Opinion of Gough Whitlam

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Definite FF (Australian). Certainly he was very flawed and he made some huge mistakes, but his achievements - universal healthcare, abolishing university fees, equal pay for women, the beginning of indigenous land rights, pulling Australia out of Vietnam, just to name just a few - are amazing and really shaped modern Australia. My mum was a working class kid who never would have had the opportunity to go to university if it were not for his university payment reforms, and so I can say that his legacy directly changed my own personal life for the better - which is rare for a politician.

I know it's a bit pathetic, and he was very old and lived a long, full life, but I feel a bit affected about seeing him go. I suppose its more about what he symbolised, the way he shaped modern Australia. I wish I could say something more eloquent.