Bob Hawke spent 24 years married to his second wife, Blanche d'Alpuget, whose canny 1981 biography helped make him ALP leader – and one of our most beloved PMs. Chris Wallace tells their story.
Australia’s economic state in 1983 was very different from today: Bob Hawke wanted to lower expectations of government; Anthony Albanese is trying to raise them, even just a little.
The new prime minister has fewer economic levers to pull than previous Labor governments. That makes taking Australians into his confidence about the need for bolder change all the more important.
Years ago, Kevin Rudd sold himself as a version of Howard-lite, as he sought to reassure voters he wouldn’t be scary. This week, Anthony Albanese invoked a Labor icon to soothe fears of change.
Anthony Albanese will declare he would govern on the Hawke model of consensus, in a Wednesday economic speech that also directs a strong pitch to business.
On the relatively rare occasions Labor has won victory from opposition, it has done so with a strong reform agenda. So far, Albanese is taking a big – and risky – departure from that.
Robert Menzies established a ‘buffer body’ between government and universities.
Shutterstock
Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies insisted universities should have protection from political interference. But Bob Hawke’s education minister John Dawkins dismantled these protections.
While the post-mortem is oddly silent on some issues and clearly struggling with others, it nonetheless provides a thoughtful analysis of where the party went wrong in the 2019 election.
We’ve entered out 29th year of uninterpreted economic growth. Continued good fortune will require harder decisions.
Shutterstock
What if Bob Hawke, hailed as a leader who actually ‘got’ environmental issues, had never been rolled by Paul Keating? Perhaps the climate policy wars would have turned out differently.
Bob Hawke with ministers and staff at the last cabinet meeting in the old Cabinet Room in 1988.
AAP Image/Supplied by the National Archives of Australia
No present leader touches Hawke for charisma, popularity or communications skills, even leaving aside the larrikin history.
Beginning of an era: a victorious Bob Hawke at the National Tally Room on March 5, 1983. His prime ministership was an exciting time for an economics student.
National Archives of Australia/AAP
The death of Bob Hawke at the age of 89 has united politicians across the spectrum, with tributes to his character and contribution to modern Australia.