International
Will Burgess/Reuters
Gough Whitlam, the former Australian prime minister known for leading the nation through a period of massive change, has died aged 98.
He was one of his country's most revolutionary yet divisive statesmen, forging ties with China but triggering a constitutional crisis that split the country.
Whitlam, who held office from 1972 to 1975, withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam, barred sports teams from apartheid-era South Africa, made university study free and opened diplomatic negotiations with emerging communist China.
But his legacy was dominated by the greatest political upheaval in Australian history when his center-left government was sacked by the queen's representative, Governor-General John Kerr.
"Well may we say ‘God save the queen,’ because nothing will save the governor-general," Whitlam declared on the steps of parliament after Kerr's dismissal statement ended with the then-customary "God save the queen."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, ordering flags to be flown at half-staff, described Whitlam as a "giant of his time."
"He united the Australian Labor Party, won two elections and seemed, in so many ways, larger than life," Abbott said in a statement. "He established diplomatic relations with China and was the first Australian prime minister to visit China. China is our largest trading partner. That is an enduring legacy."
Whitlam's four children said he died on Tuesday morning from unspecified causes.
Despite being in power for only three years, he launched sweeping reforms of the nation's economic and cultural affairs, cementing his place as one of Australia's most revered and respected leaders. He stopped conscription, introduced free university education and reduced the voting age to 18. He abolished the death penalty for federal crimes, extended welfare to single parents and reformed divorce laws.
Criticism of his diplomatic overtures to China was blunted by U.S. President Richard Nixon's China rapprochement.
Whitlam led the Labor Party to its first victory in 23 years in the December 1972 election with the famous "It's time" pledge to drag Australia from a postwar period of social conservatism and complacency. He was dismissed on Nov. 11, 1975.
The dismissal and unfounded rumors of CIA involvement were the culmination of a political drama, which began in October with the refusal of the parliament's upper house, the Senate, to pass crucial spending bills.
The Labor Party did not hold the necessary majority in the Senate to pass a budget bill until the government agreed to call a general election.
To end the standoff, Kerr took the unprecedented step of firing Whitlam and installing then opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister.
Fraser, Whitlam's greatest adversary, said Whitlam's initial work on recognition of Aboriginal land rights was among his most significant contributions.
"He had a sense of identity for Australia to be an independent player on the world stage,” Fraser told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Tuesday. “He didn't want Australia to be subject to any other nation … He had an idea of social justice which I think was really deep in the heart of the whole parliament then, but he gave it a voice and an impact, which was important."
Al Jazeera with wire services
Lumumba was the most prominent leader of a major city to come from the black revolutionary movement
Jesse Steinfeld, first surgeon general to push for warnings against smoking, was pushed out of office by Nixon
Shapiro was one of the few Westerners to gain Chinese citizenship and become a member of a high-level parliamentary body
Error
Sorry, your comment was not saved due to a technical problem. Please try again later or using a different browser.