Whitlam

A biography of Edward Gough Whitlam in his three years as Prime Minister of Australia, from 1972 until 1975. The program discusses Whitlam’s government and its achievements in Australian society by supporting an independent cultural identity, challenging economic and social inequalities, and attacking the racism of white Australia as well as the failures which eventually led to his dismissal. In its examination of Whitlam’s life, his early political influences and his ascendancy to leadership of a then moribund Labor Party this documentary contemplates both the successes and failures of the government he led to power. In 1975 Whitlam was ousted from government and replaced by Malcolm Fraser at the Governor General’s direction, an unprecedented event in Australian political history. The events of 1975 have had a permanent impact on Australian political processes but Whitlam’s reputation as one of Australia’s visionary politicians, successful or otherwise, has been maintained.