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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Australia's last 7 Prime Ministers pose for a rare photo at Whitlam memorial

Australia has held a state memorial service in Sydney for former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who died on October 21,2014 at the age of 98.
The service was one of the biggest for an Australian PM since the one in 1978 for conservative giant Robert Menzies.
Thousands of people applied to attend, with more than 4,000 applying in the first two days of registration. However, only 2,000 people could be accommodated in the Town Hall in Sydney on Tuesday Nov 04,2014

From left to right: Malcolm Fraser, Julia Gillard, Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott (incumbent), John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating

A picture for the ages? Each of Australia's seven surviving prime ministers attended today's service. From left to right: Malcolm Fraser, Julia Gillard, Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott (incumbent), John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating  

People of all ages crowded outside the Sydney Town Hall on Nov 05,2014 Wednesday morning to commemorate the passing of former prime minister Gough Whitlam
Candlelit tribute: This portrait sat on the road across from the state memorial service today
Massive crowds gather outside Sydney Town Hall to pay tribute to the former Labor prime minister, who remains the only Australian leader to be dismissed by a Governor-General

Massive crowds gather outside Sydney Town Hall to pay tribute to the former Labor prime minister, who remains the only Australian leader to be dismissed by a Governor-General
People of all ages crowded outside the Sydney Town Hall on Wednesday morning to commemorate the passing of former prime minister Gough Whitlam

Several true believers at the ceremony were spotted wearing T-shirts featuring Whitlam's famous election slogan, 'It's Time'

Catherine Baker and Don Smith were two of many punters who wore the iconic slogan today 
The sight in Sydney today: A Gough Whitlam supporter wears an 'It's Time' T-shirt next to a candle-lit tribute to the former leader 

Gough Whitlam led Labor to its historic victory in December 1972 on the back of the famous "It's Time" campaign to move on from a post-war period of social conservatism.
Gough Whitlam with singer Little Pattie during his election campaign - 21 July 1972
His dismissal was prompted by a refusal by parliament's upper house, where Labor did not hold a majority, to pass a budget bill.
To end the crisis, Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Whitlam in 1975 and installed opposition leader Malcolm Fraser as the caretaker prime minister.
After leaving politics,Gough Whitlam served as a Unesco ambassador, academic and after-dinner speaker and regularly appeared at Labor Party functions.
He had four children with his wife, Margaret, during a marriage that lasted 70 years until her death in 2012 at the age of 92.

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