Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the condolence motion before us today. I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Gough Whitlam's passing last Tuesday. Gough passed away in the early hours of the morning. As Senator Faulkner said this morning, on behalf of the Labor Party in the Senate, 'Honour the memory, celebrate the achievements and mourn the loss of Gough Whitlam.'

Despite his longevity and the fact that I never personally met Gough, I grieved—and continue to grieve—the passing of this amazing man—this Labor hero, this great reformer. And I remember, despite never having met Gough Whitlam, how he positively impacted my life and the lives of my children and my family.

Gough Whitlam's positive impact on my life was no accident. In his historic 1972 It's Time speech, he set out his agenda for Australia. He said:

… we are determined that the Australian people shall be restored to their rightful place in their own country—as participants and partners in government, as the owners and keepers of the national estate and the nation’s resources, as fair and equal sharers in the wealth and opportunities that this nation should offer in abundance to all its people.

Gough Whitlam said:

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.

And he said our choice was between the past and the future. He said, 'It's time for a new team, a new program, a new drive for equality of opportunities.'

The changes Gough Whitlam's Labor government implemented had a positive impact on my family and the families of thousands of Australians. Let me start with an early memory. When I was about 13, my mother divorced my father. This was before Gough's important reform to divorce laws, particularly the no-fault divorce provision. My mother worked full time as a teacher and had worked her way up to the position of assistant principal—a real achievement in the 1960s. But her marriage had failed and she wanted a divorce. Under the old laws my mother had to publicly name the reason her marriage had failed. She settled on adultery as the reason—it was, at the time, allegedly the easiest reason to file for divorce—despite the humiliation she felt, as divorce and the reason for the divorce were published in the newspaper for all to read.

I remember, when Gough brought in no fault divorce, the hue and cry from conservatives that marriage was doomed to fail as it was now too easy to get out of. I remember my mother and how ending her marriage was not an easy decision, made more difficult by the public naming of a reason.

My next memory is of my brother, a university student, who was deeply opposed to the Vietnam War and conscription to fill the ranks of those going to war. My brother Bill's number came up as part of the conscription lottery. He was required to report for duty but, instead, he became a draft resister. My brother participated, organised and led moratorium marches and continued protesting, all the while being pursued by the Commonwealth police. They knocked on our door and harassed my grandmother, looking him. Gough saved my brother from jail by ending conscription and withdrawing Australian troops from Vietnam.

The Vietnam War left a dark stain on Australia's involvement in foreign wars. It has taken decades for us as a nation to come to terms with this. It has left unhealed scars for enlisted and conscripted soldiers, and their families. Gough Whitlam set us on the right path when he ended conscription and withdrew our troops.

Gough established Medibank, the forerunner to Medicare and, while the parliament fought bitterly over universal health care, my family continued to struggle with healthcare costs. Thankfully, Gough's determination won but was short-lived.

Unfortunately, between the Whitlam and Hawke governments, I was a victim of Malcolm Fraser's decision to unwind Gough's universal healthcare scheme. In 1975, I had two very young children. We struggled as a family on a low wage—not low enough to be entitled to a healthcare card; just a few dollars a week above the cut-off—so we were forced to take out private health insurance to pay for our own health care. Not only was this a big burden on our meagre earnings; we had the cheapest cover, which meant our out-of-pocket expenses were greater. When my children were sick, we crowded out the emergency department of our local hospital. In my case, I put off medical procedures because of costs. In the years between Whitlam and Hawke, health costs left my family in debt.

On a positive note, I was a beneficiary—along with hundreds and thousands of Australian women—of Gough's reforms and gained access to higher education. Under these reforms, I was able to go to university as a young mature age student and graduate. I was able to not only increase my future earnings but be a role model to my family about the benefits of a university education. It was hard work—full-time study, part-time work—while juggling two primary school-age children. Looking at the reforms currently being proposed by the parliament and adding $100,000 of debt to my family would have been unthinkable. I simply could not have undertaken the university education that Gough's reforms enabled me to.

Many of Gough Whitlam's reforms brought about equality for women. In 1975 I voted for the first time, and my vote coincided with Gough's reform of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. My life is not special or unique; it is simply an illustration of all that Gough Whitlam achieved for ordinary Australians, especially women, and he did this in a very short period of time

The words of Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly's From Little Thing Big Things Grow evoke the wonderful and enduring image of Gough Whitlam pouring red dirt through the hands of Vincent Lingiari as the title deeds of Gurindji land were handed back to the Gurindji people.

Gough Whitlam was a giant among his peers, a Labor legend. Gough Whitlam, your legacy will always be remembered: you stood for your reforms and built a modern Australia.