22.10.14 Letter to the Editor With the loss of the last truly Labor Prime Minister the Hon E.G.Whitlam AC QC, Australia has lost a man of integrity and of great vision of how Australia could have been, an independent nation relying on no other, it was a vision for the many, not for the few. Of course the conservative forces in Australia could not stand by and see a democratically elected government bring change that would benefit all Australians. The great man that Gough Whitlam was based his life on egalitarianism, fairness for all not just the few. Those of us who were privileged enough to meet the man could not help but be impressed by him. He was well read on most subjects and showed by actual demonstration how the LNP policies discriminated against the many and gave to the few. He saw families such as mine where a child got sick and the extreme financial pressure that it put on the family to take the child to see a GP and sought to change that. Now we have the conservatives trying their best to reimpose a co-payment into the universal health system that Mr. Whitlam introduced He saw families with bright children who could have attended university but for the financial position of the family, being low to middle income, and he sought to change that. Now the conservatives are trying their best to reimpose $100,000 university fees to keep the talented children of working class families out of the higher education sector once again. He saw the inequality of life if you happened to be born Aboriginal in Australia, and he recognized the immense connection between Aboriginal people and their land, and initiated Aboriginal Land Rights, as a way to begin changing that situation, of course the LNP opposed all Mr. Whitlam’s policies and this was no exception. Before 1972 a woman who was being bashed by her husband and sought a divorce had to present to a court of law the reasons for her wanting a divorce, PM Whitlam thought that very unfair and bought in “no fault divorce” until this time women were viewed as a man’s goods and chattels a deplorable situation. The Hon E.G.Whitlam was a courageous warrior for beneficial change for the Australian public; he also introduced the system of “legal aid” unheard of pre 1972. This is in part why he is known as a giant of Australian politics, he was the last true Labor Prime Minister, and following his tenure in government the Labor Party lurched to the right, away from the people that it once had great visions of representing and serving. The ALP remains much of an empty shell to this day, with policies more suited to LNP governments past than the courageous Whitlam government who wanted to “buy back the farm” and keep Australia independently prosperous. Vale the Honourable Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC. Regards,
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 01:14:45 +0000
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