Bob Wilesmith on the Whitlam Dismissal: Getting the footage to air

Camera operator Bob Wilesmith was working for Channel 7 in the Parliament House bureau in Canberra on 11 November 1975, the day Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his government from office. He captured footage of the momentous events at Parliament House that day, including Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser exiting the building to a jeering crowd, a defiant Whitlam addressing his supporters, and filing cabinets being carried out of Whitlam's office.

As the afternoon wore on, time was running out for Wilesmith to get his film processed for the evening news deadline. Leaving Channel 7 journalists Laurie Wilson and Mike Peterson to commandeer a passing car to take them to the CTC 7 studios in Watson, Wilesmith rushed to the station where Canlab was processing the film. In consultation with Wilson, Wilesmith edited the most important vision onto a smaller reel. In this excerpt from his NFSA Oral History interview with Geoff Gardner, he describes how the footage finally went to air.

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