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Life of Bob Hawke celebrated at state memorial service at the Sydney Opera House

Bob Hawke’s widow marks transition from the grief of loss loss to “celebration of a life triumphantly well lived’.

Helen Trinca, Sascha O’Sullivan and Elias Visontay
13 min read
4:35PMJune 14, 2019.
Updated 9:31PMJune 14, 2019
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Bob Hawke's most memorable moments

A who’s who of dignitaries have gathered inside the Sydney Opera House, together with ordinary Australians on the steps outside, to honour political giant and “larrikin” former prime minister Bob Hawke, who died peacefully at his Sydney home on May 16, aged 89.

4.20pm: Keating’s tribute: ‘Trust held us together’

Paul Keating’s emotional tribute to Bob Hawke acknowledged a ‘clash of egos’, and celebrated a friendship and paid tribute to a five star, 24-carat PM. Here is Mr Keating’s eulogy to today’s memorial service in full.

Sascha O’Sullivan 1.06pm: Blanche’s tribute to ‘a wonderful man’

Blanche d’Alpuget has thanked everyone who attended the ceremony of her husband, “a wonderful man”. “Four weeks ago there has been a national outpouring of grief … the grief has continued until today. Today, this memorial service marks the transition from the grief of loss to the celebration of a life well-lived.

“With today’s transformative service we smile again, we glow with pride for the presence among us for nearly 90 years of a great human being,” Ms d’Alpuget said.

She thanked the Prime Minister and the government for their part in organising the memorial service, and all the speakers for their tributes to her husband.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: They met when Blanche was 26 years old and Bob was 40 — they loved, broke up, got back ­together, separated, then reunited. Bob Hawke was driven by his ­compulsion for her and Blanche ­d’Alpuget lived the full cycle of love — from sexual excitement to intimacy in his dying. Read Editor-at-large Paul Kelly’s story of Bob Hawke and Blanche d’Alpuget’s Affair for the ages

Blanche d'Alpuget, the partner of Bob Hawke, and Bob's granddaughter Sophie Taylor-Price speak during the State Memorial service for former prime minister Bob Hawke.
Blanche d'Alpuget, the partner of Bob Hawke, and Bob's granddaughter Sophie Taylor-Price speak during the State Memorial service for former prime minister Bob Hawke.

Sascha O’Sullivan 1.00pm: ‘I grew up in the shadow of the giant’

Bob’s wife Blanche D’Alpuget and grand daughter Sophie Taylor-Price both gave the final remarks at the service. “I grew up in the shadow of the giant,” Ms Taylor-Price said. “His greatness is one of a kind.”

“When I was four years old I sat by my grandfather’s knee in 1989 when he addressed the nation on climate change. It is actually one of my first memories. Having spent my entire professional career working in climate change and sustainability, you could say that night rubbed off on me,” she said.

Ms Taylor-Price shared her memory of Hawke refusing to sign an agreement to allow mining in the Antarctic, and reflected on her grandfather’s legacy on climate change.

“To me, this tells the greatest of stories. It speaks of pop’s values of fairness and equality and his love … in the brotherhood of mankind,” she said.

“These past months, he expressed such great sadness that we have failed to do so. He saw it as a collective failure of our nation that we have traded short-term interests over intergeneration equality.

“Many tributes have been shared today but truly honouring my grandfather means reflecting on his achievement and applying his values to the future choice we make. Let us take heart from his courage, borrow his optimism and mirror his love for the brotherhood of humankind.

Sascha O’Sullivan 12.50pm: Keating: A 5-star, 24 carat PM

Former prime minister Paul Keating has reminisced on the “great friendship and great partnership” he had with Bob Hawke. “At the core of it Bob and I shared one primary idea that Australian creativity had been locked down by a stultifying paternal policy regime — the idea that the government knew best and the idea that Australia was best protected by and nurtured as a closed economy behind policy barbed wire.

“We knew that to change it required wholesale policy reform on a scale the Labor Party had never experience — we knew we were in for it.

“We knew none of the factions of the Labor Party would embrace it, so great a philosophical shift.

“Eight budgets and six major economic reform statements — the equivalent of 14 normal budgets … was a major undertaking. Through this great body of work Bob and our cabinet colleagues remained focused on the target and the target was a nirvana of an open, creative and free society with enhanced opportunities for all.

“The quality Bob brought to the prime ministership was an open mind, regard for policy creativity and a commitment to reform in areas central to Australia’s economy.”

Mr Keating reflected on the arguments and “clash of egos” that would divide himself and Mr Hawke on policy, but never split apart their friendship.

“Bob and I would have primate skirmishes over this policy or that, even criticise one another to immediate staff, often heavy criticisms, but by instinct and a large dollop of friendship we always remained welded to the same objective … in the end it was trust that held Bob and me together,” Mr Keating said.

“I think I can say the template which we and our remarkable cabinet colleagues set into place in those 13 years has provided the foundations for Australia’s burgeoning growth and wealth in a fundamental sense.”

Mr Keating said Mr Hawke’s legacy was “five-star and 24 carat’’.

12.38pm: Who’s who of guests

Former PM Tony Abbott. Picture: John Feder
Former PM Tony Abbott. Picture: John Feder
Jeanne Pratt. Picture: David Swift
Jeanne Pratt. Picture: David Swift

Sascha O’Sullivan 12.34pm: Garnaut: We loved going to work

“Bob Hawke showed us how good democratic government can be,” economist Professor Ross Garnaut told the audience, speaking of Hawke’s economic and education policies. “One of Bob’s proudest achievements was a transformational increase in the numbers of Australian school children completing year 12,” Mr Garnaut said. “He implemented the policies through which Australia became a leading place of learning for international students.

“He was an Australian social democrat at home in every international context. Bob Hawke had one of the most analytically strong, disciplined minds which I have interacted with in a lifetime of working with clever people,” Mr Garnaut continued. “We in his office loved going to work — our interactions could be shocking in their honesty.

“Amid the daunting realities, his life as Prime Minister gives hope for a democratic future with broadly shared prosperity for our country and for humanity,” Mr Garnaut finished.

12.30pm: Who’s who of guests

Bill and Chloe Shorten. Picture: John Feder
Bill and Chloe Shorten. Picture: John Feder
Broadcaster Alan Jones. Picture: David Swift.
Broadcaster Alan Jones. Picture: David Swift.

Sascha O’Sullivan 12.25pm: Bob was no saint: Kelty

Bill Kelty has reflected on Hawke’s time in the trade union and his love of trade union songs.

“What Bob did for the ACTU was to change it forever … he gave it base from which it could negotiate with the government effectively.

“It was not alway easy and it was not easy kind … there were tough times, many tough times and the reality is we never did as much as we could have with a Whitlam government,” Mr Kelty said. “But when Bob became prime minister … he would of course fix the economy, invest in education and invest in social welfare and make the country more confident.

“(Bob) would put in Medicare, implement it and this time it would be concrete and could never be removed.”

Mr Kelty said Hawke opened Australia to the rest of the world. “The greatest legacy for me is a simple one, here is a person who raised the aspirations of this nation, get us to set bigger objectives and bigger tasks but provided us the inspiration to achieve them.

“When confronted with political pressure to make a step backwards following the result and implications of his decision to allow 40,000 Chinese to stay in this country following Tiananmen Square, Bob didn’t take a step back.

“Bob was no saint, he had his faults — but he made the country and he helped make the country what it is.”

Sascha O’Sullivan 12.15pm: Hawke’s daughter on his love for people

Bob Hawke’s daughter Sue Pieters-Hawke reflected on her father and the “deep love for people” he had. “It’s a time of so many emotions, grief, happiness at our quiet comings together in recent years, comfort that he was really ready to go and died peacefully with Blanche holding him,” Ms Pieters-Hawke told the audience. “In sifting through the memories of course I should note dad’s public life overlapped with out private life. I remember him tramping the field with him holding my hands as we visited many farmers before the 1963 Corio election.

“The night of the vote he woke me as promised to say he had done OK but lost. When I was puzzled, he proceeded to explain the mechanics of DLP preference to me — I was six,” she said.

“I remember him agonising about leaving the trade union movement to enter parliament

And we had the privilege of observing from the semi-inside so much that happened in those momentous years. I will always be proud of what dad did and the spirit of optimism and inclusion he helped bring to our country.

“Ultimately love, laughter and deep bonds have prevailed an expanded as we’ve been enriched by partners, kids, their kids and step families.

“I treasure our conversations, the gentle smiles, the grip of his hand, his pleasure in family and in the simple things — like cauliflower cheese.

“I’m so grateful he was our dad, part of our lives and our world. Though he is gone the essence of who he was shines on in our loves and in our hearts.”

12.10pm: Turnbulls joins Rudd

Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Richard Dobson
Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Richard Dobson
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: David Swift.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: David Swift.

Sascha O’Sullivan 12.00pm: Beazley: He never forgot who he was fighting for

Former deputy prime minister Kim Beazley said Bob Hawke always wanted to be the greatest “peacetime PM” in his eulogy. “As I sat weeping on my porch as I absorbed the news of his passing the oddest memory came to mind, it was back at the time of the navy’s 75th birthday. I nagged Bob into taking the cabinet to sea for a meeting. The biggest ship, HMAS Stalwart, had enough space but no cabinet table. One was dually put aboard. We all came aboard. The Stalwart passed through Sydney and heads began to roll. The table started to move. It pinned the Prime Minister to the bulkhead then it retreated and then it came back harder as momentum gathered. ‘F this’ he said repeatedly as he fought the east and continued the meeting

“Afterwards, pretty cross, he said to me, you know cabinet is the heart of our government we cannot have the cabinet table running away and killing a couple of us on the way through.

“Bob never forgot who he was fighting for he once said the essence of power is the knowledge that what you do is going to have an effect no just immediately but perhaps life long effect on the happiness and wellbeing of others and so the essence of power is to be conscious of what it can mean for others.

“I am sustained by the belief (Bob) is in the arms of a loving God,” Mr Beazley told the crowd. “He believed he would live in the hearts or at least the minds of those who knew him.”

12.00pm: Who’s who of guests

Former prime minister Paul Keating and Annita Keating. Picture: David Swift.
Former prime minister Paul Keating and Annita Keating. Picture: David Swift.
Former prime minister John Howard and wife Jeanette. Picture: David Swift.
Former prime minister John Howard and wife Jeanette. Picture: David Swift.

Sascha O’Sullivan 11.50am: Albo: He dared us to be a better nation

Labor leader Anthony Albanese asked: “How do you measure a giant?”

“Bob Hawke was not towering physically but somehow he seemed bigger than all of us, he was Australia amplified,” Mr Albanese said. “His journey towards the light began with a moment of darkness, a blackout that turned a motorbike-ride into a brush with death.

“He loved Australians and they loved him back. It was indeed a national romance. He understood our greatest strengths flow from unity. He dared us to be a better nation — he knew that Australia was great but it was greatness he wanted to build on. If there was ever a man who could appeal to our better angels, it was Bob. ‘Do you know why I have credibility he once asked? Because I exude morality’.”

Mr Albanese’s tribute was met with a round of applause from the crowd, as he said Bob Hawke was “Labor to the core”.

Sascha O’Sullivan 11.40am: PM: We are a better nation

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the service “the 1980s in Australia will always be the Hawke era”.

“Australians all let us rejoice for the life of Robert James Lee Hawke AC, father husband, son, friend, grandfather, colleague passionate Australian — 23rd prime minister of Australia.

“We thank Bob Hawke for loving Australia and loving Australians … with every laugh, every tribute, every tea and every moment of his great devotion, Bob Hawke loved our country and we are a better nation for it,” Mr Morrison said “Bob, your record is honoured, your legacy is secure, and your country will be forever grateful. May he rest in peace.”

Sascha O’Sullivan 11.35am: Burney: Bob offered a vision

Labor MP Linda Burney has given the welcome to country to kick off the memorial service. “Our country is endowed with the first surviving culture in our land,” Ms Burney said. “Bob offered a vision for an inclusive forward-thinking Australia Bob Hawke was able to tap into Australia’s sense of fairness,” Ms Burney told the audience. “He transformed the conversation to land rights and self-determination, he established the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody,” Ms Burney said of Bob Hawke’s work with indigenous Australians.

11.30am: Will anyone live up to Hawke?

Former Labor minister Graham Richardson says Bob Hawke was an “extraordinary man by measure’’.

11.25am: ‘He wasn’t the perfect father’

Bob Hawke’s family have offered an intimate reflection as thousands arrived to honour the life of the former prime minister at the Sydney Opera House. Mr Hawke’s wife Blanche d’Alpuget, children and grandchildren were among the first to arrive for the political giant’s state memorial service. While so many have very public memories of Mr Hawke, his son Stephen said he was simply “my dad”. “It’s really not much more complicated than that — he was me old man,” he told the ABC before the service. “He wasn’t the perfect father but he was very much a loving father and was loved in return by all of us.” — AAP

Sascha O’Sullivan 11.22am: GG arrives

Outgoing Governor-general Peter Cosgrove and his wife Lynne Cosgrove have arrived at Sydney Opera House and will be meeting with the family of Bob Hawke to convey their condolences.

Helen Trinca 11.20am: Stage is set

A harpist is warming up as the guests arrive inside the Sydney Opera House.

Elias Visontay 11.15am: Crowds gather

Undeterred by blustery conditions and missing out on an official ticket, hundreds of Sydneysiders and visitors armed with blankets are assembling on the footsteps outside the Opera House where the service is being broadcast onto a big screen.

“We’re here as Australians,” Jennifer Marsden told The Australian. The Eveleigh local has fond memories of the then prime minister visiting making an official visit to the Wentworth hotel she worked at. “I’m a conservative. It doesn’t matter what your political persuasion is. We’re here for Bob.”

Sascha O’Sullivan 11.10am: PM arrives

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and wife Jenny have both arrived. Mr Morrison will be speaking at the memorial service.

Sascha O’Sullivan 11am: Former PMs arrive

Former prime ministers John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull, Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd have all arrived for the memorial service for Bob Hawke at the Sydney Opera House. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will be arriving shortly.

10.30am: A life in pictures

Bob Hawke’s life in pictures
**FEE APPLIES**Bob Hawke and Blanche d'Apulget at their Northbridge home in 2014. Source: Tim Bauer
VIEW GALLERY

10am: Order of service

Here is the running order for the memorial service. Indigenous Labor MP Linda Burney will deliver a Welcome to Country ahead of the National Anthem. Former Labor MP Dr Craig Emerson will be Master of Ceremonies. Speeches will be delivered by PM Scott Morrison, followed by Labor leader Anthony Albanese and former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra will play Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. Hawke’s daughter Sue Pieters-Hawke will then speak followed by former ACTU leader Bill Kelty and Professor Ross Garnaut. The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Sydney Symphony Orchestra will perform Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus by George Frideric Handel. Tributes will then come from former PM Paul Keating, Hawke’s granddaughter Sophie Taylor-Price and his wife Blanche dʹAlpuget. Read the full order of service here

Helen Trinca 9.30am: PJK will to deliver ‘ripper speech’

Former Labor minister and close friend of Bob Hawke says Paul Keating will deliver a “ripper speech” at the memorial service for the late prime minister. Emerson who will MC today’s event is busy doing the rounds of the TV outlets already broadcasting from the boardwalk at the House. He told ABC Breakfast TV that the memorial will be a celebration not a “commiseration”.

“He was a consensus politician — a big word for saying he wanted to bring Australians together not set Australians against Australians.

He said the service will be one of celebration and not commiseration or sadness. “If there are tears, it will be tears of joy. It’s a joyous occasion,” Dr Emerson said. “That’s how Bob wanted it. He said he had so much joy and love in his life, I think he would want us to experience that joy and that love today.”

Already people are gathering on the steps where thousands will watch the events on a big screen in the forecourt.

Craig Emerson talks to media outside the Sydney Opera House this morning.
Craig Emerson talks to media outside the Sydney Opera House this morning.

9.00am: ‘Greatest PM ever’

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who will be among a long list of dignitaries to speak at the memorial, said it will be a tremendous honour to address the service for Australia’s “greatest prime minister ever”.

“He taught Labor that you need to bring people with us on change,” he told Nine’s Today. “He transformed the economy, he transformed social policy through the creation of Medicare. There is no question he is Australia’s greatest ever environmental protector.” Mr Hawke launched a number of his campaigns at the Sydney Opera House, including his successful 1983 election bid.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/life-of-bob-hawke-to-be-celebrated-at-state-memorial-service-at-the-sydney-opera-house/news-story/e932f090de68ed6afe33c92938f31801