Page 2567 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
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It is worth noting that during his prime ministership Bob chose to make Canberra and the Lodge his permanent home. I know this is something that Victorian prime ministers of both political persuasions have chosen to do, perhaps more so than Sydney-based prime ministers. And people can take from that what they will!
The minister for women and senator for the ACT in the Hawke government, Susan Ryan, recalled to the Canberra Times that Bob loved entertaining at the Lodge, and there are many stories of parties going well into the early morning. Of course we all know that Bob famously, or perhaps infamously, loved sunbathing around the Lodge’s outdoor pool.
But beyond the Prime Minister’s residence, Bob took a strong interest in our local community. He would be spotted playing golf on one of Canberra’s golf courses or cricket at Manuka Oval; he was an avid supporter of the Canberra Raiders and was, for a time, their number one ticket holder. And when the Raiders won their first premiership in 1989 Bob insisted on holding the celebration party at the Lodge.
In 1984 he reinvigorated the Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval, and a match between the Prime Minister’s XI and an international or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team has been played every summer since 1984. It is perhaps fitting that in 1992 one of the three grandstands at Manuka Oval was named the Bob Hawke stand in recognition of his dedication and commitment to bringing international cricket to Canberra.
But his biggest influence on Canberra is of course his decision to sever our city’s administrative ties with the commonwealth and to introduce self-government for the territory. There is no doubt that at that time Canberrans were reluctant about the idea but I think Bob saw in us something that at the time perhaps we did not see in ourselves: Canberra’s maturity as a city and as a community and our capacity to set our own agenda and lay our own pathway for the future. All of us here in this chamber today, and those who came before us, can attribute at least in some small part our political careers to Bob Hawke.
With that, I will conclude by extending the parliamentary Labor Party’s deepest sympathies and, I hope, those of all members of this Assembly to those who loved him, who were closest to him, to his extended family. We thank you for sharing him with the nation and we thank you for his very significant contribution to Canberra.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (10.10): I rise today on behalf of the opposition to express our condolences at the passing of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. Robert James Lee Hawke was born on 9 December 1929 in Bordertown, South Australia, and he distinguished himself at an early age. A near-death experience in his late teens drove him to making the most out of his talents and he excelled in much of what he did.
After graduating from the University of Western Australia in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, Mr Hawke won a Rhodes scholarship. He commenced a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and economics but later transferred to a
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