Bob Hawke

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Bob Hawke : biography

9 December 1929 –

Hawke and Keating provided a study in contrasts: Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early.Edwards, J.,(1996), p.44 Hawke’s enthusiasms were cigars, horse racing and all forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture, Mahler symphonies and collecting English Regency and French Empire antiques.Edwards, J.,(1996), p.6, p.48 Hawke was consensus-driven; Keating revelled in aggressive debate. Hawke was a lapsed Protestant; Keating was a practising Catholic. Despite their differences, however, the two formed a very effective political partnership.

According to political commentator Paul Kelly, "the most influential economic decisions of the 1980s were the floating of the Australian Dollar and the deregulation of the financial system".Kelly, P., (1992), p.76 Although the Fraser Government had played a part in the process of financial deregulation by commissioning the 1981 Campbell Report, opposition from Fraser himself had stalled the deregulation process.Kelly, P., (1992), p.78 When the Hawke Government implemented a comprehensive program of financial deregulation and reform, it "transformed economics and politics in Australia". The Australian economy became significantly more integrated with the global economy as a result. Both Hawke and Keating would claim the credit for being the driving force behind the success of the Australian Dollar float.Edwards, J.,(1996), pp.216–217

Among other reforms, the Hawke Government dismantled the tariff system, privatised state sector industries, ended the subsidisation of loss-making industries, and sold off the state-owned Commonwealth Bank of Australia.Kelly, P., (1992), p.665Kelly, P., (1992), p.672 The tax system was reformed, with the introduction of a fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax, reforms strongly opposed by the Liberal Party at the time, but not ones that they reversed when they eventually returned to office.Kelly, P., (1992), p.175 Partially offsetting these imposts upon the business community – the "main loser" from the 1985 Tax Summit according to Paul Kelly – was the introduction of full dividend imputation, a reform insisted upon by Keating.Kelly, P., (1992), p.174 Funding for schools was also considerably increased, while financial assistance was provided for students to enable them to stay at school longer. Considerable progress was also made in directing assistance "to the most disadvantaged recipients over the whole range of welfare benefits."Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991

Hawke benefited greatly from the disarray into which the Liberal Party fell after the resignation of Malcolm Fraser. The Liberals were divided between supporters of the dour, socially conservative John Howard and the more liberal, urbane Andrew Peacock. The arch-conservative Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, added to the Liberals’ problems with his "Joh for Canberra" campaign, which proved highly damaging. Exploiting these divisions, Hawke led the Labor Party to landslide election victories in a snap 1984 election and the 1987 election.

Hawke’s time as Prime Minister saw considerable friction develop between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, who were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke’s iconoclasm and willingness to cooperate with business interests. All Labor Prime Ministers have at times engendered the hostility of the organisational wing of the Party, but none more so than Hawke, who regularly expressed his willingness to cull Labor’s "sacred cows". The Socialist Left faction, as well as prominent Labor figure Barry Jones, offered severe criticism of a number of government decisions. He also received criticism for his "confrontationalist style" in siding with the airlines in the 1989 Australian pilots’ strike.Kelly, P., (1992), p.544

Hawke and [[US President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1985]]

In spite of the criticisms levelled against the Hawke Government, it succeeded in enacting a wide range of social reforms during its time in office. Deflecting arguments that the Hawke Government had failed as a reform government, Neville Wran, John Dawkins, Bill Hayden and Paul Keating made a number of speeches throughout the 1980s arguing that the Hawke Government had been a recognisably reformist government, drawing attention to Hawke’s achievements as Prime Minister during his first five years in office. As well as the reintroduction of Medibank, under the new name Medicare, these included the doubling of child care places, the introduction of occupational superannuation, a boost in school retention rates, a focus on young people’s job skills, a doubling of subsidised home care services, the elimination of poverty traps in the welfare system, a 50% increase in public housing funds, an increase in the real value of the old-age pension, the development of a new youth support program, the re-introduction of six-monthly indexation of single adult unemployment benefits, and significant improvements in social security provisions.Whitlam, Wran and the Labor tradition: Labor history essays, volume two By Gough Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, New South Wales Branch As pointed out by John Dawkins, the proportion of total government outlays allocated to families, the sick, single parents, widows, the handicapped, and veterans was significantly higher under the Hawke Government than under the Whitlam Government.