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. His footage of the day's momentous events is significant because, as far as we are aware, it is the only original film of this historical event that still exists.

While there is other footage of the events of this day in existence, it appears to have survived only on videotape; the original film elements are either missing or have long since been destroyed. The NFSA does hold a copy of the Eyewitness News special The Australian Experiment: Labor 72–75, produced by Network Ten and presented by Bruce Mansfield with political reporter Laurie Power. It includes rare shots of Gough Whitlam addressing the crowd with a megaphone, shot by Channel Ten Parliament House bureau camera operator Phil Lorant.

Read more about The 1975 Whitlam Dismissal: Preserving the Footage