It was Joh Bjelke Peterson, National Party, who ensured that Queensland's free hospital system was maintained for all of those years. It was paid for by the State lottery, the Golden Casket.

So Hasbeen has legitimate cause for complaint: he has to pay higher taxes for what he got for free before and there is a very large bureaucratic administration to support that was not there before.

As might be expected, there was a very long Conga line of suck-holes thrusting themselves into the limelight to ride on a dead man's hearse to win some TV exposure and maybe some columns in the print media. There will be more because the media is always desperate for cheap fodder.

The only person I saw interviewed who demonstrated any principle and he is know for it, was Kim Beasley, speaking from his job in the US and most likely earning the pay of a job that was part of the spoils of service for a political party, and a gift to see him gone as far as the usual Labor factions were concerned.

Respect is due to anyone to achieves eminence for public service and while Gough was flawed in so many ways, one suspects that it was so often the Labor Party itself, its callous anti-democratic factions, he had to fight against most and that laid many of the booby-trap mines that finally brought him down.

It was very self-indulgent of the Parliament, both houses, to take the day off as self-promoting politicians did their thing. I am sure that Gough would have admonished them to get on with work instead. Gough would be remembering the words of one of his contemporaries who observed that in politics, like a one-horse race, you could always bank on self-interest.

To his credit Gough was one of a very rare breed of statesmen who didn't always put self interest first. He is chalk and cheese to the crew who pretended to care for him today, but undermined, blamed and cursed him before. That is politics, and the media too.

Labor MPs lay floral tribute for Whitlam

Labor leader Bill Shorten has joined with his parliamentary colleagues in paying tribute to his predecessor Gough Whitlam with a commemorative march.

About 200 members of Labor's caucus and staff walked from the new Parliament House to the old one, where Mr Whitlam served his time in parliament.

Mr Shorten and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek laid a wreath alongside public floral tributes on the stairs where Mr Whitlam made his famous speech after being sacked in 1975.

Caucus observed a minute's silence before heading inside for a private wake.

Tributes left at Old Parliament House may be added to the collection of the Museum of Australian Democracy housed there.

Any money says they sent a staff member out to buy them at taxpayer expense, then did a photo op laying them just when media cameras are present.

My strongest personal memory of the time was thinking it was a bit crook I was old enough to die for my country, but not old enough to vote in my country. Also grateful for the free education, not just for myself but for a couple of mates who came from very poor families but consistently beat me in high school exams.
At least Gough had vision, even if he wasn't too flash on economics.
As necessary as bean counters might be, we still need visionaries to drag us out of the past.
If only we had some -on both sides- now.

OTB,

"As might be expected, there was a very long Conga line of suck-holes thrusting themselves into the limelight to ride on a dead man's hearse..."

As might even be more expected, you steal Mark Latham's line to make your cheap point.

Here's a better one....amidst the petty commentary of small minds and small men - and the scrubby brush that currently makes up Parliament - here's what Latham said today in remembrance of a man like Gough - ".....his passing is like a towering oak tree crashing to the forest floor."

Firstly nothing is "FREE", nothing is free! Someone is paying for it and invariably when it is stated to be "free" it will be over-used.
The other thing was the North Korean like ABC coverage of Whitlam's passing.
The worst was when some stupid girl (High school so I suppose around 16) said on our ABC that Whitlam gave women the vote! Not corrected by the idiot headmaster or teacher and we have professionals in teaching? Do not make me laugh, teachers, under-performing, overpaid and vastly too over-represented in Australian life.
Whitlam was certainly over rewarded for the complete hash he made of government.

Lenore Taylor, political editor for The Guardian
pointed out on Tuesday 21 October 2014 that
Australians still want politicians who fire their
imaginations and dare to be brave. That with the case
of the passing of Gough Whitlam - Australia is not just
mourning a great politician, and it is not just mourning
a long-gone era of great political change. It is mourning
great politics!

Whitlam's death has apparently unleashed a deep nostalgia for
politics that make changes that endure, politics that
transform - not by stealth but by winning the battle of ideas.

Taylor tells us that smart politicians take the right lessons
from their predecessors even those with whom they disagree.

Our Prime Minister, Tony Abbott agrees with this:

"In every sense Gough Whitlam was a giant figure in this
Parliament and in Public Life...It was his vision that
drove our policy then and still drives our public life...
all subsequent times have been shaped by his time ...
We all have much to learn from the giants of those times."

"Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord
And let perpetual light shine on them
May they rest in peace. Amen."

Rest in Peace, Gough Whitlam.