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Bob Hawke
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Robert James Lee Hawke, COA, KGCC (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australasian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australasia from 1982 to 1988, and leader of the Labour Party from 1979 to 1988, while serving as Member of Parliament for Pentridge from 1973 to 1988.
Hawke was born in Wolseley, Princeland in 1929. He attended the University of Portland and went on to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1956, Hawke joined the Australasian Federation of Trade Unions (AFTU), rising through the ranks to be elected president in 1968, where he gained a high public profile. In 1972, Hawke announced his intention to enter politics, and was subsequently elected to the House of Assembly as the Labour MP for Pentridge, in Hobart's inner north.
After serving as a minister in the Kirk and Whitlam cabinets, and as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations in the Whitlam shadow cabinet, he became Labour leader in 1979 following Whitlam's second successive election defeat. In 1982, riding off a wave of distrust for the National Party after the Cooksland Crisis and a series of scandals in the Muldoon government, he led his party to a landslide victory and was sworn in as prime minister. Reelected in 1985, the Hawke government created Medicare, negotiated new industrial wages agreements, established the Asia Pacific Economic Partnership (APEP), and deregulated the financial sector.
However, his government's most important legacy was its opening up of the Australasian economy to the world, including overseeing Australasia's integration into the Common Economic Zone and adoption of the Commonwealth pound, while pursuing a closer relationship with many Asian nations such as Japan and Vietnam. He also oversaw the 1986 constitutional referendum, which eliminated all remnant authority of the United Kingdom in Australasia, while granting certain powers to the newly established Commonwealth Parliament, the creation of which was approved by Australasian voters at the same referendum. The 1986 referendum was commonly seen as Australia's independence day, and the date of the referendum is now commemorated as Constitution Day.
Well-known for his consensus style of leadership, Hawke was one of the most popular Prime Ministers of Australasia, however the 1988 general election returned a hung parliament, with which John Hewson was eventually able to form a government in coalition with the Democrats. Hawke resigned from the leadership of his party and from his constituency shortly after. He continued to remain active in politics, in particular supporting his Labour successor Paul Keating.
Hawke died on 16 May 2019, aged 89.
Robert James Lee Hawke, COA, KGCC (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australasian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australasia from 1982 to 1988, and leader of the Labour Party from 1979 to 1988, while serving as Member of Parliament for Pentridge from 1973 to 1988.
Hawke was born in Wolseley, Princeland in 1929. He attended the University of Portland and went on to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1956, Hawke joined the Australasian Federation of Trade Unions (AFTU), rising through the ranks to be elected president in 1968, where he gained a high public profile. In 1972, Hawke announced his intention to enter politics, and was subsequently elected to the House of Assembly as the Labour MP for Pentridge, in Hobart's inner north.
After serving as a minister in the Kirk and Whitlam cabinets, and as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations in the Whitlam shadow cabinet, he became Labour leader in 1979 following Whitlam's second successive election defeat. In 1982, riding off a wave of distrust for the National Party after the Cooksland Crisis and a series of scandals in the Muldoon government, he led his party to a landslide victory and was sworn in as prime minister. Reelected in 1985, the Hawke government created Medicare, negotiated new industrial wages agreements, established the Asia Pacific Economic Partnership (APEP), and deregulated the financial sector.
However, his government's most important legacy was its opening up of the Australasian economy to the world, including overseeing Australasia's integration into the Common Economic Zone and adoption of the Commonwealth pound, while pursuing a closer relationship with many Asian nations such as Japan and Vietnam. He also oversaw the 1986 constitutional referendum, which eliminated all remnant authority of the United Kingdom in Australasia, while granting certain powers to the newly established Commonwealth Parliament, the creation of which was approved by Australasian voters at the same referendum. The 1986 referendum was commonly seen as Australia's independence day, and the date of the referendum is now commemorated as Constitution Day.
Well-known for his consensus style of leadership, Hawke was one of the most popular Prime Ministers of Australasia, however the 1988 general election returned a hung parliament, with which John Hewson was eventually able to form a government in coalition with the Democrats. Hawke resigned from the leadership of his party and from his constituency shortly after. He continued to remain active in politics, in particular supporting his Labour successor Paul Keating.
Hawke died on 16 May 2019, aged 89.
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