It was fifty years ago today (2 December 1972) that the Australian electorate came to its senses after 23 years of stodgy, backward-looking conservative coalition governments. Gough Whitlam led the Labor Party to a victory over a shrivelled and useless McMahon—Anthony coalition.
In three dynamic years, the Whitlam Government effected many overdue and very welcome changes, in so many areas:
Race relationships: the White Australia Policy was abolished, the Racial Discrimination Act began the move into multiculturalism for Australia
Land rights: returning land to the Gurindiji people in the Northern Territory began the process that led to the Mabo and Wik judgements; free Aboriginal legal services were also established
Education: free higher education was introduced, making hundreds and thousands of Australians the first in their family able to go to university
Civil rights: both conscription into the armed forces and the death penalty were abolished
Healthcare: Medicare brought universal healthcare for all Australians, providing access to GPs and hospitals at minimal cost
Rights for women: no-fault divorce meant that women could chose to leave an unhappy marriage without being financially burdened; removing the tax on contraceptives meant the Pill was made affordable and accessible; the equal pay case meant women would be more fairly compensated in employment
Foreign affairs: Whitlam was the first Western leader to visit China, reorienting our focus to Asia, leading to a flourishing trade with the region
The Arts: funding to the arts was doubled, the National Gallery, the Australian Council for the Arts, and SBS were all established
All of this, and more, to be thankful for!
See more at https://www.whitlam.org/studying-whitlam
and https://johntsquires.com/2022/05/26/fifty-years-of-naidoc-week-1/
An Informed Faith 