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Term of government (1972–1975)
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Ngara was the birthplace of the 21st prime minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam. It is located at 46 Rowland Street, Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. "Ngara" means "to listen, hear and think" in the Darug language of the Darug or Iyora (Eora) Aboriginal people in the Sydney area. [1]
Harry Frederick ("Fred") Whitlam and Martha ("Mattie") Whitlam née Maddocks, were married on 10 September 1914 and on 18 December 1914, bought a block of land in Rowland Street Kew with a mortgage from the State Savings Bank of Victoria (under the Credit Foncier programme) signed off on 30 January 1915. Mattie's father, Edward, who was a Master Builder by profession, built, and probably designed the house for the new couple. Plans were prepared by February 1915, and construction completed by May 1915. Ngara was a brick Edwardian villa with Marseille pattern terracotta tile roof and timber finishes. It was partly demolished in mid 2014, with joinery, fireplaces and floors dismantled, but the components were left on site. [2]
The Whitlams moved into the house around May 1915 and Edward Gough Whitlam was born on 11 July 1916, on the kitchen table according to family legend. [3] Presumably Gough would have been conceived in the front bedroom of the house sometime around early October 1915. Fred and Mattie therefore were in the house no more than 5 months before their attempts to produce offspring were successful. [4] He was the older of two children; he had a younger sister, Freda. [5]
Fred Whitlam was working at this time in the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor's Office, in the Attorney General's Department, headed by Robert Garran. In 1917, Fred Whitlam was promoted to senior Clerk in Sydney, and so on 25 October 1917, Ngara was sold. The new owners were Samuel James Woods, a tailor and mercer, and Mabel Lucy Woods who obtained co-operative finance through the Starr-Bowkett Building Society. They only paid off their mortgage in 1932. [6]
The Whitlams subsequently made their homes in Sydney and Canberra, but there were occasional links back to the family house at Kew. Biographies refer to the family's holidays in Melbourne and visits to relatives in Kew, and Gough walking with his uncle to his grandparents' house, [7] while another claims the Labor party inquired about holding an event at the house for Gough's 90th birthday, but then owner Mrs Swinnerton, a staunch Liberal supporter, declined saying: "We couldn't have all those Labor people here." Mrs Swinnerton, who owned the house in the later 20th century, is said to have "ensured everyone in the street, young and old, were aware of the home being the birthplace of Gough Whitlam". [8]
The house was not initially identified in local heritage studies, and so a demolition permit was issued by Boroondara Council. Demolition had begun when a public campaign stopped the demolition and led to an interim preservation order placed on the site by the Victorian Heritage Council. Victorian Planning Minister Matthew Guy initially said he could not stop the demolition as a permit had been issued, [9] However, he then changed his mind, and requested the Victorian Heritage Council to place an interim preservation order on the place. [10] Following a public hearing, Heritage Victoria determined that the house was not of sufficient importance to place on the Victorian Heritage Register and so be given permanent protection. [11]
The City of Boroondara separately applied an interim Heritage Overlay on the site, however a subsequent planning panel also determined that the house was not of sufficient significance to warrant preservation. [12]
The Boroondara Council, however, rejected the planning panel recommendation at their council meeting of 16 November 2015, and voted to retain the house in a heritage overlay, and therefore protect it. [13]
On 3 May 2016 the Victorian Minister for the Environment overruled the heritage overlay, and on Friday 13 May 2016, the house was bulldozed. [14]
The Ngara Institute was established in early 2014, taking its name from the name of Whitlam's birthplace. [15]
Edward Gough Whitlam was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), of which he was the longest-serving. He was notable for being the head of a reformist and socially progressive administration that ended with his removal as prime minister after controversially being dismissed by the governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 constitutional crisis. Whitlam is the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office by the governor-general.
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), by Sir John Kerr, the Governor-General who then commissioned the leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal Party, as prime minister. It has been described as the greatest political and constitutional crisis in Australian history.
Sir John Robert Kerr, was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constitutional crisis, which culminated in his decision to dismiss the incumbent prime minister Gough Whitlam and appoint Malcolm Fraser as his replacement, which led to unprecedented actions in Australian federal politics.
The City of Boroondara is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.
Balwyn is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census.
Hawthorn is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Hawthorn recorded a population of 22,322 at the 2021 census.
Kew is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew recorded a population of 24,499 at the 2021 census.
Kew East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew East recorded a population of 6,620 at the 2021 census.
Thornbury is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km (4.3 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Darebin local government area. Thornbury recorded a population of 19,005 at the 2021 census.
Donald Leslie Chipp, AO was an Australian politician who was the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats, leading the party from 1977 to 1986. He began his career as a member of the Liberal Party, winning election to the House of Representatives in 1960 and serving as a government minister for a cumulative total of six years. Chipp left the Liberals in 1977 and was soon persuaded to lead a new party, the Democrats who, he famously proclaimed in 1980, would "keep the bastards honest". He was elected to the Senate on 10 December 1977 and led the party at four federal elections. From 1983 it held the sole balance of power in the Senate.
The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. Heritage Victoria was established as the State Government listing and permit authority in 1995, replacing the original authority, the Historic Buildings Preservation Council, established in 1974. Listing on the Victorian Heritage Register is separate from listing by a local Council or Shire, known as a Heritage Overlay. Heritage Victoria is currently part of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning of the Government of Victoria, Australia. Heritage Victoria reports to the Heritage Council who approve recommendations to the Register and hear appeals when a registration is disputed. The council also hears appeals by an owner to a permit issued by Heritage Victoria. As of 2021, there are over 2,400 places and objects listed on the VHR.
Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Springthorpe Memorial is an elaborate Victorian era memorial located within Boroondara General Cemetery in Kew, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The memorial was built by Melbourne doctor John Springthorpe, in honour of his wife, Annie Springthorpe, who died in 1897 at the age of 30 while giving birth to their fourth child. Construction began in 1897, and the memorial was unveiled in 1901. The Springthorpe Memorial is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
The following lists events that happened during 1975 in Australia.
Harry Frederick Ernest "Fred" Whitlam was Australia's Crown Solicitor from 1936 to 1949, and a pioneer of international human rights law in Australia. He was the father of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, and had a great influence on his son's values and interests.
Boroondara General Cemetery, often referred to as Kew cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Victoria, Australia, created in the tradition of the Victorian garden cemetery. The cemetery, located in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, is listed as a heritage place on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Samuel Herbert Cohen QC was an Australian politician and barrister. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Victoria from 1962 until his death in 1969. He was also a member of Gough Whitlam's shadow ministry from 1967. He was the first Jew elected to the Senate.
The Sackville Ward is a large residential precinct in the suburb of Kew in Melbourne, Australia.
Kenneth Baillieu Myer, was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat, administrator, businessman and philanthropist. He was a member of the notable Melbourne retailing Myer family. Myer made significant philanthropic and personal contributions to the development of major national institutions, most notably the Howard Florey Laboratories of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, the School of Oriental Studies at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Arts Centre and the National Library of Australia. In 1959, he became Benefactor and Co-Founder of The Myer Foundation with his brother Baillieu Myer AC. He was also the founding chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Shadow Ministry of Gough Whitlam was the opposition Australian Labor Party frontbench of Australia from 8 February 1967 to 5 December 1972, opposing the Liberal-Country Coalition government.
