Long-time Liberal Party members John and Caryl Haslem of Catalina have joined the chorus of praise for former prime minister Gough Whitlam, who passed away on Tuesday.
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Both knew him, through Mr Haslem’s position as Liberal MP for Canberra, and Mrs Haslem’s role as executive director of the National Gallery of Australia, where Mr Whitlam was council chairman.
“He was a lovely fella, and we both liked him very much,” Mr Haslem said.
“He was a big bear with a gentle heart,” Mrs Haslem said.
Mr Haslem clearly remembers the first time he met Whitlam, straight after Mr Haslem won the Federal seat of Canberra in Malcolm Fraser’s 1975 landslide defeat of The Labor leader.
“It was in the corridor outside the House of Representatives chamber,” Mr Haslem recalled.
“He recognised me and he was coming towards me.
"He was a lot bigger than me and I was a new boy of 35, learning the ropes.
"He said ‘you’re Haslem, and you’ve won the seat of Canberra. Congratulations’.”
Mr Haslem recalls a “giant of a man, physically and intellectually.”
“He was a warm-hearted, friendly and idealistic man and he was severely let down by his ministers and parliamentary colleagues.
"People blamed him for things that were not perpetrated by him.”
Mr Haslem remembers when Whitlam controversially purchased the painting ‘Blue Poles’, by American artist Jackson Pollock, for $1.3 million in 1973.
“It was a crackerjack buy,” he said.
“Many conservative people couldn’t understand what an amazing work it was.
“People said things like ‘my nephew could paint better than that’, but now it is worth millions and millions.”
The Haslems said Whitlam’s sense of humour was often mistaken for arrogance.
“He had a wonderful ironic and self-depreciating sense of humour and a fantastic turn of phrase,” Mr Haslem said.
Mrs Haslem said Whitlam did “wonderful things” as prime minister.
“I had a neighbour in an unhappy marriage and when he introduced no-fault divorce that helped her and many others,” she said.
Mrs Haslem remembers meeting him when she became National Gallery of Australia executive director.
“He put his arms around me and said ‘welcome comrade’,” she recalls.
“When I got my OAM (in 1990) he rang me and said ‘welcome to the club, my girl’.”
