When Nat Young met Gough Whitlam
In May 1974 Nat Young surfed in the Coca-Cola Surfabout, the finals of which were held in small waves at North Narrabeen. Michael Peterson came first, Ian Cairns second, while Nat came third. The Surfabout was Nat's professional swansong. Dispirited by the influence of money and commerce Nat turned his back on contest surfing, not to return until the mid-1980s
This extract is taken from Nat's highly recommended autobiography 'Nat's Nat and That's That'.
"I had one last laugh at the presentations, held at some swanky restaurant in Sydney. When they gave me the cheque for $600 I made my acceptance speech thanking everyone involved and finished by saying I was donating my winnings to the Labor Party's re-election campaign. The surfers all went wild and all the executives of Coke went the same color as their cans, all, that is, except for their general manager who quickly chimed in with "That speech was written, authorised and spoken by Nat Young on behalf of the Australian Labor Party". Everyone cracked up and the the organisers of the contest breathed a sigh of relief. I was absolutely dead serious though. The Liberals had been in power for 23 years prior to Whitlam's election victory in 1972 and I was worried that the Liberals were going to get back in. I felt I had to do my bit, conscription was on the cards again and I already knew some heavy hitters in the Australian Labor Party through my position over sand mining on the north coast beaches. I called one of Whitlam's secretaries explaining my position, and he arranged a meeting with the Prime Minister when he was next available.
When I went to the Prime Minister's Sydney office, the first thing the secretary did was give me back my cheque, explaining that I was doing enough by voicing my feelings about the ALP and its policies. I was then introduced to Gough Whitlam and in the 15 minutes before his next meeting we talked about a wide range of issues. The man had such a presence - it wasn't so much that he was tall and obviously strong, more that he was powerful but gentle. I'd never met anyone like him and melted like butter as I sat listening to his soft distinctive voice. I was already impressed by his vision for Australia but after that meeting I was sold completely. At the heart of Gough's beliefs was a fair go for all Australians including the Aboriginals, but he also cared about the arts and saw the need to balance the demands of industry against caring for the environment, and of course he'd already abolished conscription. I loved what I was hearing, it was music to my ears and I just knew he deserved longer than the two years he'd been in office; the effects of his changes were only just beginning to be felt in the community.
Gough Whitlam invited me to speak at an ALP rally at the Opera House along with other prominent Australians: Patrick White, Mike Wenden, Kate Fitzpatrick, and many others. When they showed me to my seat I was actually seated next to the great man in the front row centre stage. My friend Terry Purcell and I had written my speech the night before over dinner and a bottle or two of old Hunter red at Terry's house at Whale Beach. All I could really do was give a naive surfer's slant to the same points I'd talked about in Gough's office; halfway through my speech I lost my place but I tried not to stumble too obviously and finished by asking the people of Australia to vote the ALP back into office because they required more than two years to make the dreams of all of us to become a reality. I was sure I was voicing the feelings of a lot of young people and Labor was swept back in until the Liberals got Gough Whitlam out of office using the powers of the Governor-General to force an election, which I regarded then - and still do now - as the lowest trick in the book."
Taken from Nat's autobiography 'Nat's Nat and that's that.' Swellnet considers it highly recommended reading.
Comments
So, Gough was probably the first mainstream politician to recognise surfers as people worth listening to - a very unusual approach at the time. He also ended conscription and Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. Whitlam had a vision for the country that had nothing to do with England or the US, and in his short years in power as PM he basically changed so much about this country - access to tertiary education, Medibank, Aboriginal rights and so on. We all owe him...
Gough was a giant of a man and a policy driven politican. Enough said.
I had the pleasure to meet Gough Whitlam many years ago and everything Nat says about him was true. He was huge man and an imposing figure but with a gentle, kind voice and a rapacious wit. The sort of bloke that you can't help but smile with and hang on every word. He was so kind, even to a lowly prol like me.
Vale.
If Gough was a titan of Australian politics, then it's interesting to compare his public legacy to that of the titan of British politics - Maggie Thatcher.
Very different public reactions to their deaths.
Very different legacy, I'm a child of thatchers Britain, it wasn't pretty. The 'witch is dead' stuff went too far but she neglected huge swathes of the UK in what many think was punishment for the miners strikes. Like my area of the north east those communities who lost their mining and industry never really recovered, there wasn't a plan B, that's her legacy.
To Gough…you developed some great policies for Aus - health care (a big one), started the road to reconcile with the indigenous peoples. Unfortunate he slipped and depended on his fellow ministers which caused the unique political crisis in 75. We need more Labor leaders like Goughy. You can imagine that all were saying 'Its Time' - we needed a change and we got it.
Gough wanted a fairer country with more opportunity for all and Maggie stood for exactly the opposite and ruined the lives of millions to pursue her policies. Australia is enormously blessed we had Gough and then Hawke/keating at times of great global change.
In America under Reagan and England under Thatcher there were millions left behind on the scrap heap.
Very good and balanced article about Gough by Mungo Macallum here.
Thank Gough for Triple J! ..
"During his final few months of office, the iconic Labor PM – who died this morning, aged 98 – set up triple j precursor Double J in 1975 as a means of wooing young voters, but also with the view of setting up a National Youth Radio Network. He was controversially sacked before he could achieve that dream, but Double J – which later rebranded as triple j and has now been rebirthed as a 24-hour digital station – is one of his most enduring achievements."
"In 1974, Gough Whitlam abolished university fees for all Australians. In 2014, Tony Abbott abolished university fees for his daughter."
hahahaha
It's time...again!
Maintain the rage & enthusiasm!
Yep …Its Time for Labor to get its act together. Lets hope there is someone in party who has what Gough / Hawke had.
Actually, here are a few items linked to Gough and the dismissal for your perusal. I highly recommend the entirety of Kwitny's THE CRIMES OF PATRIOTS -- A TRUE TALE OF DOPE, DIRTY MONEY, AND THE CIA. I have included chapter nine here, though it is all available online.
http://www.american-buddha.com/lit.crimesofpatriots.9.htm
Christopher Boyce's view...still! (google 'falcon and the snowman' too)
John Pilger's 'too sense' worth.
http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-forgotten-coup-and-how-the-godfather-...
"...we needed a change and we got it." (tonybarber)
3 years later......
"on election night, 13 December 1975, the Coalition won the largest majority government in Australian history, winning 91 seats to Labor's 36."
Did the electorate not like the "change" once they got it? (Happy to hear personal perspectives. I was too young to vote and not interested in politics at the time).
"...Its Time for Labor to get its act together. Lets hope there is someone in party who has what Gough had." (tonybarber)
After the December 1977 elections, "the meaning and the message were unmistakable. It was the Australian people's rejection of Edward Gough Whitlam."
(Graham Freudenberg (2009), A Certain Grandeur: Gough Whitlam's Life in Politics)
Why is there this nostalgic longing for a politician that was unequivocally rejected by the Australian public TWICE before?
Because he had a vision that extended further than the next election. And hindsight shows him to be the politician that's had the greatest positive effect on the country.
That's why.
@dellabeach...you may heard that Gough and his government tried to do 'too much too soon'. That was partially true but one big slip was the Khemlani loans affair. If Gough wanted to implement his policies then he needed money - free education, free health care, etc. he needed money and that's where an Arab, Khemlani, came into play. It was basically a shonky deal. There were other controversies - Morosi affair, etc.
The public said NO when the Gov General forced an election. Then Hawke followed, later and introduced HECS to pay for 'free' education.
Sounds a bit familiar to our recent Labor government - history repeats heh !
Gough was a great speaker, imposing character and did introduce some great policies - albeit with adjustments.
If this is true, it reveals a major flaw in how our society is structured. Given that, in hindsight, the people twice rejected what some now argue to be the politician that's had the greatest positive effect on the country, are democratic elections the best way to ensure the best outcome for this country? Should the leadership be decided by a panel of experts rather than an uneducated mob? What can we learn from how this played out?
Great question DB...as Churchill said" democracy is a terrible system-but it's the best we've got" !
I remember very clearly the election,because I was in the next conscription Ballot and ready to....ah not go!
So when Gough was elected there was a collective sigh of relief and joy.....people were let out of jail......you served about 16 mths if you refused to be conscripted.....Wayne Lynch was already in hiding.....and countless more.....
Gough was seen as a visionary because he achieved so much in 3 years....ende conscription,brought home the troops, created medi-bank...health care for all!
he made higher education free..........because at the time there was a lot more people under 25 years of age than there is now.......a lot more vocal and informed.....
the right wing worked to undermine all the changes...using their media contacts and the big business lobby.........hence the landslide victory...
but we look back now and still the right ( Bolte and Co) whinge about how we can't afford education and health care.......
fact.....Abbot sacked 3000 ATO workers...more than 30% oc ASX listed Co's pay no tax in Australia.....costing close $9 billion a year........if the richer Co's and People paid their taxes plenty of $'s to pay for an equitable society.....
As for democracy.......we do not have one.....try and explain how a lobby group works in a democracy...!!!
"Should the leadership be decided by a panel of experts rather than an uneducated mob? "
That's what Plato proposed in The Republic, but the concept remains a thought exercise, it'll never happen. In fact, knowing human nature as we do, it can't happen; the process would be perverted by self-interest.
(Edit after reading Brutus' comment: The process would be perverted by lobby groups!)
Interesting to note that China has always been able to Get Shit Done due to its one party rule. They can initiate projects that take longer than an Aussie electoral term to build, run, and reap profit from because they have no oppoition to oppose them. Of course, having no opposition has its own problems too. Corruption? Nepotism? Human rights?
So yeah, democratic election is by far the best system but it needs to be treated with respect by both pollies and people. I guess what we can learn is that voters need to take the longview, which admittedly, is pretty fucken hard in the era of social media and the endless news cycle.
Andrew P Street wrote a great little column about Gough:
"Prior to [Gough becoming PM] we had PMs like Robert Menzies and John Curtin whose leadership of Australia was something more akin to administrators of a far-flung British colony. And that was fine, because that's what we were."
"But Whitlam made Australia think - for the first time - that maybe we were actually kinda great, that we could do our own stuff and be proud of doing so, and that perhaps we were something more interesting than an inconveniently located bit of the UK."
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/view-from-the-street-going-off-and-owing-gough-20141022-11a2de.html
There ain't much better than Andrew P Street's columns in the vine which have now moved to the SMH.
Stu, it's wise to remember the early Constitutional USA was not a democracy - more of an aristocracy (Aristotle rather than Plato) as only landowners could vote; and these men (panel of experts) determined for their nation the most incredible guarantee of natural rights ever drafted.
Good point Johnno.
OK democracy is a failure but its the best we have so......we wear it........but do we respect it....??
a benevolent dictator ...is possibly the only hope for a Leader for all??
Well, I don't mean respecting the politicians, calling Tony Abbott honorable and all that. Fuck that shit. I mean understanding that the best result is achieved when people give deep consideration to each vote.
And didn't we already have a benevolent dictator with Kevin Rudd?
I actually mean the whole system does not work because our vote means very little when you consider an election is held....bt the Professional business lobby groups is a form of corruption.....
and no Elmer Dudd Rudd was not a benevelont dictator ....a benevolent dictator means NO voting.....no democracy.....think Ghandi.....Mandela.....would you trust these guys...as I would to run a country...I think Gough would have been a beauty!
Elmer Dudd Rudd? Fair shake of the sauce bottle, Brutus.
hey Stu...Rudd nearly singlehanded destroyed the Labor party.....never liked him...reminded of Elmer fudd........no substance , all about him......after beating little johnny....I think his head swelled so much... ....he thought he was given Carte Blanche..a miserable dictator of his own party.......
hahaha ...do you want to hear what I really think....
Hahahaha...I was only joking anyway, but thanks for letting me know what you think. Love it.
got me....its so sad that there are virtually no statesman left in politics .....the sad indictment on our system...is if you google ...most respected professions in Western society.......politicians are the at the bottom of them all......
so we don't respect politicians ,but we let them run our lives........huhuhuhuh!
Enough of the glumness. Winds have gone offshore and the swells looking nice Brutus, go surfing!
From Mungo's piece;
Whitlam "was both a humanitarian and a humanist; he truly believed that if people were told the truth, were shown the possibilities for their future and given a genuine choice, they would behave sensibly, decently and even altruistically. "
Gough's ultimate vision was perhaps one where society needs less government intrusion and more scope for personal freedom .
The only political party consistent with this philosophy at the present time appears to be the Liberal Democratic Party fronted by Senator David Leyonhjelm. I wish them the best of luck at the next elections.
It's time....again.
I wonder how it all would've turned out if weekly opinion polling was around back then, alongside Alan jones, Getup, the internet, Andrew Bolt.....
R.I.P, Gough.... Good bloke....
Unlike Gina's dad -
I've just been reading through the Wikileaks cables from the US Ambassador to Australia during Whitlam's tenure. And what a read it is. I was gonna select a few choice quotes to show here but there's far too many to choose from. Read for yourselves:
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1973CANBER06656_b.html#efmAumDeb
http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-forgotten-coup-how-america-and-britai...
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-whitlam-1975-...
ouch
A couple of commenter quotes from above:
So yeah, democratic election is by far the best system but it needs to be treated with respect by both pollies and people. I guess what we can learn is that voters need to take the longview, which admittedly, is pretty fucken hard in the era of social media and the endless news cycle.
From Mungo's piece;
Whitlam "was both a humanitarian and a humanist; he truly believed that if people were told the truth, were shown the possibilities for their future and given a genuine choice, they would behave sensibly, decently and even altruistically. "
Correlation? If democracy a la Churchill is the best we've got (something I don't necessarily subscribe to) then getting righteous info to the masses is paramount for their then informed opinions to matter at the ballot box. Righteous info is not provided by corporate media. Their work then, during Whitlam's term and at the time of the dismissal especially, and now, from Gillard's term, the last election, and the Abbott regime's time so far, has been negligent (to put it mildly). In regards to some, Murdoch especially, and in both cases, it has been downright treacherous. Either way, democracy has been failed.
Social media and non-corporatised news may be a hope. Our only? Who else can speak truth to power and have it seen and heard by the people? It's vital to the very idea of democracy. I think the old Greeks would've concurred.
@Shatner...I trust you remember or know that many 'corporate' media supported Cough It's Time campaign - including Murdoch !. If you have the time it may be useful to read about Goughs term. It was certainly innovative and good for Aus. But he had a bit of a loose team. There was the Khemlani loans affair. Cairns and his mistress. Another way to understand what Gough left is to see what Hawke and Keating did to Goughs policies. Try reading corporate Fairfax media - SMH or AGE.
I surf.
I met Robert Muldoon.
It must count, please tell me..!
darn it tony, its saturday night i'm mellowed out after another full day of surfing down country with just one mate and you have to spoil it all by mentioning the world's biggest sub-human parasite.
murdoch would back anybody and anything if there was a buck in it. well documented examples around the world where his foul tentacles reach. good to see his fat ole son having a crack at tony on press freedom (is Lachlan another fucking yank murdoch telling us what to do?). Jesus you really have to fuck up when you are such a conservative as our Tony is to upset Uncle Rup.
David Leyonhjelm's piece on Gough in Thursday's SMH.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/good-or-bad-gough-whitlams-legacy-lives-on...
Whitlam spent 56 days in the 1974 calendar year overseas.
In reporting the release by Australian Archives of the 1974 Cabinet Papers, Alison Rehn reported in the Daily Telegraph (1 January 2005) the comments of John Menadue, the one-time head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Menadue, a Whitlam appointee, acknowledged that his boss’s 1974 international travel “did seem excessive”. John Menadue added:
I tried to persuade him…after the Darwin cyclone not to resume his interrupted overseas visit. He looked me in the eye and said, “Comrade, if I’m going to put up with the f-ckwits in the Labor Party, I’ve got to have my trips”. I thought it was a bit self-indulgent at the time.
Things haven't changed much in the Labor party over 40 years.