Margaret Whitlam

Margaret Whitlam AO
Margaret and Gough Whitlam at Parliament House, Canberra, for the national apology to the Stolen Generations in February 2008
Born	Margaret Elaine Dovey (1919-11-19)19 November 1919 Bondi, New South Wales
Died	17 March 2012(2012-03-17) (aged 92) Sydney, New South Wales
Residence	Elizabeth Bay
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	SCEGGS Darlinghurst University of Sydney
Occupation	Social worker
Known for	Spouse of the 21st Prime Minister of Australia
Spouse	Gough Whitlam (m. 1942-2012) her death
Children	Nicholas, Tony and Stephen Whitlam and Catherine Dovey

Margaret Elaine Whitlam, AO (19 November 1919 – 17 March 2012) was a prominent Australian and the wife of former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam. She was a published author, social worker and former champion swimmer, having represented Australia at the 1938 British Empire Games in Sydney.^[1]

Early life

Born Margaret Dovey in Bondi, New South Wales,^[2] she was the daughter of Wilfred Robert "Bill" Dovey, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge.^[3] After attending SCEGGS Darlinghurst, where she excelled at sport,^[2] Dovey graduated with a degree in social studies from the University of Sydney in the same year as she rose to national prominence as a swimmer. Soon after, she commenced working at Parramatta District Hospital.^[1]

Marriage and children

She married Gough Whitlam in April 1942 in St Michael's Church of England, Vaucluse. Her husband was elected to federal parliament in 1952 and became federal opposition leader and parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party in 1967. Margaret was described as "deeply and loyally in love" with her husband.^[4] Together, they had four children: sons, Nicholas, who became a prominent banker and a controversial figure in his own right; Tony, who was briefly a federal MP; Stephen and daughter, Catherine, who is married to News Limited Chief Executive Officer Kim Williams.^[5]

Advocacy and public life

Upon Gough Whitlam's election as Prime Minister, Whitlam quickly became known as an outspoken advocate for issues including women's rights, particularly abortion law reform and conservation; influenced by Germaine Greer.^[2] She faced widespread public criticism about her proactive role; however she refused to limit herself to traditional preconceptions. 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.^[2] Whitlam was outspoken about the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975, saying she told her husband that he should have torn up the letter of dismissal from the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr.^[1]

After the end of her husband's political career, Whitlam held a number of public and cultural offices, including serving as inaugural chair of the Australian Opera Conference; and on the boards of Sydney Dance Company between 1977 and 1982;^[5] International Literacy Year, International Women's Year (1975), and the Law Foundation of New South Wales.^[1] In 2006, she criticised Janette Howard, wife of then-Prime Minister John Howard, for what she considered a lack of commitment to community activities.^[6] She withdrew the comments (but stopped short of apologising to Mrs Howard) after attracting widespread condemnation from both sides of politics.^[1]

Honours

Whitlam was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983 for services to the community.^[7] In addition Margaret Whitlam was in 1995 awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of New England and in 1997 became one of the one hundred Australian National Living Treasures.^[5] In 2007 both she and her husband were made national life members of the Australian Labor Party.^[1][2]

Published works

• Whitlam, Margaret (1974). My day. Collins. pp. 142. ISBN 978-0-00-211435-6. 
• Whitlam, Margaret (2001). My Other World. Allen & Unwin. pp. 221. ISBN 978-1-86508-540-1. 

Memorials

Whitlam died in a Sydney hospital on the morning of 17 March 2012, following a fall.^[2][5] The Whitlam family declined an offer from the Australian Government for a state funeral.^[8] A memorial service held in St James' Church, Sydney on 23 March 2012 where the Reverend Andrew Sempell, gave the sermon, taking love as his theme, using readings from Isaiah 43:1-5 & 1 Corinthians 13. He said: "Margaret Whitlam was indeed a gifted and talented person who used her abilities for the benefit of others, and we celebrate that."^[9] The service was attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard,^[10] former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser, Paul Keating, Kevin Rudd, Bob Hawke and other present and past politicians.^[11][12]

References

External links

• Australian Women Biographical Entry

See also

• Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia

Further reading

• Langmore, Diane (1992). "Margaret Whitlam" (paperback). Prime ministers' wives: the public and private lives of ten Australian women. McPhee Gribble. pp. 341. ISBN 978-0-86914-269-1. 
• Mitchell, Susan (2006). Margaret Whitlam: a biography. Random House Australia. pp. 404. ISBN 978-1-74051-371-5.