FORMER Prime Minister Gough Whitlam has died, aged 98.
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Whitlam opened the Wimmera Machinery Field Days in Horsham in 1971.
He was the last federal opposition leader to open the field days prior to Tony Abbott in 2012.
Whitlam also launched a national litter campaign No Rubbish Australia at the Horsham Town Hall on June 3, 1970.
His children Antony, Nicholas and Stephen Whitlam and Catherine Dovey issued a statement on Tuesday morning.
"Our father, Gough Whitlam, has died this morning at the age of 98," the statement said.
"A loving and generous father, he was a source of inspiration to us and our families and for millions of Australians."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott led the tributes on Tuesday.
"Gough Whitlam was a giant of his time," Mr Abbott said in a statement.
"He united the Australian Labor Party, won two elections and seemed, in so many ways, larger than life.
"In his own party, he inspired a legion of young people to get involved in public life.
Mr Abbott also paid tribute to the late Margaret Whitlam and her contribution and leadership alongside Gough.
"Gough Whitlam's life was inseparable from that of Margaret Whitlam. Margaret Whitlam was a leading light for women of her generation. Together they made a difference to our country.
"On this day we honour a life of service to our country."
Former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard honoured Mr Whitlam 'as a man of the highest political courage' and 'a giant of his era'.
"Gough will live always in our nation, which he transformed throughout his long public life," she wrote in a blog post for the Guardian Australia.
"He is alive in our universities and the many lives he changed by giving free access to university education, my life included in that count."
"Alive in Medicare and the uniquely Australian health system we now take for granted," he said.
Mr Abbott said he had instructed all flags be flown at half mast on Tuesday and on the day of Mr Whitlam's state memorial service.
A meeting of Labor's federal caucus is scheduled for Tuesday morning and it is understood Labor leader Bill Shorten will make his first statement about Mr Whitlam's death then.