Gough Whitlam: A Personal Retrospective

Here is his link ....http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Speeches/Pages/2014/FourthQuarter2014/7October2014-LaunchOfTheSpyCatchersTheOfficialHistoryOfASIO1949-1963.aspx

 

That link provided no information about KGB informants operating within Australia during Whitlam's Prime ministership, but there is other evidence to suggest that Albert James was listed in old Russian archives as being a KGB informant. I understand how politicians and the media can manipulate the truth, and before I believed this story with absolute certainty, I would want to see and read all the "genuine" documents about Albert James myself.

 

McCathiests don't need evidence, they never have. Its about thought control. If you think you have rights your a commo.

 

To be perfectly honest, I think current humanity is currently living in the delusion of some dream, because if history is correct, then people had more freedom, rights and democracy a thousand years ago within some societies and communities.

A few politicians even changed our time (daylight saving) without giving us the right and democratic opportunity to make that decision for ourselves.

 

With all due respect, I understand there is a lot of media information around suggesting Albert James name was listed as being KGB informant in an old Russian archive. But seriously, we also know how many lies the media tell, and how biased they can be, and all I am suggesting is that without seeing the genuine file for myself, I really don't & wouldn't put all my trust into everything the media tells me or writes about; and goes triple for politicians.

The media never lie or tell bull s.h.i.t do they? LOL

 

I started this now lengthy thread with the following words:

When one writes about politics, the people and the events, the ideas and the issues, one does not have to engage in the partisan variety which divides the nation and individuals from each other and engages millions in hair-splitting discussions on topics about which they usually or, at least, often know very little. Often the opinions are endless, opinions which get dropped-about now in cyberspace's social media and elsewhere, and in real space.

You have all proved my point and my experience with the world of partisan politics over the last half century.-Ron

 

Anyone with an open mind, regardless of their political persuasion, should realise that the dismissal of an elected Prime Minister by someone who was never hired or elected by the Australian citizens was a democratic process for politicians, but "not" a democratic for the Australia citizens, and demonstrates a serious problem in our constitution regarding the peoples democracy.

When politics is being discussed in the general arena, its very difficult and frustrating to get past the fanatical views of the political party faithful worshipers, and discuss the "real" content of the issue, or the "real" problems.

 

There are very few men I take my hat off to Ron. One is my father, not my natural father, but my adopted father. He too has the sagacity that comes from a long life with an open mind. The one you get from walking quietly among the noise, listening carefully to everything and sorting out the rubbish with your own conscious.

My father was born and grew up in a very small locality known as Payne's Crossing in 1916.

 

I thank Dominor Vobis for his generous compliment. Even in the evening of my life I still appreciate such encouraging remarks. They help to balance the comments I get at the other end of the spectrum of incoming words of encomium and opprobrium. As an active poster of internet comments on controversial topics I get plenty of both and have all my life.-Ron Price, Tasmania

 

Ron, thank you. Dad is only 3 years your junior and he says he is in the "afternoon" of his life. He had a heart valve done at 90, when the Dr told him it would last 30 years he said "You mean I have to come and get another one then?"

 

Well, Dominor Vobis/Guru, I can see that your Dad is benefitting, as I am, from the wonders of modern medicine. My mother used to say back in the 1950s when I was growing-up that, when one get's "old" one talks about one's ailments. I did not appreciate the wisdom of that remark when I was 10 in 1955. But I can now, and I'll give you and your Dad a little cut-and-paste of a piece I've written to post, when and if appropriate. The piece is a little long, and so skimming and scanning, or not reading the following at all, are advised.-Ron
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As I head through my 70s, beginning as my 70s did on 23 July 2014, hygiene has come to occupy more time than it once did.
Hygiene(which comes from the name of the Greek goddess of health, Hygieia) is a set of practices performed for the preservation of health. Whereas in popular culture and parlance it can often mean mere 'cleanliness', hygiene in its fullest and original meaning goes much beyond that to include all circumstances and practices, lifestyle issues, premises and commodities that engender a safe and healthy environment. In the modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations. What is considered hygienic or not can vary between different cultures, genders and ageing groups. Some regular hygienic practices may be considered good habits by a society while the neglect of hygiene can be considered disgusting, disrespectful or even threatening.

This increased interest in hygiene is probably because: (i) I am more interested in living as long as possible in a condition of good health, and (ii) the new medications for my bipolar 1 disorder have altered my emotional and intellectual capacity for sustained literary and academic work, social and community activity....And so it is that, if any one, or all, of the three biographies I am currently working on are to be completed, I will need many more years of living and writing. This literary-biographical project will never be completed, if I can not sustain the 6 to 8 hours a day in literary pursuits that is my current regime and habit. This literary lifestyle has occupied me in the last decade since taking an early retirement from the FT, PT & casual-job world in the years 1999 to 2005. Even with my several domestic & social concerns, responsibilities & inevitable life-duties, I am currently able to find from 6 to 8 hours each day to engage in activities of a literary nature, the activities listed above.

But these hours are not at one stretch; I spread the hours over the time, the 12 hours, that I am awake and not in bed. I have to work in short bursts. I utilize what is sometimes called the Swiss-cheese method or, to draw on an expression in the language of Iran, once called Persia, the language of Farsi: "kam kam, ruz beh ruz," .....little by little & day by day. This is largely due to the medications I take, as I say above, for my bipolar I disorder, medications which do not allow me to work for an extended period of time. I find that about two hours at any one time is the maximum that I can work at any of my several literary tasks. I also have to deal with: (i) a mild case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (ii) moderate chronic kidney disease(phase 4), (iii) an enlarged prostate, (iv) gastroenterology problems, as well as (v) optometry and podiatry problems. I am currently in the care of: a urological surgeon, a renal physician, a psychiatrist, two GPs, & a gastroenterologist. This is to say nothing of: (a) my dentist and my dental technician who care for my two partial-plates and my remaining 6 teeth, (b) the several medical infirmities that my wife has to deal with, & (c) an increasingly long list of members of my extended family and my many aging-friends with their particular medical maladies.

As my mother used to say(just to reiterate) when I was a child and adolescent back in the 1950s "when you get old, boy, one of the main things you talk about are your ailments." How right she was! The wonders of modern medicine, though, keep me in a condition of: no pain, 9 hours of sleep out of 12 in bed, a general state of comfort and a sense of well-being.
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Over-and-out for now

 

Gough Whitlam’s legacy is enormous. Expect huge numbers of people attending memorial at the Town Hall in Sydney next Wednesday. His policies and legislation altered so many people's lives for the good. An inspirational man and a positive prime minister. All these years on, now we have such negative and visionless leaders. Sad. Gough impacted greatly on me and I will be at the memorial to pay my respects to an extraordinary man.

 

I completely disagree with the system.

The Senate is not for one political party to hold a government to ransom, it is supposed to represent the states. The Senate is "barely" democratic in the first place, everyone should know that after the last election.

Kerr did not just call an election, he appointed the opposition leader as interim PM and completely biased the election as a result.

Fraser just blocked everything, until he got his way, that's hardly democratic.

 

I disagree with the current system also. When it comes to Government, the citizens have little to NO democracy, rights or freedom.

 

What a beautiful memorial. Thousands had to be relegated to watching it outside the Town Hall on a big screen - such was the rush to be one of the lucky ones to be afforded a seat inside the Town Hall. I heard of people camping overnight on the steps of the Town Hall and those who got there at 6am this morning. But they had reached capacity well before this morning, I think.

If only they'd given the loyal and devoted Gough Supporters Tony Abbott's seat inside... or Philip Rudock's seat or any of the Liberal ministers seats to the 'Comrades' of Gough. I liked Noel Pearson when he first started out in public life, then went off him... but he gave a fantastic speech at memorial, as did John Faulkner and Antony Whitlam and Graham Freudenberg.

Never will we see a memorial for a politician in the extraordinary way we saw one today for Gough Whitlam. And that speaks VOLUMES for Gough Whitlam.

Thanks Gough for your vision and inspiration and for your great love of Australia. A TRUE humanitarian. Gough, you would have loved your memorial today. It was a beautiful memorial.

For anyone who like to watch the memorial, it's available here at ABC iview

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/gough-whitlam-state-memorial-service/NS1423H001S00

 

Totally agree with everything you've said Gwen. He was truly a great man!

 

Welcome back TV, and I agree

 

The very first election I voted in was the 1974 federal election. I've been voting Labor since.

 

We need to change our constitution, whereby something like this can never happen again. Not sure about everyone else, but I get very angry and frustrated how a political party can change democratically elected Prime Ministers without the democratic votes of the Australian people, who elected these Primes Ministers into power in the first place. When political parties "chop 'n' change" PM's to suit their own agendas, it just seems to me, our votes are useless and worthless.

 

CD,
I agree.
What happened to Rudd should be prosecuted, as well as our current PM for broken all promises given in regards not to alter our taxation.
Regards

 

They legally force us to vote in every election, but our votes are really worthless and useless. They have the power to change anything and everything they like and want without our knowledge or consent, so whats the bloody point of even voting anymore - they just do as they like and want anyway?

I agree, Rudd being the legally democratically elected Prime Minister of Australia by the majority of the Australian people should never have been replaced by another politician that was never democratically elected by the Australian people - but he was, and that demonstrates the serious flaw in our constitution.

No politicians should have the right to change any of our tax system unless its voted on by referendum. Lets hope the people wake-up and start demanding MORE referendums like they do in Switzerland.

I think this also demonstrates that we are NOT considered equals, but more like slaves to be ordered.

 

I never realised we voted for the Pm, I thought we voted for a person to represent us and if that person was a member of a party, they elected a leader.

 

Anyone who votes for their local member based on a party or who they think that party will keep the leader after the election deserves what they get.

This is the problem. This is how idiots get elected.

 

They elect the leader of the party "before" the elections, not after, do they not? Therefore, during election, political parties advertise to the general public, that the public are voting for the "leader" of that particular political party as their preferred PM, do they not?

When was the last time you heard a leader of any political party during an election campaign SAY: "you are voting for MY party, not me"?

Who's face and name is ALWAYS on the billboards, and in the media - the individual candidates. You never see a billboard or poster with the just the political party logo on it, do you?

Deception by stealth!!

 

All very true .... BUT ... The PM IS DEMOCRATICALLY elected, but not by the electorate directly. We elect a REPRESENTATIVE, someone to represent US, we do not elect a party, we do not elect a Prime Minister. If all we look at is voting for a party, or even worse, we look for voting in a Prime Minister, and we just "tick the box", we deserve what we get. By voting purely for a party or a Prime Minister, we are ALLOWING the parties to manipulate us.

The whole idea of a "representative" government is to select the person best suited to represent you and your electorate. If I had wanted to vote conservative, this is who I would have had to vote for .....

Sean O'Connor
Election Leaflet

How could I vote for him, he says nothing on his leaflet except he is an ABBOTT man, well I mean, he is after all a "man's man", maybe he likes seeing Abbott in speedos, who knows.

See when you vote "Party" you get WHO THEY WANT to represent you.

Now I have nothing against gays, many of my friends are gay, but he seems to be very contradictory supporting gay rights but not same sex marriage and is a Fred Nile supporter. That was enough for me, I had no option to vote Liberal if I wanted to.

The parties, both of them, stack the seats, not to give YOU the best REPRESENTATIVE, but to give THEM the EDGE so they can screw you over afterwards.

There should be no "above the line", if your going to vote ... research ... study ... investigate ... think ... then select the best representative