Shakespeare to Winehouse open 9:00am–7:00pm on Thu, Fri, Sat from 7 July
Bill McAuley, a newspaper photographer and veteran of many campaigns, recalls Gough Whitlam’s 1972 electoral bid as the most exciting he ever covered. He photographed the Labor leader many times, and was ‘chuffed’ when Whitlam recognised him. ‘Gough Whitlam had become one of my heroes: in my opinion, a great man’, McAuley writes in his forthcoming autobiography. ‘In 1975 after the governor-general dismissed Gough and his government, I took a photograph of him in the ABC television studios when he made his statement to the Australian public. He looked wistful and shell-shocked, but his indignation came through loud and clear as he cried foul.’
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010
© Bill McAuley
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Ellen Kent examines the portrait of Vincent Lingiari and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam taken by photographer Mervyn Bishop.
Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.