Ron Ashmore on the Whitlam Dismissal: The Norman Gunston Show

Title:
Ron Ashmore on the Whitlam Dismissal: The Norman Gunston Show
NFSA ID
1168193
Year
2013
Access fees

Ron Ashmore was a camera operator for Channel 9 in Melbourne and an eyewitness to the historic events of 11 November 1975, when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his government from office.

Ashmore was on the steps of Parliament House with his assistant, John Bowring, and producer Doug Wooding. They were there to interview former Whitlam minister Jim Cairns, when political history unfolded around them.

While television networks scrambled to produce comprehensive coverage of the biggest news story of the year, Ashmore was surprised to find a camera crew from the ABC's satirical variety show, The Norman Gunston Show, on the scene.

John Fife interviewed Ron Ashmore for the NFSA's Oral History program in 2013.

Read more in The 1975 Whitlam Dismissal: News Footage