Bob Hawke

The Honourable Bob Hawke
23rd Prime Minister of Australia
In office 11 March 1983 – 20 December 1991
Preceded by	Malcolm Fraser
Succeeded by	Paul Keating
Constituency	Wills (Victoria)
Personal details
Born	9 December 1929(1929-12-09) Bordertown, South Australia
Died	16 May 2019(2019-05-16) (aged 89) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Hazel Masterson (m. 1956–1994) «start: (1956)–end+1: (1995)»"Marriage: Hazel Masterson to Bob Hawke" Location: (linkback:https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Bob_Hawke) Blanche d'Alpuget (m. 1995–present) «start: (1995)»"Marriage: Blanche d'Alpuget to Bob Hawke" Location: (linkback:https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Bob_Hawke)

Robert James Lee Hawke AC GCL (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician. From 1982 to 1991, he served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia as leader of the Australian Labor Party. He was the third longest serving Prime Minister of Australia.

Political career

He was a union leader before he entered parliament in 1980. He became leader only a little while before the 1983 election but he defeated Malcolm Fraser. His government made many changes, like the Whitlam government, but did it more slowly and with more planning. His government moved Labor to the right economically. His leadership was challenged twice by Paul Keating. He lost the second time and retired.

By July 1990, Hawke had overtaken Malcolm Fraser as the second longest-serving Australian Prime Minister but on 21 December 2004 the record was overtaken by John Howard, making Hawke the third longest serving Prime Minister.

Personal life and death

Hawke has been married twice. During office, he was married to Hazel Hawke (née Masterson), a respected "first lady". Just before Hawke became prime minister, author Blanche d'Alpuget wrote a biography about him. Hawke married d'Alpuget in 1995.

In late December 2018, Hawke revealed that he was in "terrible health". He supported Labor in the upcoming 2019 election and said he "may not witness the party's success". He died on 16 May 2019 in Sydney, at the age of 89. His death happened two days before the election.

Other websites

• Hawke Swoops into Power – Time 14 March 1983
• Robert Hawke – Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
• Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
• Bob Hawke at CricketArchive (subscription needed)
• Video of Hawke campaigning for McKew in Bennellong in late 2007 at YouTube
• Video of Hawke campaigning for an Australian republic at YouTube
• Video of Norman Gunston, Gough Whitlam, Bill Hayden and Bob Hawke at 'The Dismissal' at YouTube
• Appearances on C-SPAN