Page 2568 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
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Bachelor of Letters at Oxford. Later, in 1956, Mr Hawke temporarily relocated to Canberra where he accepted a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in arbitration law at the ANU.
Throughout his youth Mr Hawke was an active member of the Labor Party and university unions. He later left his doctoral studies to work for the Australian Council of Trade Unions in Melbourne. Mr Hawke became responsible for the presentation of the ACTU’s annual case for higher wages to the national wage tribunal, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He was very successful in that role and was elected ACTU President in 1969.
In 1973 Mr Hawke was elected the Federal President of the Labor Party and was of course very influential in that role. This afforded him credibility and authority throughout his political career. Mr Hawke was elected the member for Wills in 1980 and became Leader of the Opposition just weeks before the 1983 election, which was of course successful for the Labor Party.
No-one can deny that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating as a team had a major impact on the economic and social fabric of Australia. Under their leadership, the Australian government floated the dollar; created Medicare; deregulated much of the financial system; started the privatisation of government-owned businesses, including the Commonwealth Bank, Qantas and CSL Ltd; undertook economic reform; outlawed workplace gender discrimination; responded to the AIDS epidemic; reintroduced the higher education contribution scheme; listed the Gondwana Rainforests, the Wet Tropics of Queensland and the Uluru National Park on the World Heritage list; handed back Uluru to the traditional owners; declared Advance Australia Fair the official Australian national anthem and much, much, more. It was only through Bob Hawke’s leadership that this was possible. While he was later deposed by his party, John Howard and Scott Morrison, I believe, are correct in describing Bob Hawke as Labor’s greatest Prime Minister.
Bob Hawke was a much-loved man of the people, man of the Labor Party and man of the unions and he never forgot his roots. On how he would like to be remembered, Mr Hawke said, “As a bloke who loved his country, still does. And loves Australians and who wasn’t essentially changed by high office.” I believe he will be remembered as such. As is well documented, his family made considerable sacrifices during his time as a unionist and Prime Minister. And it gives cause for all of us to reflect on and give thanks to the sacrifices that all our families make in order for us to be involved in public life.
Again I extend my condolences to Bob Hawke’s widow, Blanche, and to the family on the passing of this great Prime Minister.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (10.14): I rise on behalf of the ACT Greens to express our condolences to Bob Hawke’s family and, indeed, the wider Labor movement in Australia following his death on 16 May this year. Throughout my high school years Bob Hawke was a fixture; he was just there as the Prime Minister and I took it for granted. As I grew older, and certainly since his death, I have had more opportunity and perspective to reflect on his achievements and legacy.
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