Bob Hawke’s politics and legacy

There will only ever be one Bob Hawke, a genuine reformer who ignored the polls and critics to put together one of the most extraordinary cabinets in Australian political history.

It’s not often an Australian leader’s obituary can attract national consensus and an outpouring of genuine affection, a sense of loss from all sides of politics, spilling over to the ordinary person on the street.

But there will only ever be one Bob Hawke, a genuine reformer who ignored the polls and critics to put together one of the most extraordinary cabinets in Australian political history. A cabinet that would change Australia forever.

It’s a grand statement, backed by fact. In the words of Hawke himself, “look at the scoreboard”, for the milestone achievements he led with his team that contributed in no small measure to the social, economic and international reforms we all enjoy today.

But while Hawke’s leadership and Cabinet have been credited with great outcomes, his true success came from his ability to take all Australians along for the ride, with conviction and passion for the most controversial of proposed reforms.

He achieved what few politicians can today, to convince and unite a weary and sceptical electorate of the need for a change.

Hawke was elected leader of the Labor Party in February 1983 after Bill Hayden lost the confidence of his closest allies.

The then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser called a snap federal election in March, hoping to capitalise on the apparent disunity, only to see Hawke and Labor achieve a devastating 24-seat swing.

Hawke would go on to become Labor’s longest ever serving prime minister.

His push for unification began in his first major speech on being elected.

“My fellow Australians,” he said, as he began to outline an agenda that would expand the economy and rebuild the nation.

“The first pledge I now make, a commitment which embraces every other undertaking, is that everything we do as a government will have the one great goal — to reunite this great community of ours, to bring out the best we are truly capable of, together, as a nation, and bring Australia together to win our way through the crisis into which the policies of the past and the men of the past have plunged our country.”

After years in opposition, by the time he became prime minister Hawke assembled a heavyweight first ministry with names still well known today, including his deputy PM Lionel Bowen, treasurer Paul Keating, future governor Bill Hayden, Gareth Evans, John Dawkins and Susan Ryan.

His outer ministry featured the likes of Kim Beazley, Neal Blewett, Michael Duffy and Barry Jones.

All reformers in their own way, these figures had waited in opposition and were ready for change, but more importantly, they were largely absolute in their support for Hawke.

This was true even when he split the Cabinet into two tiers, to have an outer ministry, and a small core of actual Cabinet members.

A stroke of genius and backed by Labor Caucus, it was an unprecedented move to create a small core, from which Hawke was able to better get consensus and direct his huge agenda of reforms.

It was a position which he would hold for all four ministries although Cabinet had become enlarged by the start of his fourth ministry, in April 1990.

Some political commentators and historians would say Australia never again enjoyed such a deeply talented base of politicians, hand-selected by Hawke and not only invited to share his dynamic vision but become part of it.

Those reforms can still be felt today.

In one of his first moves Hawke, backed by his super Cabinet and notably treasurer Paul Keating, floated the Australian dollar on the global currency market so it couldn’t be pegged to the British pound and US dollar, ensuring the rate would be set by international markets rather than the Reserve Bank.

In 1984 came two of his greatest achievements.

Hawke launched Medicare, Australia’s affordable universal system of health care and also replaced God Save the Queen with Advance Australia Fair as our national anthem.

It could well have been controversial but Hawke’s passion for sport allowed him to point out the ridiculousness of how we celebrated a gold medal.

When Great Britain won an Olympic medal they got their anthem, and when Australia won, the same tune was played.

Hawke also said Australia also needed its own national colours and championed green and gold.

It was the reawakening of an Australian national identity, his passion for instilling pride in achievement and relevance not lost on a public that supported his actions.

Critically, and using his considerable influence over the unions from his days as ACTU boss, Hawke reformed industrial relations.

While Britain under Margaret Thatcher took the route of smashing the unions, Hawke took a more conciliatory approach and negotiated the Prices and Incomes Accord that restricted wage demands in exchange for better social services.

The accord was backed by enterprise bargaining agreements, access to superannuation, minimised inflation and a reduction of crippling industrial disputes which had been having a major impact on the economy in previous years.

In that year he would also begin his move to create the Sex Discrimination Act, Affirmative Action Act, Equal Opportunity Act and Women in the Workplace Act for fairer workplaces.

His workplace reforms were what gave him and his Cabinet’s success with the economy which went from a crisis to relative strength with little national pain.

In 1989 Hawke also began his foray onto the global political stage, creating the Asia Pacific Economic co-operation (APEC) to boost regional growth, and by 1991 was allowing the operation of foreign-owned banks, busting the great monopoly of the Aussie banks, and removed a raft of controls on foreign exchange and national interest rates.

Protectionist policies on major industries were also scrapped and tariffs reduced to 5 per cent.

Controversially, Hawke would also use the constitution to create legislation that gave federal power over state authorities to protect World Heritage sites. State governments opposed the move and loss of control but the reform was pushed through as law.

Tasmania’s Franklin River was saved from damming in what former Greens boss Bob Brown today described as among the greatest environmental leadership in Australia’s history.

Hawke furthered his environmental credentials with various conservation laws and banned uranium mining in Jabiluka in Northern Territory.

These were all largely Hawke reforms but in each of their portfolios his senior ministers were also making positive changes, notably to education, social services and defence.

When he did have a reshuffle, such was the depth of talent in Hawke’s ranks that another strong leader of a portfolio would emerge.

Throughout most of his early tenure as leader, Hawke had the backing of his Cabinet and, with his common man phrases and approach and steadfast conviction for the decisions he was making, the people.

But then there was Paul Keating, a very talented treasurer instrumental in Hawke’s financial reform agenda, a close ally and one of the most talented men in his Cabinets.

But Keating also kept a constant eye on the top job.

In November 1988 Hawke met his treasurer at Kirribilli House where before witnesses Hawke agreed to step down as leader sometime after the March 1990 election but before another one was called.

Hawke reneged on the deal after an infamous incident in 1991, where he noted Keating’s disloyalty.

The incident became known as the Placido Domingo affair where in December 1990 Keating gave a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra which political commentators noted belittled his leader.

Keating bemoaned the lack of a great leader in Australia like Washington, Lincoln or Roosevelt in the United States.

“Leadership is not about being popular,” he said.

“It’s about being right and about being strong.’’

Keating, who would resign after a failed leadership challenge, would later brand himself the Placido Domingo of Australian politics and described the Spanish singer’s “sometimes great, and sometimes not great, but always good” performances.

A later second leadership challenge would see him as leader.

What perhaps disappointed Hawke more was Keating’s failure to recognise they were a double act, with supporting talent and not a solo performer.

They became political enemies, but would go on to make up in recent years, and Hawke spoke in 2016 about how losing his position freed him to marry his biographer, Blanche d’Apulget.

“I really am extraordinarily grateful for Paul because if I hadn’t have been thrown out then I would not have had the opportunity of marrying the woman with whom I had fallen in love,” he said.

Hawke was

never far from the media spotlight and remained a committed and passionate senior Labor statesman until his last days.

In some small way, his passing on the eve today’s polls may even go on to help bring about the Labor victory he had wanted so much.

And Ms d’Alpuget today urged people to cast their votes for Labor in memory of him.

“There is nothing that would make Bob happier than Labor winning the election,” she said.

“So go out and do it.”