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This website is in imminent danger of being shut down. It has been online since 1995, but the personal circumstances of the owner, Malcolm Farnsworth, are such that economies have to be made. Server costs and suchlike have become prohibitive. At the urging of people online, I have agreed to see if Patreon provides a solution. More information is available at the Patreon website. If you are able to contribute even $1.00/month to keep the site running, please click the Patreon button below.
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.
