She well remembers the words spoken that night in 1972.

“We were just so ecstatic. We said: ‘now we don’t have to be ashamed of our politics’.

“It was breath of fresh air that blew through the life of Australia.”

Yesterday, she felt she could not come up with another way to describe Mr Whitlam than the phrase of the day.

“He was a giant,” the former Albury Regional Art Gallery director said.

“Of course he had his faults — every great person has his faults.

“But I don’t think anybody can take away from him the huge contribution he made to exciting and enlivening Australian life. I just found him a very engaging man.”

Dr Banfield laughed when reminded of Mr Whitlam’s assessment of her as a “formidable woman”.

She met him several times over the years, including at the art gallery’s launch in 1989.

Mr Whitlam ended up giving “a very long speech” because his offsider had lost his luggage — inside was his only other shirt, the notes tucked into the pocket.

Later than night, a group including Dr Banfield and her husband, Roy Guthrie, took Mr Whitlam out for dinner.

Mr Guthrie had been private secretary to Harold Mair, who was the Labor member for Albury until defeated by Liberal Ian Glachan in 1988.

“A man came up to Roy and said: ‘could I just shake Gough Whitlam’s hand’?” she said.

“Roy introduced him to Gough. The man had tears in his eyes and said ‘I’ll never forget this’.”

“And this was just an ordinary bloke off the street. But that was Gough Whitlam.

“That very essence distinguished him.”

About nine years ago, an artist organised an exhibition at the gallery of prominent people from the peak years of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation.

Photographer Benjamin Wells used 20 front pages from The Border Morning Mail in 1974 as the basis of the exhibition on the Albury-Wodonga growth centre.

“He very cheekily invited Gough Whitlam to open it and we thought we’d get 200 people accept,” Dr Banfield said.

But 400 rolled up and the event had to be moved into the main gallery space “because there were so many people who wanted to speak to him”.

Dr Banfield said Whitlam and his wife, Margaret, who died in 2012, were a formidable couple.

“I don’t think we’ll see his like again for many generations,” she said.

“He had a big vision. Some said he didn’t know anything about the economy, but neither did Winston Churchill and we still remember him.”