CHEERS HAWKIE

On Election eve, the nation farewells our lovable larrikin

HE was a politician like no other. The People’s Prime Minister. A legend. A beer-guzzling larrikin. Founder of modern Australia. On the eve of the Federal Election, the nation mourns and remembers Bob Hawke.

FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke has died at the age of 89.

Mr Hawke, arguably one of the most popular prime ministers in Australian history, is survived by his wife Blanche d’Alpuget, and children Susan, Stephen and Rosslyn.

His first wife, Hazel, died in 2013 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, while the couple’s fourth child, Robert junior, died in infancy in 1963.

Mr Hawke was Australia’s 23rd prime minister, leading the nation from 1983-1991. He delivered the Labor Party four consecutive electoral victories.

His legacy includes the creation of Medicare, the formation of APEC and the initiation of national superannuation.

Known for his larrikin streak, he infamously held the world record for skolling beer and in later years even had a brand of lager named after him.

In the months before his death, Mr Hawke was using a wheelchair after suffering a series of health scares.

In December 2018, he spoke to the Bulletin at Queensland’s Woodford Folk Festival, which he attended every year. Mr Hawke usually spoke at the festival but had opted out.

“I’ve sung my last song, or last verse of Waltzing Matilda,” he said.

“That’s been done.” Asked about his plans for 2019, Mr Hawke said he’d “had his time”.

“No, I’m just to see ... I’ve had my time, just stick around for a little while.”

He had taken to relying on a wheelchair, and had suffered several health troubles this year.

In May 2018 he was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney with “the wobbles” after hitting his head in a fall.

During his hospital stay, it was reported that he was eager to get home to his cigars and crosswords.

He battled pneumonia in 2011, and beat another serious illness in 2015 that left him “so close to death”.

Bob Hawke was born in South Australia on December 9, 1929, but moved to Western Australia as a child.

He always had big political ambitions.

It’s believed he said, at just 15, that he would one day lead the nation.

He joined the Labor Party in 1947 and led the University of Western Australia’s Student Representative Council, where he studied a double degree in law and arts. He graduated in 1953.

He went on to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

During his time there, he befriended many overseas students, which led him to found the International Club.

He described himself as a “pretty haphazard” student during the first two terms of his course, and was lucky he had the smarts to do little work.

But during that same year he suffered a serious motorbike accident and almost lost his life.

It was a turning point for Mr Hawke, who said it prompted him to live life to its fullest.

He never liked the idea of being a lawyer, and did not complete the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics he initially undertook under the Rhodes scholarship at Oxford.

Instead, he penned a thesis on the history of wagefixing in Australia, graduating with a Bachelor of Letters in 1955.

But they weren’t his only impressive accolades; the former PM was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records for skolling 2.5 pints (1.12 litres) in 11 seconds.

Mr Hawke first attempted to enter federal Parliament by contesting the seat of Corio, Victoria, held by Liberal MP Hubert Oppermann, in 1963.

Mr Oppermann had represented the division since 1949. Mr Hawke was unsuccessful.

After his failed bid, he was elected president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 1969, and ALP president in 1973.

The ACTU recognises Mr Hawke as leading the organisation through a period of significant social change, including amping up the organisation’s influence in areas including education, health and housing.

He ran for Parliament again at the 1980 federal election, when Labor leader Bill Hayden took on incumbent Liberal leader Malcolm Fraser.

Bob was an absolutely brilliant prime minister. He touched every leadership base you can think of

While the ALP wasn’t swept into power, Mr Hawke snapped up the Victorian seat of Wills by a hefty margin and was then appointed shadow minister for industrial relations.

Just two years later he was narrowly defeated in a leadership ballot called by Mr Hayden.

But he was given another shot at the leadership early in 1983 and was elected unopposed. Mr Hawke led Labor to victory at the 1983 election in a landslide with the slogan “Bringing Australia Together”.

Against a backdrop of high inflation and unemployment, his victory ended seven years of Liberal Party rule.

Mr Hawke led the ALP to four consecutive victories during his time as leader from 1983 to 1991.

He governed amid challenges

posed by globalisation and industrial relations, and his government worked to improve economic and employment growth

Arguably, Mr Hawke’s signature policy was the introduction in 1984 of Medicare, Australia’s universal healthcare system.

He introduced it after the Medibank scheme introduced by Gough Whitlam was partially dismantled during the Fraser government.

He was also known for modernising and integrating Australia’s economy into the global economy.

Mr Hawke deregulated the financial system and floated the dollar and reduced tariffs that Labor had traditionally relied on to protect industry and jobs.

Low-income families were given greater financial assistance and sex discrimination in the workplace was outlawed.

Mr Hawke also introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS).

Former Hawke cabinet minister Gareth Evans told the ABC: “Bob was an absolutely brilliant prime minister. He touched every leadership base you can think of.

“He had a very strong sense of policy direction, he was an excellent communicator to the public, the world at large, he was charismatic to go with it and he was a terrific manager of people.”

But he was not without his critics.

Some believed he’d “hijacked” the party and moved it to the Right through his strengthening of private enterprise.

His close relationships with leading businessmen also drew ire.

As a recession took hold in the late 1980s, there were doubts Mr Hawke would win the 1990 election, which he ultimately pulled off on a tight margin.

But eventually he lost the support of the Labor Right,

who threw their support behind treasurer Paul Keating in a 1991 leadership spill.

Mr Keating would go on to lead the party until 1996.

Mr Hawke had elevated Mr Keating to treasurer upon winning government in 1983.

Their partnership was credited with helping the ALP achieve continued electoral success by moving the party towards the centre, and winning the support of Liberal-National voters.

But things began to take a sour turn in 1998.

A secret meeting dubbed the “Kirribilli Agreement” took place as opinion polls began to wane, and Mr Hawke agreed to hand over power to Mr Keating if he won the 1990 election.

But he didn’t, prompting two Keating-initiated leadership spills in 1991, the second of which Mr Hawke would lose.

He would go on to sit on the backbench for a brief period before retiring in 1992.

The two traded barbs as the years went on, but Mr Hawke said in 2014 he wanted the Australian public to remember them for what they achieved.

“I would like history to talk about Paul and myself in terms of the great things we were able to do together,” Mr Hawke told the ABC.

“His ambition to become leader was perfectly justified and in the end he had his opportunity and he did some good things.

“So I hope history will look at the positives and not the occasional tiffs.”

After quitting politics, Mr Hawke took TV journalism in his stride, interviewing international political figures for Channel 9.

He also penned The

Hawke Memoirs, and became a successful businessman working as a consultant and dealing in the property market.

He remained involved in the Labor Party, supporting Kevin Rudd during the 2007 election and campaigning against John Howard’s WorkChoices.

Similarly, he made appearances during the ALP’s 2010 and 2013 election campaigns.

During his time in office, Mr Hawke was married to Hazel, and the break-up of their marriage in 1994 caused public dismay and family upheaval.

After his divorce in 1995, Mr Hawke married his biographer Ms d’Alpuget.

He began an affair with Ms d’Alpuget in 1976, but it’s believed he stayed with Hazel to preserve his prime ministerial aspirations.

Mr Hawke reportedly said his post-political life had been “extraordinarily interesting and fulfilling”.

The former prime minister was a keen punter, remained sport-obsessed and, even at 88 years old, was seen skolling a beer at the SCG.