Canberra suburb named after Gough Whitlam
Deposed PM Gough Whitlam tells reporters of his dismissal on November 11, 1975.
Former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam will be remembered when a new Canberra suburb is named after him.
The ACT Government announced the name Whitlam was chosen for land being released in Molonglo Valley, to the west of the Canberra CBD.
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ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said residents would move in by the end of the decade.
“Gough Whitlam’s contribution to Australia was huge, he changed our nation forever, and I am pleased our city can mark his legacy in this way,” Mr Barr said, according to The Canberra Times.
Mr Whitlam had strong links to Canberra, moving there in 1926 with his family at age 10 and completing high school in the capital.
He was elected to the prime ministership in 1972 until he was dismissed by then Governor-General Sir John Kerr in 1975, amidst what was the greatest political and constitutional crisis of Australian politics.
There are 16 Canberran suburbs named after former PM’s – Holt, Page, Barton, Forde, Scullin, Curtin, Deakin, Hughes, Fadden, Fisher, Watson, Reid, Bruce, Cook, Lyons and Chifley.