Margaret Whitlam

One of Australia's best-loved public figures tells the very personal story of her great love for travelling. Best known as a national treasure, Margaret Whitlam also happens to be a tour leader extraordinaire and has visited almost every corner of the globe, taking with her hundreds of travellers on group study tours. This is Margaret's story of people and places she encountered in her other world - travelling the Wine Road of Burgundy; walking through the ancient city of Macchu Picchu; sharing a meal with a friendly family in their Moscow home; going to the opera in Vienna, and a nightclub in Istanbul.

The Whitlams' wasn't just a love story - it was a dynamic and enduring partnership that shaped our nation. This is the compelling story of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, his wife Margaret and their 70-year relationship ? personal and political, private and public. It is a story of how two extraordinary people, side by side, led the Australian nation into an exciting and turbulent new era. Gough had no small talk, Margaret had the gift of easy conversation. He was often ill-at-ease in company and preferred his books. She was warm, inclusive and jollied him along. He had a vicious tongue and a quick temper. She always tried to see the best in people. He knew everything about the ideology, history and heroes of the Labor movement. She trusted her instincts. They saw each other as equals and never hesitated to express their different viewpoints. He may have passed the laws that changed the nation, but she made it possible. This is a story of love, respect, struggle, success, failure, disappointment and resilience. It was the strength and endurance of this remarkable relationship that helped change our nation politically, culturally and socially. Neither Gough nor Margaret would have developed into what each became without the influence of the other. Through every major political change, every election campaign, every triumph and every loss, they stood together. Margaret and Gough takes us inside a partnership where the political was always personal and the personal was always political. 'Mitchell succeeds in weaving together their lives against a backdrop of Gough's political career ... a fine dual biography' - The Australian 'This sweeping, slightly idealised overview of their love, with a bit of political history thrown into the mix, is a lesson in commitment' - Daily Telegraph 'Read about Gough the man who read romantic poems from Keats and Shelley to his new wife Margaret on their honeymoon in 1942' - Sunday Territorian

'I came to represent all the ungainly people, the too-tall ones, the too-fat ones and the housebound as I had been, who'd never get the chance to go to China or Buckingham Palace and experienced it all through me' - Margaret Whitlam Margaret Whitlam has been in the public eye for over forty years. As the controversial wife of a prime minister she is a household name and an Australian identity in her own right. Many people already feel as if they know her and they do, in a sense. However this biography reveals, for the first time, the private life behind the public events to which she was both a witness and a participant. Susan Mitchell first interviewed Margaret Whitlam for her book The Matriarchs, after which they became friends. Now, as a writer close to Margaret and her family, she reveals what lies behind the descriptions of 'icon' and 'national treasure'. She has been given access to Margaret's collection of private papers, press cuttings and diaries, and she shares insights from these as she documents Margaret's journey from a semi-detached in Bondi to the Lodge, from her husband's accession to Prime Minister to his dismissal, and all the full years beyond. We travel with Margaret as she grows from a schoolgirl to university student, social worker, wife, mother, political partner, First Lady and international tour leader. We observe the events and the relationships that shaped her, and the family that sustained her. We learn why she has become one of the most admired and beloved Australian women. This is an intimate biography of Margaret Whitlam - clear-eyed, unsentimental, witty and poignant. Susan Mitchell's wonderfully evoked personal portrait will move you to both tears and laughter.

This moment was not his alone, nor could it ever have come about without himaGough Whitlam turned to Graham Freudenberg, touched him lightly on the shoulder, saying, 'It's been a long road, Comrade, but we're there', and walked out to meet the spotlight... Acclaimed biographer Jenny Hocking's Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History is the first contemporary and definitive biographical study of the former Labor Prime Minister. From his childhood in the fledging city of Canberra to his first appearance as Prime Minister (playing Neville Chamberlain), to his extensive war service in the Pacific and marriage to Margaret, the champion swimmer and daughter of Justice Wilfred Dovey, the biography draws on previously unseen archival material, extensive interviews with family and colleagues, and exclusive interviews with Gough Whitlam himself. Hocking's narrative skill and scrupulous research reveals an extraordinary and complex man, whose life is, in every way, formed by the remarkable events of previous generations of his family, and who would, in turn, change Australian political and cultural developments in the twentieth century. Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History is a magnificent biography that illuminates the path that took one man to power.

The 1970s was a decade when matters previously considered private and personal became public and political. These shifts not only transformed Australian politics, they engendered far-reaching cultural and social changes. Feminists challenged ‘man-made’ norms and sought to recover lost histories of female achievement and cultural endeavour. They made films, picked up spanners and established printing presses. The notion that ‘the personal was political’ began to transform long-held ideas about masculinity and femininity, both in public and private life. In the spaces between official discourses and everyday experience, many sought to revolutionise the lives of Australian men and women. Everyday Revolutions brings together new research on the cultural and social impact of the feminist and sexual revolutions of the 1970s in Australia. Gay Liberation and Women’s Liberation movements erupted, challenging almost every aspect of Australian life. The pill became widely available and sexuality was both celebrated and flaunted. Campaigns to decriminalise abortion and homosexuality emerged across the country. Activists set up women’s refuges, rape crisis centres and counselling services. Governments responded to new demands for representation and rights, appointing women’s advisors and funding new services. Everyday Revolutions is unique in its focus not on the activist or legislative achievements of the women’s and gay and lesbian movements, but on their cultural and social dimensions. It is a diverse and rich collection of essays that reminds us that women’s and gay liberation were revolutionary movements.

What is the greatest, most precious, opportunity that life provides? It is not winning millions in a lottery. Money, fame, intelligence, beauty, a prestigious career, or mere existence will not simply provide us with a good life. We all have the potential to live well, to have a good life, but how can we do so? We can master complex subjects, attain advanced qualifications and demonstrate sound skills; we can become wealthy, and still make a mess of our lives. People can meet the accepted measures of success, yet still not live well. Gough Whitlam, Nelson Mandela, Pete Seeger, Luke Kelly and Ben of Kombi Life are used here to demonstrate the challenges and joyous rewards of living well. They inform, and teach us, that we can also live well when we cultivate awareness; altruism; wholeness of body, mind and spirit; resilience and persistence; passion; empathy; a sense of belonging; personal character; self-knowledge; and life-enhancing habits.

“We were a motley mob, we sans-culottes of Canberra …” In this vastly entertaining book, Mungo MacCallum captures the spirit of a nation-changing time. He portrays the Whitlam government’s key figures – from Gough and Margaret to Lionel Murphy, Bill Hayden and Jim Cairns – as well as “the other mob” in opposition – Billy McMahon, John Gorton, Malcolm Fraser and many more. The Whitlam Mob addresses some crucial questions: What was the night of the long prawns? Who was the playboy of the parliament? And who was “the toe-cutter”? This is Mungo at his best: vivid and barbed, nostalgic but always clear-eyed.

The world and its people are facing serious local and global challenges. Climate change, economic instability, limits to free speech, threats to independent media reporting, and increasing social inequality all signal the breakdown of democratic systems across the world. Our political institutions and leaders are failing us with increasingly conservative policies that favour big business. Far-right political movements gain ascendency and move whole nations towards fascism while American hostility to China threatens global security and economic prosperity. Yet we learn and grow most when we are challenged by difference and adversity: when we are out of our comfort zones. Such experiences offer turning points for change. I’ve had many such turning points throughout my career and have become more radical as I've grown older. In 1999 I published my autobiography, Things You Learn Along the Way. This new collection continues with personal accounts and my views on issues that remain of concern to me. It comprises posts I wrote for Pearls and Irritations along with several speeches, interviews and articles I’ve written over the past 14 years. I hope these accounts continue to prompt readers to think, question and act for a more just Australia and world.

Gough Whitlam, Australia's twenty-first prime minister, swept to power in December 1972, ending twenty-three years of conservative rule. In barely three years Whitlam's dramatic reform agenda would transform Australia. It was an ascendancy bitterly resented by some, never accepted by others, and ended with dismissal by the Governor-General just three years later—an outcome that polarised debate and left many believing the full story had not been told. In this much-anticipated second volume of her biography of Gough Whitlam, Jenny Hocking has used previously unearthed archival material and extensive interviews with Gough Whitlam, his family, colleagues and foes, to bring the key players in these dramatic events to life. The identity of the mysterious 'third man', who counselled the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, in his decision to sack the twice-elected Whitlam government and appoint Malcolm Fraser as prime minister is confirmed here by Kerr himself, as the High Court justice Sir Anthony Mason, and the full story of his involvement is now revealed for the first time. From Kerr's private papers Hocking details months of secret meetings and conversations between Kerr and Mason in the lead-up to the dismissal, that had remained hidden for over thirty-seven years. In response to these revelations Sir Anthony Mason released an extensive public statement, acknowledging his role and disclosing additional information that is fully explored in this new edition. This definitive biography takes us behind the political intrigue to reveal a devastated Whitlam and his personal struggle in the aftermath of the dismissal, the unfulfilled years that followed and his eventual political renewal as Australia's ambassador to UNESCO. It also tells, through the highs and the lows of his decades of public life, how Whitlam depended absolutely on the steadfast support of the love of his life, his wife, Margaret. For this is also the story of a remarkable marriage and an enduring partnership. The truth of this tumultuous period in Australia's history is finally revealed in Gough Whitlam: His Time