Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion of condolence moved by the leader of the government this morning. Today the Senate honours former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam AC, QC, Australia's 21st Prime Minister. Today, we will honour his accomplishments and the impact that he had on Australia. His legacy to Australian politics is remarkable.

I was moved to rise to make some comments today as Gough Whitlam is my very first political memory. In 1975 when I was 10 years of age, he made an indelible impression on me; so much so that in 1975, when we were having a family holiday up on the North Coast and were driving from Sydney to the North Coast, I did impressions of Gough Whitlam almost the entire way. I have been counselled by my staff not to do it again now 40 years later, but my memory serves me that was actually pretty good at it. Perhaps for Senator Faulkner I might give a private showing later, because he undoubtedly would be the one able to judge my impression at the time! That was interspersed with me quoting Grover from Sesame Street. I figure they both have their place in history. Certainly it was an extraordinary time in this nation's history.

The leader said this morning that today was one where we could part with partisan differences and acknowledge the good in political opponents. That is very much the case. As Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam made his mark on the policy arena with sweeping reforms, notably in health and education and, as has been mentioned, changing the national anthem.

Today as a National I want to make mention of what the former Prime Minister did for rural and regional Australia. I refer to a speech that the former Prime Minister made on Monday, 14 January 1974. He said: 'The Australian government, as any government must, recognises the vital importance of our rural areas for the whole nation.' While the National Party rarely agrees with the political philosophy of the Labor Party, I could not agree more with this statement—as a farmer, someone who lives in a rural and regional area and who also represents those areas as a member of parliament.

Gough Whitlam had a vision of decentralisation. He implemented policies to focus on regional towns. The Whitlam government argued that positive, direct intervention would help stimulate social and economic development in rural regions and established the Department of Urban and Regional Development in 1972. In 1974 to 1975 the Commonwealth began to provide general revenue assistance to local governments, which provided assistance to local government to promote equality among regions and to ensure adequate services and the development of resources at local and regional levels.

Financial-assistance revenue was disbursed through Regional Organisation Councils, which were greatly expanded to a total of 76, backed by a small administrative grant. These ROCs were designed to promote interaction between local authorities and help minimise spatial economic and social inequities across regions through direct participation by better funded local government. It certainly does sound familiar.

The Regional Councils for social development, a part of the Australia Assistance Plan, were charged with distilling complex ideas of social need, social welfare and social development at a local level. Run by volunteer management committees, the RCSDs were to function as a cooperative forum for statutory and voluntary agencies. They were established with a mandate to relate to other regional planning bodies, evaluate and monitor social needs, devise plans for welfare-service provision, advise and assist local government and non-governmental bodies and advise the Commonwealth government on the development of services and the allocation of grants and subsidies in the region. Grants were provided to fund basic infrastructure costs and equipment for local voluntary organisations.

The Growth Centres Program was developed by the Department of Urban and Regional Development. The GCP was designed to facilitate decentralisation of selected centres by encouraging migration with improved services across a range of areas. Four regional growth centres were established: Albury-Wodonga, in New South Wales-Victoria; Bathurst-Orange, in New South Wales; Macarthur near Sydney, in New South Wales; and Monarto, in South Australia.

Former Prime Minister Whitlam also reformed concessions and subsidies to the farm sector in the 1973 budget. It did strike me, as I was reading through some of the speeches of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, that some things do not change very much when successive governments are dealing with issues in the rural sector. I quote, also from the 1974 speech:

One industry of concern to the people of this area the dairy industry—

He was in the North Coast of New South Wales at the time—

has faced continuing problems. I am aware that our decision to phase out the dairy bounty has aroused criticism among dairying interests.

He goes on to say:

In our view the dairy bounty had ceased to be purposeful. Despite the outlay of $770 m. over the years the bounty had not contributed to solving the industry's major problem that of adjusting farm production to realistic local and overseas market demand.

Some of the things the Prime Minister was dealing with at the time we are still dealing with today.

Gough Whitlam pushed the policy boundary and dared to make tough decisions that were sometimes unpopular, but he had the strength and tenacity to see it through. Senator Cameron has just made some comments about the importance of values in this place.

With all of former Prime Minister Whitlam's achievements in the political and policy arena we should also recognise his wife, Margaret Whitlam. Margaret and Gough were a team. She was a true political wife in that it seems she was just as interested in politics as her husband. She was outspoken about her role as a prime ministerial wife and she wrote apparently, in her diary, in December 1972: 'What am I meant to do?—stay in a cage, wide open to view, of course, and say nothing? That's not on, but if I can do some good I'll certainly try.' It points to the political team that Gough and Margaret Whitlam were and which has been commented on already in this place.

She was continuously by his side, travelling with Gough to China, Japan, India, North America and Europe. I did like the fact that Gough Whitlam often referred to her, apparently, as his 'tower of strength'. On their 30th wedding anniversary he was quoted as saying, 'Of course, my 25 years as member for Werriwa and three years as Prime Minister were flashes compared to the long, warm glow of the other significant anniversary I celebrated this year: 60 years with Margaret Elaine Dovey.' It really is important to mention that. In this place, it is about the support we have from family, and the support we have from friends, that allows any one of us—in either this place or the other place—to do our jobs of representing the people of Australia.

Gough Whitlam was committed to Australia; he was committed to the prosperity of this nation and Australia will recognise his contribution. One thing did strike me though when I was talking to a friend of mine, the other day, who used to be a flight attendant. Sometimes these small stories really give you the measure of a person. She was apparently working on a flight one day when Gough Whitlam was at the front of the plane. It was terribly busy and she was madly getting everybody's lunch organised. She finished doing that and he turned and said to her, 'When are you having your lunch?' She said, 'Actually, I've finally finished all of that. I'm going to have it now.' He said, 'You sit down and I'll get it for you.' Apparently he went up into the galley and organised lunch for her. In recognition of him, that, clearly, was a mark of the type of man he was.

He was our 21st Prime Minister, and when many prime ministers fade from our memories, I doubt very much that Gough Whitlam ever will. Australia mourns his passing, and our condolences go out to his family—in particular, his children Nicholas, Tony, Stephen and Catherine. Gough Whitlam AC, QC was truly a great Australian.