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Gough Whitlam memorial service: a who's who of lives shaped by a big man

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Whitlam memorial: Gillard's standing ovation

Former prime minister Julia Gillard arrives at the memorial service for former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam in Sydney, followed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

PT0M42S 620 349

Prime Ministers past and present might have dominated the line-up, but equal weight seemed to fall upon the quiet visitors from Daguragu, Gurindji men and women whose lives were shaped in part by the big man, Gough Whitlam. 

Alongside Vincent Lingiari's relatives, four of whom sat directly behind the Whitlam family, were the young and old, the indigenous and the visiting.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott strode into the packed Centennial Hall after Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd with daughter Jessica, John Howard, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and John Keating. Hawke's wife Blanche d'Alpuget and Keating's former wife Annita van Lersel entered - and enjoyed the cheers - alongside the statesmen.

Tony Abbott and Bob Hawke at the memorial inside Sydney Town Hall.

Tony Abbott and Bob Hawke at the memorial inside Sydney Town Hall. Photo: Peter Rae

Next to Australian leaders were Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and former prime ministers Sir Julius Chan and Paias Wingti. Papua New Guinea's first prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, drew loud applause from buoyant, if nostalgic, onlookers. 

Former governors-general Sir William Deane and Michael Jeffery were in attendance with Sir Peter Cosgrove, while his predecessor Dame Quentin Bryce had a prior engagement.

Also among the 1000 dignitaries, watched over by 900 in the public gallery, were former governor Dame Marie Bashir and husband Sir Nicholas Shehadie, former NSW premiers Barry Unsworth, Bob Carr and wife Helena, former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, NSW opposition leader John Robertson, former ACTU leader Bill Kelty and former NSW attorney-general Bob Debus.

Current opposition leader Bill Shorten, former treasurer Wayne Swan and Anthony Albanese were also in attendance. 

Deputy leader of the opposition, Tanya Plibersek and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore stood near to singer Patricia "Little Pattie" Amphlett. Gordon Scholes, speaker on the infamous day of Whitlam's dismissal, was in the crowd of dignitaries. 

Speakers at the memorial, each introduced by MC Kerry O'Brien, were Whitlam's son, Antony Whitlam QC, his former speech writer Graham Freudenberg, actress Cate Blanchett, indigenous activist Noel Pearson and Senator John Faulkner. 

Waiting in line outside, Phillip Adams from the ABC joked that this may be the second coming, Whitlam's resurrection the potential saviour of current politics. Author and Labor speech writer Bob Ellis and his partner, screenwriter Anne Brookebank, were also among the early arrivals. 

Former premier Kristina Keneally, NT Senator Warren Snowden and former Whitlam staffer, diplomat and governor of Tasmania, Richard Butler were joined by NSW ALP secretary Jamie Clements, former ALP pollster Rod Cameron, age discrimination commissioner Susan Ryan, Jesuit writer Edmund Campion, former premier Barrie Unsworth and Ken Begg, the ABC man who famously sang Aeroplane Jelly to their Chinese hosts on Whitlam's historical trip to China, all attended. Meredith Burgmann, one-time president of the NSW upper house was in the crowd with John Della Bosca and partner Belinda Neal and former Labor national president and minister Barry Jones. 

It was a truly wide-reaching affair - Penny Wong was there with partner Sophie Allouache as was Tasmanian Dick Adams, former state secretary Bob Hogg, and Whitlam minister Les Johnson. Notable absentees were Bill Hayden and Tom Uren, Whitlam era cohorts who were both too unwell to attend. 

At the end of a service that included elements from so much of Whitlam's life, family, politicos, mourners and admirers slowly filed out of the grand room. They left without fuss, a little heavy after an uplifting but ultimately sad occasion.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," one ALP old-timer said to another. He was not alone. 

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