The
sub-title of Margaret and Gough (2014), the book, is The love story that shaped a nation. Hence this is primarily a love
story with political bits, rather than a political story with romantic bits.
Gough
Whitlam (1916-2014) was Australia’s 21st Prime Minister, from 1972
to 1975 as the leader of the Labor Party. He came to power after 23 years of a
Liberal-Country Coalition government. He was the only prime minister in history
to be dismissed by the Governor-General, the Queen’s representative in
Australia, after Whitlam called a double dissolution election in 1974 – he won
a majority of the House of Representatives but the Opposition controlled the
Senate which delayed appropriation bills in 1975. The Governor-General spectacularly
dissolved both Houses on 11 November 1975 which shocked the nation. Whitlam and
his government had been sacked.
Margaret
Whitlam (1919-2012) was Gough’s wife and First Lady. Born Margaret Dovey she
represented Australia at the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney (forerunner to
the Commonwealth Games) and worked in social welfare. Margaret and Gough
married in 1942.
It
was love at first sight. They were both tall, and it was their imposing stature
that they first noticed in each other - he was 194 centimetres (6’4”) and she
was 187 cms (6’1”). In addition they had a lot in common – and what they didn’t
was complementary. They were a perfect pair. But they had to wait to marry until
Gough returned from the war (World War II) where he served as a navigator in
the Royal Australian Air Force.
Tracing
their roots, and their early years, the book also covers their political years –
with him on the political trail and with her supporting him while raising four
children. Mitchell tells of Gough’s rise from the House of Representatives
(1953-1978) to deputy leader of the Opposition (1960-1967) and leader of the
Opposition (1967-1972) – it was a long political career until the election win
and his rise to Prime Minister in 1972.
He
was no ordinary Prime Minister – he was intellectual, visionary, and
well-spoken, but introverted, with the appearance of a ‘silvertail’ rather than
a working-class unionist. She was no ordinary First Lady – she was
intellectual, vocal, and active, with the ability to bring out the best in
people. Margaret was “an enormous help in stabilising and sustaining him. She
was calm and sensible. Her feet were always firmly planted on the ground.” She
was the one who kept him in touch with the feelings of the people – from the
suburbs, women, and marginalized.
He
was the only Prime Minister to grow up in the country’s capital, Canberra – the
home of Parliament. He was one of only two Prime Ministers whose lifetime
spanned the lives of all 25 Prime Ministers in Australia’s first century (John
Gorton was the other). His short government of three years introduced a record
number of Bills, and a record number enacted even though the Senate rejected 93
Bills (more than the total number rejected during the previous 71 years of
Parliament). He also added, for the first time in history, three women to his
Caucus. And he was Australia’s longest-lived Prime Minister.
In
all these facts, the fact remains that Margaret was always by Gough’s side, knitting
in the seats of Parliament, writing her own magazine column, promoting
charitable causes, and organizing diplomatic functions. “Even when she was
finally alone in bed with her husband, she had to share him and the bed with a
pile of red dispatch boxes which he worked his way through late at night and
early in the morning.” However, she never sidestepped political hot issues.
The
novel continues beyond the political years – and includes their time in Paris
when Gough was appointed Australian Ambassador to UNESCO (1983-1986), and back
in Australia when he was chair of the National Gallery of Australia Council
(1987-1990). She had plenty of work too.
They
both had long lives – he to 98 years and she to 92 years. This is a book of
their nearly 70 year relationship.
There
have been many books on Gough Whitlam, including his two memoirs – The Truth of the Matter (1979) and Abiding Interests (1997). There is one
on Margaret Whitlam by the same author, Susan Mitchell, called Margaret Whitlam: a biography (2006) –
and her two memoirs – My Day (1974)
and My Other World (2001). This book
is very much about their lives together, and therefore not focused on their
careers in detail. The book, released on 21 October 2014, concludes with
Margaret’s death – and does not cover Gough’s death on 21 October 2014 – this
year. The book starts well; the middle political years are interesting; and the
post-middle Paris years are intriguing, but it tails off in the twilight years.
Much like their lives, really. Overall it is not as erudite as either Margaret
or Gough (both of whom had a quick-witted command of vocabulary), which I think
is a pity. However, it is an easy read with some interesting insights on the
love story that shaped a nation.
MARTINA NICOLLS
SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, foreign aid audits and evaluations, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Comments
Post a Comment