Margaret Whitlam dies

Updated

Margaret Whitlam, one of Australia's most influential and well-loved prime minister's wives, has died at the age of 92.

Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has released a statement saying Margaret died this morning.

"She was a remarkable person and the love of my life," the statement said.

"We were married for almost 70 years. She encouraged and sustained me and our four children (Antony, Nicholas, Stephen and Catherine), their families and many other people in a life full of engagement with Australians from all walks of life."

Mrs Whitlam had reportedly been in hospital after a fall in Sydney last month.

Born on November 19, 1919, Margaret Elaine Dovey was the daughter of NSW Supreme Court Judge Wilfred Dovey and first rose to prominence as a champion swimmer, representing Australia in the 1938 Empire Games.

She married Gough Whitlam in April 1942 at the height of the Second World War, during which time the couple both showed an active interest in politics through their support of the election of the Curtin government in 1943.

Mrs Whitlam completed a degree in social studies at the University of Sydney in 1938, and practised as a social worker, including a three year period at Parramatta District Hospital while Mr Whitlam was federal opposition leader.

She was also heavily involved in Mr Whitlam's political career, working within his electorate, and as an active member of the Labor Party Women's Conference.

She accompanied Mr Whitlam on his major overseas visits as opposition leader, including a trip to Saigon during the Vietnam war, and Mr Whitlam's landmark visit to China, which occurred shortly before the Nixon administration announced it was normalising relations with the communist superpower.

The Whitlams had four children: sons Nicholas, Tony and Stephen, and a daughter Catherine.

'I can do some good'

Mrs Whitlam will be remembered as a passionate woman who was never afraid to speak her mind, saying "I'm prepared to voice my own opinion, my own personal opinion on things, even if they're political".

Upon Mr Whitlam's ascension to the prime ministership, Mrs Whitlam quickly became known as an outspoken advocate for issues including women's rights and conservation.

Despite public criticism she refused to limit herself to traditional preconceptions of what a prime minister's wife should do, continuing the active role in the media that she had built during Mr Whitlam's time as opposition leader.

"What am I to do? Stay in a cage - wide open to view, of course - and say nothing? That's not on, but if I can do some good I'll certainly try," she wrote in her diary in December 1972.

She was a regular guest speaker on radio and television, and wrote a column for the magazine Woman's Day where she offered an insight into the life of a prime minister's wife.

Mrs Whitlam was outspoken about the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975, saying she told Mr Whitlam he should have torn up the letter from then governor general John Kerr.

"He said something about he'd given him a note sacking him. I said, 'Why didn't you tear it up?' he said 'oh, I couldn't do that'. Silly man, I'd have torn it up; who was to know he'd been given anything," she said in a 1993 interview.

She also spoke of her anger at John Kerr and Malcolm Fraser's role in the dismissal.

"I've always regarded people like John Kerr and Malcolm Fraser with scorn - scorn for what they did, scorn for what they didn't do," she said.

"In a way it wasn't so much what they did, but the way that they did it that was so wrong.

"And I just couldn't understand them, I couldn't forgive them, I can't forgive them."

National treasure

After the dismissal, Mrs Whitlam continued her prominent role as an advocate serving on bodies such as the Sydney Dance Company, International Literacy Year, International Women's year, and the Law Foundation of New South Wales.

In 2006 she courted controversy by refusing to apologise to Janette Howard, the wife of then prime minister John Howard, after calling her useless.

A biography of Mrs Whitlam quoted her as saying Mrs Howard failed to carry out the obligations of a prime minister's wife.

"She is useless in terms of how little she really gives the community," she said in the book.

"She doesn't even go to the old people's homes that Howard visits. The only thing she goes to is big, public things.

"I fear she's a steely woman. Never contributing anything else but a smile. Nor a grin - a grin indicates some sense of humour."

In 1983 she was awarded the Order of Australia, and in 1997 was named a national living treasure by the National Trust of Australia.

In 2007 she and Mr Whitlam were made a national life members of the ALP.

Mrs Whitlam is survived by her husband Gough Whitlam and their four children.

Topics: government-and-politics, alp, australia

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