Then a reporter for the Melbourne Sun, Oakes was writing a book on Whitlam's campaign and was with the Labor leader and his staffers as the votes were being tallied.

"There was a look of relief on his face when the bloke operating the computer said, I think we can send the white smoke up the chimney now," Oakes recalls.

Oakes remembers Australia's 21st prime minister as a flawed but "special sort of bloke" who had to take on the Labor Party before he could challenge the Liberals.

"He genuinely wanted to change Australia for the better and had big ideas of how to do it," Oakes said.

Oakes says Whitlam faced a tough Canberra press gallery, but he took the media seriously and was not the sort of politician who relied on talking points.

"He gave good answers to questions, often witty answers," he said.

"If you were wrong, he'd tell you in no uncertain terms."

Ken Begg was the ABC's political correspondent during the Whitlam years.

"It was an exciting time," he said.

Begg remembers feeling intimidated by "a giant of a man … a giant in intellect".

"If you asked a foolish question you got pulled down very, very quickly," he said. "I, as a young reporter, was slightly in awe of this man."

Begg says he learnt more about Australia and issues such as health care and state rights from Whitlam than he did from any other prime minister.

"And, of course, Whitlam's great humour," he said.

"The last time I saw him in the Old Parliament House I was coming out of the toilet.