Prime minister at a time of tumult, Gough Whitlam made a difference

Few political leaders have polarised their nation as much as Australia's Gough Whitlam, sacked as prime minister by the head of state's representative to resolve a constitutional crisis and then heavily defeated at the subsequent poll. But when he died last week at 98, nearly 40 years after his dismissal, it was the difference he made during three tumultuous years in office, socially, culturally and to Australia's image, that was remembered.

For an Asian audience, his legacy is best illustrated by the story of how he opened Australia to China. In 1971, as leader of the centre-left opposition Labor Party, he took the political gamble of accepting an invitation to visit China in the midst of the cold war and isolation by the West. His political opponents saw the opportunity to exploit his party's perceived softness on security issues. Overnight, Whitlam was made to look statesmanlike when it emerged that Henry Kissinger was also in Beijing, secretly arranging the historic visit by US president Richard Nixon. China has never forgotten, as evidenced by official and state media tributes after his death.

In the words of one Australian newspaper that opposed him at the time, Whitlam set about dragging an inward-looking nation out of monocultural, post-colonial complacency. Alas, he also reflected its contradictions in that he was a "stickler for parliamentary process and the rule of law [who] nonetheless presided over one of the most dysfunctional governments in history". As a result, the scale and pace of change under Whitlam got ahead of public opinion.

But his agenda speaks for itself. As well as the China issue, it included the environment, withdrawing troops from Vietnam and ending military conscription, needs-based school funding, free university education, universal free health care, liberation of culture and the arts through state funding, female and racial equality, no-fault divorce reform, and tariff cuts that helped make Australian business competitive. His political style was described as crash through, or crash. Despite his flaws, most agree he left Australia a better place when he crashed out.