Both Whitlam and Latham got their answers in no uncertain terms. I think Latham scored a record low for the ALP at the last Federal election. As voting in Australia is compulsory, election results are a good indication of how the nation feels. I tend to think of Trudeau as a Don Dunstan - someone who enaged in conduct that attracted attention. In short, Trudeau attracted attention towards Canada. Canadians felt noticed and less insignificant in the world. I wonder if this explains the rise of Canadian Liberalism?
If I'm correct, Trudeau is at heart a socialist and he implemented such policies not entirely because he craved attention but mainly because he believed in them. If I recalled he had leader charisma - probably the prototype of today's postmodern leftist politicians like Bill Clinton or (initially) Tony Blair (events have actually shown where Blair stands - he has principles, and I feel he is moving progressively to the right as time moves on, but there is no doubt from 1997 to 2000 Blair was a bit like Trudeau in policies). He was called as "like a rock star" in popularity. My personal feel is that it was partly such popular leader that Canadians became addicted to the modern socialism, but more importantly what Trudeau preaches (anti-US, socialism) matched the traditional High Toryism (paternalism in economics, and ambivalent towards America) in people like Sir Charles Tupper or PM as recent as John Diefenbaker. They view the Trudeau programme as the "red" version of traditional Toryism in the days when the British Empire is gone, the premier power is their nemesis the USA, and the Motehr Country, instead of going loggerheads with Uncle Sam, is now pro-US in the special relationship sense.
Was Whitlam possessing such similar charisma in public in 1972? I wasn't born yet - the first Australian PM that I was aware of was Bob Hawke.