Gough whitlam biography imdb 2016

NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: This was Australia in the 1970s. A time when flowers and flares were fashion and society was changing quickly. It was also the time when this man, Edward Gough Whitlam, asked Australians to make him the leader of the country.

In 1972 he was successful and once in office he started changing things.

One of the things he thought was really important was education, so he scrapped uni fees.

The palace letters: the queen, the governor-general, and the plot to dismiss gough whitlam

That meant that more Aussies could go on to higher education and be whatever they wanted to be. Gough also wanted Aussies to have free medical care. So he came up with the free national healthcare system we now know as Medicare.

Aboriginal land rights were another issue Gough tackled as PM. He was the first leader to hand back land to its original owners.

GOUGH WHITLAM: I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof in Australian law that these lands belong to the Gurindji people.

He also ended Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and brought an end to conscription