FWIW...
I was a security screener in the nineties and Whitlam was a fairly regular traveller through the airport I worked at.
He was always screened to the same degree as everyone else and certainly received no special favours from us.
For the record, he was always co-operative and charming when passing through the screening point, unlike several other pollies I could mention
From what I remember, current serving heads of state and PMs come under different (decreased) screening regs, but other pollies certainly aren't exempt.