Gough Whitlam

Sourced

• Ladies and gentlemen, well may we say "God Save the Queen," because nothing will save the Governor-General... The proclamation you have just heard read by the Governor-General's Official Secretary was countersigned Malcolm Fraser, who will go down in history as Kerr's cur.
  • On hearing the proclamation dismissing him from office, which ended with the traditional "God Save the Queen."

• We would do absolutely nothing. Now that's a blunt, truthful answer.
  • When asked what a Labor government would do if Indonesia were to invade East Timor, in an interview three days before the invasion. Sydney Morning Herald (1975-12-05)

• If I begin my book with a review of the coup, it is only to show that my abiding interests for Australia did not end with it. They shall end only with a long and fortunate life.
  • Abiding Interests (1997), Foreword

• He reveals that he has been a poor politician, a bad judge and a malevolent individual.
  • Abiding Interests (1997), p. 44
    • On Garfield Barwick

• I was profoundly embarrassed by it [the White Australia Policy] and did all I could to change it.
  • Quoted in Paul Kelly, 100 Years – The Australian Story (Allen & Unwin, ABC Books, NSW, 2001), p. 196

• I’m not having hundreds of fucking Vietnamese Balts coming into this country with their religious and political hatreds against us!
  • After Saigon was taken over by North Vietnamese troops in 1975 and thousands of Vietnamese refugees sought asylum in Australia. Miranda Devine (October 18th, 2008). "A woman who believes Cabra matters". Sydney Morning Herald.

• The Emperor does not concern himself with trifles.
  • Gough Whitlam on Hawke's penis.
    • Quoted by Tim Freedman during Whitlam's attendance of the 12th Annual Aria Awards, during presentation of Band of The Year.

• The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race.
  • Written by Gough Whitlam for the London Daily Telegraph, (19 October 1989). (Andrews, 1993, p. 824)

• Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.
  • Spoken at the Gurindji Land Ceremony, 16 August 1975