Former governor-general, Qld great Bill Hayden has died, aged 90

Former governor-general, one-time Labor Party leader and Queensland great Bill Hayden has died, aged 90.

Former governor-general Bill Hayden in his office in Brisbane in 2016. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Former governor-general, one-time federal Labor Party leader and the “architect of universal healthcare”, Bill Hayden has been remembered as a man who gave it all for the country he loved.

The Queensland great, who was born in Brisbane in 1933 and raised in a working class family, has died aged 90.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday remembered Mr Hayden as a legend of the labour movement who had been a “great contributor to our nation”.

Bill Hayden shares laugh with PM Bob Hawke in 1989.

Mr Hayden’s leadership of Labor in bruising back-to-back elections in 1975 and 1977 has been credited as a turning point for the party, with his reforming agenda while a minister of the Whitlam government credited with paving the way for what would become Medicare as we know it.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who together with her father Henry Palaszczuk was understood to be close to Mr Hayden, said she had learnt of the passing of “my friend Bill Hayden ... with deep sadness”.

“Bill Hayden was a Labor Party giant who epitomised, espoused, and lived by true Labor morals and values,” she said.

After leaving high school, the young Bill Hayden worked as public servant before joining the Queensland Police Service as a 20-year-old, serving in small country towns in North Queensland including Mackay, Calen and Sarina.

Bill Hayden at home in Bryden with his wife Dallas. Picture: Adam Head

Mr Hayden won ALP party preselection for the federal seat of Oxley, which is now held by Speaker Milton Dick, in 1960 after beating the Liberal incumbent against the odds.

He would go on to serve on prime minister Gough Whitlam’s frontbench in 1972-75 including as social security minister.

In this role he was responsible for introducing the single mothers’ pension and Medibank – Australia’s first iteration of what would become Medicare.

At the 1975 federal election where Labor suffered a swing so drastic it lost 30 seats, Mr Hayden was left as the only Labor MP from Queensland in the parliament.

He served as opposition leader until 1983, when he resigned from the role in a bid to preserve Labor’s unity amid infighting with Bob Hawke over the leadership.

Paul Keating embraces Bill Hayden in 2017. Picture: AAP/Steve Pohlner

It was during this time he made his now famous quip that a “drover’s dog could win the next election”.

Mr Hayden took up the governor-general post in early 1989 and served until 1996.

A staunch atheist for most of his life, Mr Hayden found religion late in life and in 2018 surprised many by being baptised a Catholic as St Mary’s Church in Ipswich.

Mr Albanese said the record should show that without Mr Hayden’s building of Medibank, Australia’s universal healthcare system Medicare would not exist.

“In a time of forceful personalities, Bill Hayden was notable for his humility,” he said.

“Yet there was nothing modest about his ambition for Labor or Australia.

Bill Hayden in 1979.

“This was the quiet strength of character he brought to the cause of progress.

“Without Bill Hayden’s instinctive grasp of the relationship between facing our nation to the world and securing our prosperity for the future, the government in which he served might not have achieved the same degree of engagement in our region that still benefits Australia today.

“Through it all, Bill Hayden never lost his sense of humour.

“Crucially, he never lost his faith in our party’s capacity to change the country for the better, he never doubted Australia’s ability to make a difference in the world, and the work he did in the service of these causes will never be forgotten.”

Speaker of the House and Oxley MP Milton Dick said Mr Hayden would be remembered by the electorate for supporting his constituents and standing up for those that needed it most.

“Bill Hayden will be remembered as the best Member for Oxley, and I was deeply honoured and touched he launched my election campaign in 2016,” he said.

“My heartfelt condolences to Dallas, his children, and their family in this time of sorrow.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton praised the groundwork Mr Hayden had laid as the foundation for the “best Labor government Australians have known”.

“On behalf of the Coalition, I express my sincere condolences to his family, especially his wife, Dallas, and his children, Kirk, Georgina and Ingrid; his Labor Party colleagues; and his many friends,” he said.

“Despite being a young leader, he had political wisdom beyond his years, a pragmatic reform mindset, the respect of his colleagues and the trust of his party.

“Testimony to Bill’s talent, he brought Labor out of the wilderness and almost defeated Malcolm Fraser’s Coalition in the 1980 election. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Bill’s revitalisation of Labor, the party would not have gone onto victory in 1983 under Bob Hawke.

“Hayden’s groundwork helped deliver the best Labor Government Australians have known.”

Mr Hayden is survived by his wife Dallas, to whom he was married for 63 years, and three children.

He will be honoured with a state funeral.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke flanks Foreign Minister Bill Hayden (left) and wife Dallas at Hayden’s federal election campaign launch at Ipswich in 1987.