|
Under Bob Hawke, the Australian Labor Party won four elections in a row. During his first term in office, Hawke gained the highest popularity rating of any Prime Minister since the introduction of public opinion polls. A former trade union leader, Hawke believed in government by consensus and managed with considerable success to establish agreement between business and the unions in the pursuit of economic growth. He became the only Labor Prime Minister to have been removed by his own party while still in office, when successfully challenged by Paul Keating in December 1991.
Hon. Robert James Lee Hawke was Prime Minister from 11 March 1983 until 20 December 1991.
Born: 9 December 1929 at Bordertown, South Australia.
Robert James Lee Hawke was born in Bordertown, South Australia, on 9 December 1929. He married Hazel Masterson in 1956, and had three children.
He is the second of two sons of Clement Hawke, a Congregational minister, and Ellie Lee, a school teacher, both of Cornish ancestry. After the death of the older son, the family moved to Leederville, Western Australia, where Hawke grew up. Clement's brother, Albert (Bert) R.G. Hawke, was Labor Premier for six years from 1953 to 1959.
He attended Perth Modern School before going on to the University of Western Australia. He graduated with Arts and Law degrees in 1952. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and studied economics at Oxford University, from which he graduated B.Litt, having written his thesis on wage fixation. He returned to Australia in 1956 to undertake doctoral studies at the Australian National University. He did not complete his degree, but accepted instead a position as research officer and advocate with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1958. Bob and Hazel Hawke's marriage ended after he had quit Parliament. In 1995 he married the author Blanche D'Alpuget.
Bob Hawke unsuccessfully stood as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate against Hubert Opperman, Liberal Minister for Immigration in the seat of Corio, Victoria, at the 1963 general election.
After rising through the ranks of the ACTU he served as its president from 1970 to 1980. He took on a high public profile and acquired a reputation as an excellent conciliator, effectively resolving many national industrial disputes.
He was a member of many national bodies during the 1970s, including the Immigration Planning Council and the Advisory Council from 1970 to 1980, the Reserve Bank Board from 1973 to 1980, the Australian Council for Union Training from 1975 to 1980, the Australian Population and Immigration Council from 1976 to 1980, the Australian Refugee Advisory Council from 1979 to 1980, and the International Labour Organisation Governing Body from 1972 to 1980. He was national president of the ALP from 1973 to 1978. In 1979 he delivered the ABC Boyer lecture on the topic 'Resolution of Conflict'.
Bob Hawke was elected to federal parliament at the general election on 18 October 1980 as the ALP candidate for the seat of Wills, Victoria, which he held through the next four general elections: 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990.
On election he was immediately appointed to the Shadow Ministry of Opposition leader W.G. Hayden, as spokesman on Industrial Relations, Employment and Youth Affairs.
On 16 July 1982 Hawke challenged Hayden for leadership of the parliamentary ALP. Hayden resigned the leadership, contested the position against Hawke at a caucus ballot on 16 July, and retained the position in a close vote 42:37.
Hawke's supporters continued lobbying for him to replace Hayden, who was persuaded to resign the leadership. He did so on 3 February 1983, 20 minutes after the Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, called a general election.
The July 1982 ALP national conference reversed party policy on uranium mining to allow existing uranium mining projects to continue. (Previous policy had been to discontinue uranium mining, and the ALP had fought a 1977 election on the slogan Uranium: keep it in the ground)
Hawke brought the ALP back into government at the general election on 5 March 1983, by gaining a 15-seat majority over the Liberal-National coalition in the House of Representatives. He also held 30 Senate seats, compared to the 28 of the coalition, 5 of the Democrats and 1 Independent.
Malcolm Fraser announced his resignation from parliament after conceding defeat early on 6 March 1983. At a ballot for the Liberal leadership on 11 March, Andrew Peacock was elected leader, and John Howard, deputy leader.
Concerned with the divisiveness of recent events, Hawke's first major step as Prime Minister was to conduct an 'Economic Summit' meeting in Canberra from 11 to 14 April 1983. Present were political parties, union and employer organisations. The idea was to attempt a national consensus on economic policy.
'The Wages Accord' with unions, a by-product of the Economic Summit, became a major part of government economic policy.
On 1 July 1983 the High Court upheld the government's right to block construction of the Gordon-below-Franklin dam, in Tasmania. Government had used its powers under World Heritage legislation to prevent the Tasmanian government from building the dam.
The government floated the Australian dollar on international money markets and allowed the operation of foreign-owned banks as first steps towards deregulating the national economy.
Medicare health scheme was introduced on 1 February 1984.
Changes to Australia's education and training system began in 1984 and continued over the following years. Changes included amalgamations of smaller tertiary training institutions; creation of new universities from former Colleges of Advanced Education; the setting of national curriculum standards for schools; upgrading of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector; and the establishment of national training and qualification standards.
Despite loss of popularity as measured by opinion polls, Hawke took the ALP to a record third term in office at the general election on 8 July 1987.
Disunity in the Liberal-National Party Opposition was a key factor in the government's success at a general election on 8 July 1987. The 'Joh for Canberra' campaign to have Queensland Premier Johannes Bjelke-Petersen brought into federal parliament seriously weakened the campaign of coalition leader John Howard.
Hawke and Treasurer P.J. Keating were criticised for having 'hijacked' the ALP, moving it away from its traditional working class base and from its previous socialist philosophy. At the same time, the ALP's continued electoral success was due largely to Hawke's - and later Keating's - achievement in moving the party to the 'middle ground', where it attracted voters who previously supported the Liberal-National Party coalition.
The New York stock market crash of October 1987 soon had 'ripple' effects in Australia, ending the speculative boom and leading to the spectacular collapse of the business empires of high profile entrepreneurs who had emerged during the early 1980s.
As Prime Minister Hawke travelled widely in the Pacific, Asia, Europe and North America, and was host to many international delegations visiting Australia.
The Bicentenary of the First Fleet and European settlement in Australia was celebrated in a year-long series of events conducted in all states and territories in 1988. Highlights included re-enactment of the journey of the First Fleet from UK to Australia, and the opening of the new Parliament House by the Queen on 9 May 1988. Aboriginal protests against the celebrations included a march through Sydney on Australia Day, which was the largest protest demonstration ever held by Aboriginal people.
Although Hawke had taken the ALP to a record fourth term in office at the general election in March 1990, uncertainty within the parliamentary party over his ability to win another election during a period of recession led to his removal as leader on 20 December 1991, when Keating made a second and successful challenge to Hawke's leadership. Hawke immediately resigned the Prime Ministership, which Keating then took over.
In 1990-91 the Australian economy slid into recession and unemployment reached 11% in 1992 - the highest level since the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Hawke resigned from parliament soon after quitting as Prime Minister. He entered TV journalism, interviewing international political figures for the Channel 9 network. He subsequently pursued diverse business interests, and in 1994 published his political memoirs, The Hawke Memoirs.
|
