There are times in history when the fate and future of a nation can be traced back to a single decision; Gough Whitlam becoming Prime Minister was one of those moments. Edward “Gough” Whitlam was the Prime Minister of Australia from 5 December 1972 to 11 November 1975. He was a new class of politician. He had attended a private school, served in the military and came from a middle-class family. (Davidson Hurst Macyntire 1998 p689) He came on board with many new, exciting and somewhat radical ideas. (Dyrenfurth Bongorio 2011 p137). Famous for his slogan “Its Time” he was destined to make a difference. He was known as "The Great Reformer" and implemented one of the greatest overhauls and reforms of Australian society, politics and way of life in Australia's history. (Hocking 2012 p1) He eradicated the infamous White Australia Policy and gave women equal rights. Aboriginal people were given their land rights for the first time, it ended sexual and racial discrimination among many other things (Davidson Hurst Macyntire 1998 p689). The ideas and policies he set in motion are arguably among the most influential and many of his ideas are still implemented into the Australian way of life today. In the 3 years he was Prime Minister he implemented over 200 policy changes. To put that into perspective, that works out to be just over one a week. Although he was Prime Minister for only three years, he undeniably helped change Australian society forever. In this essay I will argue that Gough Whitlam, his government and his policies changed Australia and the Australian way of life. I will support this by examining some of his best-known policies. Specifically those aimed at the everyday Australian and such as the pol...... middle of paper ......ss, Carlton VIC. ISBN: 9780522857931Mooney, G and Scotton, R (1999) Economics and Australian Health PolicyAllan And Unwin Pty Ltd, Crows Nest ISBN: 1864487496Boxall, Anne-marie; Gillespie, James 2013, Making Medicare: The Politics of Universal Health Care in Australia, e-book, http://CANBERRA.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1557384 [Accessed 28 April 2014] Wikipedia, (2014). Conscription in Australia. [online] Available at: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Australia#Vietnam_War [accessed 26 April 2014]Australia and The Vietnam War, (2014). Australia and The Vietnam War. [online] Available at : http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/‎ [Accessed 24 April 2014]. Wikipedia, (2014) Tertiary education fees in Australia [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Tertiary_education_fees_in_Australia [accessed 25 April. 2014].