Shorten remembers Whitlam at NFF

21 Oct, 2014

OPPOSITION leader Bill Shorten has opened his speech at the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) Congress in Canberra by paying heartfelt respects to former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

“I want to briefly pay my respects to the memory of the great Gough Whitlam who passed away this morning,” he said.

“He re-imagined Australia as a modern nation where equality and opportunity belonged to all”

“I’ve spoken to his family – he passed peacefully and in comfort.

“Today the party that I lead, the Labor Party, has lost a giant. And I think that it is fair to say regardless of one's politics, the nation has lost a legend.

“Like no other Prime Minister before or since, Gough Whitlam redefined our country and in doing so he changed the lives of a generation.

“His vision his ambition offered Australia a new sense of what it might be. Our country is different because of him – by any test the country is different… significantly and better

“He re-imagined Australia as a modern nation where equality and opportunity belonged to all.”