Whitlam’s approval of a National Gallery decision to buy Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles for over a million dollars sent the media into a frenzy over wasteful spending.
By the 21st century, Blue Poles was estimated to be worth at least $40 million. It is one of the National Gallery’s most popular exhibits.
In its final program for the year in 1973, the ABC’s nightly current affairs show, This Day Tonight, referred to as TDT, devoted itself to a review of Gough Whitlam’s first 12 months in government.
One of the items on TDT was Smacka Fitzgibbon singing The Adventures of Edward Gough Whitlam, a take-off of The Adventures of Barry McKenzie.
Note: I’m not absolutely sure what day this broadcast was shown but I believe it was Friday, December 14, 1973.
