Former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam – remembered as the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed from office by the Governor-General – has died at the age of 98.
The former Labor leader was elected prime minister in 1972 but was only in the office for three years before his government was dismissed by then Governor-General Sir John Kerr in 1975.
Leaders from both sides of politics have paid tribute to Mr Whitlam following news from his family this morning that he had died.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in every sense, “Gough Whitlam was a giant figure in this parliament and in our public life.”
“He was only prime minister for three years – three tumultuous years ” but those years changed our nation and one way or another, set the tone for so much that has followed,” he said. “Whether you were for him or against him, it was his vision that drove our politics then and which still echoes through our public life four decades on.”
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the nation “has lost a legend”. “He redefined our country and in doing so he changed the lives of a generation”.
