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World and local leaders pay tribute to Bob Hawke

Leaders at home and around the world pay tribute to a “passionate, progressive visionary’’.

Greg Brown and Cameron Stewart
Bill Shorten's last photograph with Bob Hawke in Sydney earlier this week.
Bill Shorten's last photograph with Bob Hawke in Sydney earlier this week.
11 min read
6:45AMMay 17, 2019.
Updated 9:55AMMay 17, 2019

Political leaders both at home and around the world have paid tribute to Bob Hawke after his death yesterday, aged 89.

Former US president Bill Clinton joined Australians in praising Mr Hawke’s “progressive record,” while former US Secretary of State James Baker described him as “a visionary.” Former UK PM Tony Blair paid tribute to a “genuine giant,” who showed Labour movements around the world how to “combine strong economies with high levels of social justice and investment in the most disadvantaged sections of society.”

Bob Hawke’s life in pictures
**FEE APPLIES**Bob Hawke and Blanche d'Apulget at their Northbridge home in 2014. Source: Tim Bauer
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‘Labour movement’s greatest son’

Bill Shorten said Mr Hawke was the labour movement’s greatest son.

“The Australian people loved Bob Hawke because they knew Bob loved them, this was true to the very end,” the Opposition Leader said.

“With his passing, the labour movement salutes our greatest son, the Labor Party gives thanks for the life of our longest-serving prime minister and Australians everywhere remember and honour a man who gave so much to the country and people he cared for so deeply.

“The most powerful and enduring tributes to Bob Hawke are not words or pictures, they are found all around us. World-class universities, where places are earned on merit not purchased by privilege.

“A modern, outward-looking, competitive economy, built around the principle that working and middle class people must be fairly rewarded for their efforts.

“Australia at home in Asia, a voice heard and respected in the councils of the world.

“Every Australian carries a monument to Bob Hawke with them, their Medicare card. A green-and-gold promise that the health of any one of us, matters to all of us.”

Mr Hawke was prime minister from 1983 to 1991, when he was challenged and defeated in a caucus leadership ballot by Paul Keating.

Ms d’Alpuget said Mr Hawke and Mr Keating modernised the Australian economy.

“Bob’s consensus-style approach of bringing together the trade union movement and the business community boosted job opportunities while increasing the social wage through Medicare and extra financial support for low-income families,” Ms d’Alpuget said.

“Together with his highly talented cabinets, he foresaw the Asian Century and positioned Australia to take full advantage of it through a program of sweeping economic reforms.

A special 8-page tribute to Bob Hawke.
A special 8-page tribute to Bob Hawke.

Among his proudest achievements were large increases in the proportion of children finishing high school, his role in ending apartheid in South Africa, and his successful international campaign to protect Antarctica from mining. He abhorred racism and bigotry.

“His father, the Reverend Clem Hawke, told Bob that if you believed in the Fatherhood of God then you must also believe in the Brotherhood of Man. Bob would add today the Sisterhood of Women.

“Bob was dearly loved by his family, and so many friends and colleagues. We will miss him. The golden bowl is broken.”

‘A legend has passed’

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said “a Labor legend has passed tonight”.

“Bob Hawke showed us how to govern and transformed modern Labor,” Mr Albanese tweeted.

Opposition environment spokesman Tony Burke hailed Mr Hawke’s environmental record, including protecting the Daintree rainforest.

“The Bob Hawke I admired was the man who saved the Franklin, the Daintree, Kakadu and protected Antarctica from mining,” Mr Burke tweeted.

“The Bob Hawke I befriended and laughed with every New Year’s Eve was a fellow music fan with Blanche every summer at Woodford Folk Festival. What a life!”

Former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd said Mr Hawke was a “giant of Australian politics”.

“He and Paul Keating internationalised the Australian economy. He established APEC and radically deepened Australia’s engagement with Asia. He established Medicare. Together with Therese and the entire nation, I mourn his passing,” Mr Rudd tweeted.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said Mr Hawke was an Australian legend.

“Thank you Bob for your service to our country. Australia is forever in your debt. Not just a Labor legend — an Australian legend. We will honour your memory,” Mr Dreyfus tweeted.

Actor Russell Crowe labelled Mr Hawke a “great man who made this country confident”.

“Rhodes Scholar. Trade Union Leader. Prime Minister. Statesman. Thanks for everything Mr Hawke,” Crowe tweeted.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson said Mr Hawke was one of Australia’s best prime ministers.

“Condolences to his family, who will mourn the loss of a great Australian,” Mr Wilson tweeted.

‘He led with passion, courage’

Scott Morrison has tweeted on the death of Bob Hawke, paying tribute to the former Labor Prime Minister’s contribution to modern Australian.

“Bob Hawke was a great Australian who led and served our country with passion, courage, and intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger.

“He was true to his beliefs in the Labor tradition and defined the politics of his generation and beyond.

“He had a unique ability to speak to all Australians and will be greatly missed.

“My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Bob’s widow Blache and his family. May he Rest in Peace.”

‘A partnership we forged’

Former prime minister Paul Keating said Mr Hawke possessed imagination and courage.

“With Bob Hawke’s passing today, the great partnership I enjoyed with him passes too. A partnership we forged with the Australian people,” Mr Keating said in a statement.

“But what remains and what will endure form that partnership are the monumental foundations of modern Australia.

“Bob possessed a moral framework for his important public life, both representing the workers of Australia and more broadly, the country at large.

“He understood that imagination was central to policy making and never lacked the courage to do what had to be done to turn that imagination into reality.

“And that reality was the reformation of Australia’s economy and society and its place in the world.”

‘A hero to working people’

ACTU secretary Sally McManus and ACTU president Michele O’Neil said Bob Hawke was a “hero to working people” and millions owed their health, their prosperity and their dignity in retirement to him.

“It is with immense sorrow and gratitude that the Australian union movement acknowledges the passing of Bob Hawke,’’ they said in a joint statement.

“As a leader of our nation and of our movement, Bob was a hero to working people – an architect of the accords, the father of Medicare, and a founder of universal superannuation.

“The Australian union movement has enormous pride that a great and respected representative of working people and ACTU president went on to become a loved and legendary Australian Prime Minister.

“Millions of working people owe their health, their prosperity and their dignity in retirement to Bob’s work.

“All our thoughts and sympathy are with Bob’s family and loved ones during this time. The entire union family is grieving as are all Australians. We will never forget him. Solidarity and Vale Bob Hawke.”

‘Big, bold and brave’

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said Mr Hawke was an “Australian legend”.

“Bob Hawke changed everything — for our nation, and for Australian Labor,” Ms Plibersek tweeted.

“Bob — you were big, bold and brave. Medicare, the economy, the Accord, the environment, Australia’s place in the world.”

Hawke ‘a man of destiny’

ALP president Wayne Swan said Mr Hawke was “a man of destiny”.

“Bob Hawke was working class to his bootstraps and he always kept those boots on,” Mr Swan said in a statement.

“Above all he was always Australian. A man of destiny and it was our luck that destiny was fulfilled.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said Mr Hawke was the “people’s prime minister”.

“Australians saw themselves in him, and he saw himself in us,” Mr Andrews said.

“The son of a school teacher and a minister, he grew up in the most ordinary of circumstance.

“And yet that boy from Bordertown would leave us with the most extraordinary legacy.

In the coming days, that legacy will be remembered in a multitude of different ways.

“Rhodes Scholar. Yard Drinker.

“Staunch Unionist. Member for Wills.

“Labor’s longest serving Prime Minister.

“But for so many in our movement, he was and will always be the father of Medicare.”

‘Australia’s best peacetime leader’

Former prime minister Julia Gillard said Mr Hawke was Australia’s best peacetime leader.

“Bob Hawke was the greatest peacetime leader Australia has ever had,” Ms Gillard tweeted.

“As a teenager Bob inspired me, as a PM he guided me. I will miss him. I wish so very much that Bob had been able to see one more election day.

“My condolences to Blanche, his children and grandchildren.”

Ms Gillard said Mr Hawke led Australia through an era of change after “decades of national complacency”.

“Bob did not lead Australia through a golden age of consensus and progress. He led Australia through a dramatic era of external crisis and economic change, coming after decades of national complacency. He was a nation builder and a reformer,” Ms Gillard said.

“Almost all his major measures – in tax and welfare, industry policy and universal superannuation, Medicare and university reform, a modernised alliance and a turn to our north, in enabling a new environmental consciousness and battling apartheid while defending our non-discriminatory immigration policy – were difficult to achieve.

“Bob remained a tireless Labor campaigner until his health prevented him from pressing the flesh and giving speeches. I will never forget his passion and generosity in launching my campaign in Brisbane in 2010.

“In the end, what made Bob Hawke so special was really very simple. His real genius wasn’t for scholarship or unionism, party leadership or even the prime ministership. Bib’s genius was in his understanding of people.”

‘Australia is a better place because of him’

‘A progressive visionary’

Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney hailed Mr Hawke as a ‘transformational prime minister’ who deserves to be remembered as ‘one of the very great Australian leaders.’

His comments came amid tributes in North America for Mr Hawke, who was held in high regard in both the US and Canada.

Former president Bill Clinton tweeted: “Even though I never had the chance to serve with him, I always liked Bob Hawke for his progressive record and great sense of humor. My thoughts are with his family and the people of Australia.”

Former US Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992 James A Baker described Mr Hawke as a “visionary” and “strong willed” prime minister.

“(He) understood the power of free markets and the paradigm that countries have less conflict when they trade with one another,” he said.

“A friend to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, he was a staunch ally of the United States. Australia, and indeed the world, are better places because of Bob Hawke’s contributions to them.” Mr Baker said.

Former US Secretary of State George Schultz saif he regarded Mr Hawke as ‘Mr Australia’. He said the White House was nervous when a Labor prime minister was elected but Mr Schultz, who already knew Mr Hawke reassured them.

“I said ‘calm down, he is a great guy.’”

‘Transformational, eliable, honest’

Mr Mulroney, who was Canadian prime minister from 1984 to 1993, worked closely with Mr Hawke on the international stage and the two became close friends.

“I was very saddened by news of Bob’s death,” Mr Mulroney told The Australian from Montreal.

“In my opinion he was a transformational prime minister of Australia. Together with Paul Keating as Treasurer he literally transformed Australia’s economy and Australia itself. I think he will be remembered as one of the very great Australian leaders.”

“He was an exceptional guy with a very effective voice in international affairs. As fellow prime ministers we became very close and worked well with each other on Commonwealth issues including liberation of Nelson Mandela.”

Mr Mulroney said Hawke became a firm friend as well as a peer.

“He was a reliable honest guy with a great sense of humour but he was down to business when business called,” he said. “I admired his clear-sighted approach and his ability to find solutions to problems.”

‘He remade US-Australia alliance’

In the US, most of Mr Hawke’s closest associates from his time as prime minister, including presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush are no longer alive.

But it was Mr Hawke’s astute handling and support for the Australia-US alliance at a delicate time that won him plaudits on the international stage.

As the New York Times wrote yesterday: “Despite wide antinuclear sentiment in Australia, Mr. Hawke endorsed American bases in the outback that provided early warning against Soviet attacks, satellite military intelligence on China and the Soviet Union, and communications for America’s Pacific and Indian Ocean fleets. He withdrew from an American testing program for MX intercontinental missiles, but affirmed the Australia-New Zealand-United States security treaty, Anzus, after New Zealand halted port visits by American nuclear warships in 1984.”

Mr Hawke pursued closer relations with the US despite skepticism of the alliance from within his own Labor party. He had to persuade Washington that his Labor government would be a more reliable ally that the previous Labor government under Gough Whitlam.

“The remaking of the Australia-US alliance for the times may have been Hawke’s greatest contribution to Australian foreign policy,” Allan Gyngell, former head of the Office of National Assessments and former foreign policy adviser to Paul Keating wrote in The Interpreter. “It’s hard to think of another leader who could have managed it so effectively.”

“A review of the ANZUS treaty was undertaken. Australia’s role in the joint facilities was renegotiated and their function made more public. They were (correctly) explained as an important element in the strategy of deterrence which helped prevent nuclear war. Australia’s position was to be one of “self-reliance within the alliance,” Mr Gyngell wrote.

‘We’ve lost a loving son’

Former Liberal Treasurer and currently Australia’s Ambassador in Washington Joe Hockey said he remembers Mr Hawke with respect and affection.

“We didn’t vote for each other but we golfed, laughed, dined and yes smoked cigars together,” Mr Hockey said. “His intellect, humour and love of country was infectious. Our relationship reminded me that even though we may differ in politics we can respect each other as mates. Blanche has lost a loving husband and Australia has lost a loving son.”

‘A genuine giant’

Former British PM Tony Blair said Mr Hawke was a “huge figure and someone I deeply admired, liked and learned from, a genuine giant in anyone’s politics.”

Mr Blair, who transformed Britain’s Labour party in keeping with the times, added: “He impacted all of us round the world who were looking for a sustainable model of Government which combined strong economies with high levels of social justice and investment in the most disadvantaged sections of society. Sharp, with a marvellous strategic political mind, and concealing a first class intellect behind that friendly and ‘good bloke’ exterior, he was wonderful and warm company.”

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/bob-hawke-dies-aged-89/news-story/38c37639e6a558c418f617c2194f07fb