It is hard to describe the period during which Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister. Even to a teenager(albeit, one interested in politics) this was obviously a time of turbulent and ongoing change. Unlike the terms of most governments, in which less-than-inspiring characters mouth platitudes and score childish points off their adversaries, this one was unique. Closer to a revolution than a term in office, the Whitlam Government did not take pause for breath, such was the breadth of it's vision for change in this country.

To many of those in blazers and ties (and hats and gloves), the changes emanating from Canberra were but background noise. My home suburb being one of the most conservative voting electorates in Australia, it was a challenge to be left-of-centre. As elections rolled around, the mood in the playground was more hostile, our erstwhile peers parroting their parent's views, plastering stickers to their bags. My friend John Hawkins and I had only the staff as comrades-in-arms, though some executive staff were undoubtedly unreconstructed reactionaries.

The conservative coup of November 11 - a political and judicial coup- against a democratically elected government, was swift and brutal. It radicalized many on the left and essentially elevated the Whitlam Government, creating a kind of martyrdom as it did. For us young ones, it was disturbing. It was also a watershed moment.