Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard joined Prime Min

SYDNEY Wil Myers Jersey , Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam was remembered on Wednesday at his memorial as a man who changed the country for the better.


Former prime ministers Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard joined Prime Minister Tony Abbott to pay their respects to Whitlam, who died on Oct. 21 at the age of 98.


The Sydney Town Hall was packed with 1 Rollie Fingers Jersey ,700 people, many dignitaries, and thousands stood on the street outside the hall to watch the service on big screens.


Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) journalist and former Whitlam staffer Kerry O'Brien opened the memorial, describing his hero as a big man, in many different ways.


""Gough's very substantial legacy is now carved into this country's history,"" O'Brien said.


Australian actress Cate Blanchett said the former premier's sweeping reforms and initiatives shaped her generation. ""When I heard that Gough Whitlam had died Dave Winfield Jersey , I was filled with an inordinate sadness, a great sorrow,"" she said.


Labor Senator John Faulkner said at a ""time when so many are so cynical about politics, let us remember that this great Australian chose politics as a mission.""


Aunty Millie Ingram honored Whitlam's work to further the rights of indigenous Australians and Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson praised him for his landmark initiatives that brought about the first steps in reconciliation for indigenous people.


Whitlam's speechwriter and political historian Graham Freudenberg said his mentor was a visionary who used politics to change the fabric of Australian life.


""He saw that only the nation's parliament could bring quality and equality to areas of Australian life where Canberra had never before dared or cared,"" Freudenberg said.


The music played at the memorial was chosen by Whitlam himself and included The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and songs by Australian singer songwriter Paul Kelly.


After the service, four FA-18 Hornet fighter jets conduct a flyover above Sydney Town