Bob Hawke

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Bob Hawke (2012)

Robert "Bob" James Lee Hawke (born December 9, 1929 in Bordertown , South Australia - † May 16, 2019 in Sydney ) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was able to win the parliamentary elections of 1983 , 1984 , 1987 and 1990 for the ALP and was Prime Minister of Australia from March 11, 1983 to December 20, 1991 . Before that he was chairman of the Australian trade union confederation ACTU .

Early years

Bob Hawke was born in Bordertown , South Australia near the border with Victoria in 1929 , the second son of Clement Hawke, a clergyman in a congregational church, and his wife Ellie (née Lee), a teacher. In 1939, after the death of Bob's older brother Neil, the family moved to Perth , Western Australia and settled in the (then) suburb of West Leederville . Hawk went to Perth Modern School , a high school in the neighboring subiaco, after graduating from the University of Western Australia , Perth. Here he graduated in law and economics in 1953 . He then studied economics at Oxford University in Great Britain on a Rhodes Scholarship . In 1955 he obtained another bachelor's degree here and returned to Australia in 1956 to take up doctoral studies at the Australian National University in Canberra . However, he did not end this, but turned to politics in 1958.

President of the ACTU 1969–1980

In 1958 Hawke began working as a lawyer for the largest umbrella organization of Australian trade unions, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). When Albert (Ernest) Monk, longtime President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), resigned from his post in 1969 for health reasons, Bob Hawke was elected as his successor. Hawke remained in this post until 1980 and gained a great reputation as a skilled mediator in labor disputes on the part of the workforce as well as on the employer side. Hawke served on numerous committees during this period, such as the Immigration Planning Council from 1970 to 1980 (during this period the racist White Australia Policy was abolished ), the Australian Council for Unification 1975 to 1980, the Australian Population and Immigration Council 1976 to 1980, the Australian Refugee Council 1979 to 1980 and the Organizational Board of the Labor Party, of which he was national president from 1973 to 1978.

In parliament

In 1963 Hawke made the first attempt to get into the Australian Parliament ( House of Representatives ), and in the Electoral Division of Corio ( Geelong and the surrounding area), in the state of Victoria, against the then Minister for Immigration, Hubert Opperman , who was responsible for the Liberal Party of Australia was running for - an endeavor without a chance.

1980 Hawke made another attempt - this time successful - to get into the federal parliament ( House of Representatives ). After he had prevailed against Gerry Hand with 38:29 votes in the internal party candidate for the constituency of Wills (constituency in northwest Melbourne ) , he resigned his presidency at ACTU in order to be able to concentrate fully on the upcoming election campaign. In the election of October 18, 1980 he won Wills for the ALP and held this seat in the following 4 elections until 1992. The then chairman of the Australian Labor Party and opposition leader in parliament, Bill Hayden , appointed Hawke as minister of his shadow cabinet - responsible for industry, employment and youth ( Industrial relations , Employment and Youth Affairs ).

ALP's top candidate

When it became foreseeable at the end of 1982 that the then Prime Minister Fraser would seek an early election, many ALP parliamentarians feared that the party would lose the election with a top candidate, Bill Hayden. At the ALP federal conference on July 16, 1982, Hawke and his supporters tried to usurp the party leadership. In a leadership ballot ( leadership ballot ) Hayden / Hawke, however, Hawke was narrowly defeated by 37:42 votes. On February 1, 1983, it was the future Secretary of Commerce, John Button , who convinced Bill Hayden that Bob Hawke would be the better choice as the top candidate to secure an election victory for the ALP, and two days later, at a meeting of the ALP shadow cabinet in Brisbane, Hayden cleared the way for Hawke. On February 8, 1983, Hawke was officially presented as the ALP's top candidate. Just a few hours later, incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser met Governor General Ninian Stephen to initiate the double dissolution of the House and Senate . Fraser had hoped - in vain - to forestall the change in the ALP leadership, as Hayden seemed to him an easier opponent to defeat. On February 16, 1983, the ALP officially started its election campaign with the slogan: "Bob Hawke - Bringing Australia together."

Prime Minister 1983–1991

Elections of March 5, 1983

In the election of March 5, 1983 (House of Representatives + Senate), Bob Hawke was able to gain a landslide victory for the ALP. It was the ALP's biggest victory since the election in 1943, when the party, with John Curtin as the top candidate, recorded a vote increase of almost 10% and won 49 seats (+17). In March 1983, the ALP's vote was even clearer. Of the total of 125 seats in the House of Representatives, the ALP was able to win 75 (+24). The Liberal Party of Australia suffered heavy losses. Of the 54 seats she won in the 1980 election, she was only able to hold 33 (-21). The National Party of Australia won 17 seats (-3).

The ALP thus had a comfortable majority of 15 seats in the House of Representatives compared to the right-wing liberal-national coalition. In the Senate , too , the ALP now had an - albeit narrow - majority of 2 votes against the opposition: It was able to book 30 of the total of 64 seats (+3). The Liberal Party got 23, the National Party 4, the Country Liberal Party 1 and the Australian Democrats 5 seats. (1 Independent - Brian Harradine for Tasmania ).

On March 11, 1983, the new (23rd) Prime Minister Bob Hawke presented his cabinet to the public.

Hawke's first important decision as Prime Minister was to hold an economic summit in Canberra from April 11-14, 1983. He managed to bring the political parties as well as the employers 'and workers' representatives around the table with the aim of national unity in economic policy .

Other important steps for Australia were:

  • the release of the Australian dollar in the international money markets
  • first steps to deregulate the national economy
  • the authorization of foreign banks in Australia
  • Public health care introduced on February 1, 1984
  • Establishment of a national curriculum standard for schools
  • Establishment of national training and quality standards
  • a new Social Insurance Act, which replaced the Social Insurance Act of 1947
  • Data Protection Act

Although his popularity declined due to the many changes, he ran again on July 8, 1987 as the top candidate of the ALP for election, which he also won. It was thanks to him and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Paul Keating , who subsequently became Prime Minister, that the ALP rose. By swiveling the party towards a “party of the middle” they had succeeded in attracting many voters from the liberal-national camp.

On his first inauguration, Hawke had the highest popularity rating any Prime Minister has had since the polls began.

Private

On March 3, 1956, Bob Hawke married in Perth Hazel Masterson (born July 20, 1929 in Perth, Western Australia, † May 23, 2013 in Sydney). Hazel and Bob Hawke had four children: Susan (* 1957), Stephen (* 1959), Roslyn (* 1960) and Robert (* 1963). In 1995 the marriage was divorced and Hawke married Blanche d'Alpuget (born January 3, 1944 in Sydney), the author of his 1982 biography.

After being the only one of the former, surviving prime ministers to stay away from the party for health reasons at the official start of the Labor Party's election campaign in Brisbane for the federal elections on May 18, he met again in the days that followed his up to then hostile successor in office Paul Keating and the top candidate Bill Shorten together to support the ALP. Bob Hawke died on May 16, 2019 at the age of 89 at his home in the Sydney harbor suburb of Hunters Hill .

Web links

Commons : Bob Hawke  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In 1956, the ACTU had around 1,700,000 members ( memento of the original from July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.actu.asn.au
  2. ↑ Biography at: Australian Trade Union Archives / ATUA
  3. ^ Albert Ernest Monk * September 16, 1900 in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England; † February 11, 1975 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. ^ Albert Ernest Monk was President of ACTU from 1934 to 1943, Secretary General from 1943 to 1949, and then again President of ACTU from 1949 to 1969.
  5. ^ Albert Ernest Monk (1900–1975) biography in the Australian Dictionary of Biography
  6. ↑ Albert Ernest Monk (1900-1975), biography in the Australian Trade Unions Archive
  7. ↑ Biography in: Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia, chap. "Before" ( memento of the original from July 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / primeministers.naa.gov.au
  8. ^ National Museum of Australia: Bob Hawke / Entry to federal politics
  9. ^ The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library: Prime Minister Bob Hawke with the new ALP government, name + image
  10. ↑ Biography in: Australia's Prime Minister / National Archives of Australia ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / primeministers.naa.gov.au
  11. ↑ About Hazel Hawke. Biography of the John Curtin University of Technology / Prime Minister Library
  12. ↑ Hazel and Bob Hawke after their 1987 election victory
  13. ↑ Hawke backs Shorten as 'consensus' leader in new open letter , Sydney Morning Herald , May 15, 2019
  14. ↑ Bob Hawke, Australia's 23rd prime minister, dies aged 89 , ABC , May 16, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Hawke, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hawke, Robert James Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian politician, Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Bordertown , South Australia
DATE OF DEATH 16th May 2019
Place of death Sydney