  event    with   champers, the  bottle  supplied  by  this  blog's  esteemed   comrade  and  continual source  of   news  items,  background  information and photographs  , Rob Wesley-Smith , of  Darwin . Vincent  Lingiari  watches  on . In  an emotional tribute  the  day of  Gough's death, Lingiari 's grandson  said  Whitlam  was a great man  and  also  attached that  description  to  Malcolm  Fraser  because of  the things they   had  done for Aboriginal  Australians . Soil ,  he  said,  would be taken  from  the  Northern Territory   and  given to the  Whitlam  family   for  use  in  the  state  funeral .
Mrs Margaret Whitlam , deeply involved  in the Australian community , advised and  at times pulled Gough into line. In  tributes  which   poured in  after  the announcement  of Gough's death, a  woman calling the  ABC said  Mrs Whitlam  had played an important part  in her husband's  reign  as  PM  and had not just been " a  handbag". Indeed .   Another   caller  told  how she , a  migrant  in  Australia,  had  been a  passenger aboard  a  plane  flying to  Perth when  the pilot  announced that  Gough Whitlam   had  won  the  1972   election,  causing  everybody   to   cheer  and  celebrate . They  were  great  days  for  the  nation...Peter Simon.