Remembering Hawkie, Gough and other PMs
Take a peek into Australian history and share in the memories of four former prime ministers.
They may have left us, but their spirit endures in centres set up to honour them.
Homage to Hawkie
THE BOB HAWKE BEER & LEISURE CENTRE, MARRICKVILLE, NSW
This kitsch homage to Australia’s 23rd prime minister, tucked into an industrial inner-west street, includes a retro Chinese restaurant (overseen by a giant golden prawn), tap room with a window on to the neighbouring Hawke’s Brewing Co operations, and a pool room that’s also a dinky museum. Before his 2019 passing, Hawke gave his name and blessing to the enterprise, as long as his share of royalties went to Landcare Australia ($420,000-plus and counting). There’s loads of humour – in the toilets you’ll hear Richie Benaud’s cricket commentary – but on weekends, this place is more popular than Hawkie in late 1984, when his approval rating hit a record 75 per cent. For more serious vibes, head to Canberra’s Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. The Prime Minister’s Office is presented as it was when Hawke worked there before the building’s closure in 1988.
Home with the Lyons’
HOME HILL, DEVONPORT, TASMANIA
Home Hill, built in 1916, was the residence of prime minister Joseph Lyons, his equally famous wife Dame Enid Lyons (the first woman elected to Australia’s House of Representatives) and their brood of a dozen children.
Dame Enid was a keen decorator. Wallpaper enthusiasts might not be able to peel themselves away from rooms such as “the Wedgwood” – so-called because of its bold blue-and-white patterned walls. Some wallpapers have even been over-painted to increase their intensity. Dame Enid also loved to garden and the cottage-style grounds have been maintained much as they were when she last lived there in 1981. See the homestead, gardens and memorabilia on a guided tour (Wednesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays). In nearby Stanley, you can also see the humble workers cottage where Joe Lyons – the only Tasmanian to become prime minister – was born. On International Women’s Day this year, a bronze statue of trailblazer Dame Enid was unveiled in Canberra.
Chiefly Chifley
CHIFLEY HOME AND EDUCATION CENTRE, BATHURST, NSW
Ben Chifley and his wife Elizabeth moved into 10 Busby St in South Bathurst in 1914 – the year when World War I broke out. It was still their home when Chifley became prime minister in 1945, the year World War II ended. These historical markers mean the residence reflects the hardships of wartime austerity and the Great Depression, with cheap, hard-wearing, colourful lino covering the kitchen and office floors, while offcuts were used to line pantry shelves. Rationing cards are displayed on the kitchen table. Chifley even turned his hand to laying concrete slabs in the backyard. Yet he could also loosen the purse-strings – in the bedroom is a handbag he brought back from London for Elizabeth. The bag replicates one that was presented to Princess Elizabeth when she married Prince Phillip in 1947. The modest residence showcases the Chifleys’ original furnishings, political mementos and personal effects spanning almost 50 years.
It’s time to visit Gough
THE WHITLAM INSTITUTE, PARRAMATTA, NSW
The Whitlam Institute is found at Western Sydney University’s Parramatta campus. The free public museum is located within the atmospheric Female Orphan School – Australia’s oldest three-storey brick residence – overlooking the Parramatta River. Visit Wednesdays or Thursdays to browse the compact permanent exhibition, A Changing Australia, which showcases the achievements of Gough Whitlam, Australia’s prime minister from 1972 until his infamous dismissal in 1975. Until April 13, you can also time travel to the 1970s thanks to An Agenda for Change: Gough Whitlam and the 1972 election – another exhibition occupying the upstairs Margaret Whitlam Galleries. The souvenir selection includes prime ministerial biographies along with face masks and badges proclaiming “It’s time” (perhaps Australia’s most famous political slogan, which helped galvanise change in 1972). The institute and university are also custodians of the Whitlams’ “Lodge in Waiting” – their mid-century Cabramatta home. A public open day at 32 Albert St is planned for later this year.
