Robert James Lee Hawke, (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.
He is also the only Prime Minister to be born in South Australia and the only one raised and educated in Western Australia. ==Early life and family== Bob Hawke was born on 9 December 1929 in Border Town, South Australia, the second child of Arthur Hawke (1898–1989) (known as Clem), a Congregationalist minister, and his wife Edith Emily (Lee) (1897–1979) (known as Ellie), a schoolteacher.
He joined the Labor Party in 1947 at the age of eighteen. ==Education and early career== Hawke was educated at West Leederville State School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.
He joined the Labor Party in 1947 at the age of eighteen. ==Education and early career== Hawke was educated at West Leederville State School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.
His uncle, Albert, was the Labor Premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959. Hawke's brother Neil, who was seven years his senior, died at the age of seventeen after contracting meningitis, for which there was no cure at the time.
In 1956, Hawke joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as a research officer.
He wrote his thesis on wage-fixing in Australia and successfully presented it in January 1956. His academic achievements were complemented by setting a new world record for beer drinking; he downed —equivalent to a yard of ale—from a sconce pot in 11 seconds as part of a college penalty.
In his memoirs, Hawke suggested that this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other, by endearing him to an electorate with a strong beer culture. In 1956, Hawke accepted a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the area of arbitration law in the law department at the Australian National University in Canberra.
The 1958 case, under previous advocate R.L.
His uncle, Albert, was the Labor Premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959. Hawke's brother Neil, who was seven years his senior, died at the age of seventeen after contracting meningitis, for which there was no cure at the time.
He was first appointed as an ACTU advocate in 1959.
The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke.
His popularity with the public was, if anything, enhanced by this period of rehabilitation, and opinion polling suggested that he was a more popular public figure than either Labor Leader Bill Hayden or Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. ==Member of Parliament== Hawke's first attempt to enter Parliament came during the 1963 federal election.
Having risen to become responsible for national wage case arbitration, he was elected as President of the ACTU in 1969, where he achieved a high public profile.
He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as an ACTU advocate that, in 1969, he was encouraged to run for the position of ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union. He was elected ACTU President in 1969 on a modernising platform by the narrow margin of 399 to 350, with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the Communist Party.
Hawke rejected several opportunities to enter Parliament throughout the 1970s, something he later wrote that he "regretted".
His commitment to the cause of Jewish Refuseniks purportedly led to a planned assassination attempt on Hawke by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and its Australian operative Munif Mohammed Abou Rish. In 1971, Hawke along with other members of the ACTU requested that South Africa send a non-racially biased team for the Rugby Union tour, with the intention of unions agreeing not to serve the team in Australia.
As early as 1972, speculation began that he would seek to enter Parliament and eventually run to become the Leader of the Labor Party.
He was also President of the Labor Party from 1973 to 1980. In 1980, Hawke stood down from his roles as ACTU and Labor Party President to announce his intention to enter parliamentary politics, and was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives as the Labor MP for Wills in Victoria.
But while his professional career continued successfully, his heavy drinking and womanising placed considerable strains on his family life. In June 1973, Hawke was elected as the Federal President of the Labor Party.
During the 1977 federal election, he emerged as a strident opponent of accepting Vietnamese boat people as refugees into Australia, stating that they should be subject to normal immigration requirements and should otherwise be deported.
He further stated only refugees selected off-shore should be accepted. Hawke resigned as President of the Labor Party in August 1978.
The strain of this period took its toll on Hawke and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse.
He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wills from 1980 to 1992. Hawke was born in Bordertown, South Australia.
He was also President of the Labor Party from 1973 to 1980. In 1980, Hawke stood down from his roles as ACTU and Labor Party President to announce his intention to enter parliamentary politics, and was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives as the Labor MP for Wills in Victoria.
He was helped through this period by the relationship that he had established with writer Blanche d'Alpuget, who, in 1982, published a biography of Hawke.
Robert James Lee Hawke, (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.
Three years later, he was elected unopposed to replace Bill Hayden as Labor Leader, and within just five weeks led Labor to a landslide victory at the 1983 election and was sworn in as Prime Minister.
During his time as Prime Minister, Hawke recorded the highest popularity rating ever measured by an Australian opinion poll, reaching 75% approval in 1984. In June 1991, Treasurer Paul Keating unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership, believing that Hawke had reneged on the Kirribilli Agreement.
Robert James Lee Hawke, (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.
During his time as Prime Minister, Hawke recorded the highest popularity rating ever measured by an Australian opinion poll, reaching 75% approval in 1984. In June 1991, Treasurer Paul Keating unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership, believing that Hawke had reneged on the Kirribilli Agreement.
He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wills from 1980 to 1992. Hawke was born in Bordertown, South Australia.
Robert James Lee Hawke, (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.
Hawke subsequently retired from Parliament, pursuing both a business career and a number of charitable causes, until his death in 2019, aged 89.
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