Daniel Hurst, political correspondent
theguardian.com, Wednesday 22 October 2014
Labor frontbencher accuses party of trying to co-opt former prime minister by tweeting image of him next to Greens logo
Anthony Albanese has accused the Greens of “opportunism of the worst kind” after the party attached its logo to an image of Gough Whitlam.
Whitlam, the Labor prime minister from 1972 to 1975, died on Tuesday at the age of 98, with politicians from all sides paying tribute to the “giant” of Australian public life.
An image circulated online by the Greens highlighted Whitlam’s decision to abolish university fees on 1 January 1974. Underneath a photo of Whitlam were the words: “Gough Whitlam’s legacy for a progressive Australia will be remembered. Vale Gough Whitlam.”
Albanese objected to the Greens’ decision to add their logo to the image, saying it was “cheap, opportunistic and offensive given that Gough Whitlam was a Labor man his entire life”.
Labor MPs and senators were reported to be angry over the Greens’ image when the issue was raised at a caucus meeting on Wednesday morning. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, told colleagues: “On the day he died how offensive for them to try to co-opt him.”
Albanese called on the Greens to “do the right thing” and take down the image.
“This shows no respect and it’s opportunism of the worst kind in a way that I find offensive and people in the Labor caucus today found offensive,” he said.
“They clearly are trying to appropriate Gough Whitlam’s legacy for the Greens. Gough Whitlam not only was not a member of the Greens’ political party, he campaigned against them.
“We [Labor] are Australia’s oldest political party. We’ve formed government. We have legacies. Gough Whitlam’s legacy is a Labor legacy.”
The deputy leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, defended the image. “Right now, a broad cross-section of Australians are celebrating the Whitlam legacy,” Bandt said.
“In many ways, Gough was the author of modern, progressive Australia and the Greens are proud to join the thousands of others paying tribute to him.”
The image was authorised by the New South Wales Greens senator, Lee Rhiannon.
