NewSouth Books
9781761170522 / April 2026 / RRP $39.99
For a considerable chunk of my adult life I was completely apolitical and then along came Gough Whitlam and after the disgraceful dismissal, some 8 years later Robert James Lee Hawke, brash and breezy, blew into the top slot and completely changed the landscape of our country with economic reforms, striking policy changes, an utterly unheard of approach to managing ministers and his cabinet. And in doing so , changed my views on politics foreveer.
His successive triumphs in re-election speak volumes. The raging left-wing trade-unionist who rose through the ranks to take on the country’s helm as a strong centre-left statesman breathing new life into our country’s economy, trade and world status. There would be many still who would decry his more common man habits of drinking, womanising and gambling but equally there are many of us who thought – thank ****, a bloke who understands what it’s like being down here in the lower levels of society. In one sense he was the ‘everyman‘ we had never seen previously running the country.
This volume is a collection of short essays by leading historians, political analysts, journos, corporate types and academics with each chapter tackling a particular aspect of Hawkie’s reign. Even I, as pretty much a political side-liner, could not only understand the significance of each action or innovation but appreciate the long-standing influence they have had on our country even now, almost fifty years on.
Of particular note for me is the description of Bob being a different example of masculinity in his public persona: unafraid to show real emotion and ‘reinforcing his image as a “caring bloke” who would protect and unite people’ with a ‘unique larrikin-conciliator model….successful performance of a certain liminal style of masculinity‘.
We have Bob to thank for our child support system, something that has been a profoundly life-changing innovation for now generations of struggling single parents in particular.
The other biggie for me was the chapter on First Nations issues, which rightly points out that while there were many flaws and failures, there were still vigorous activities and policies formulating to redress injustices and ongoing gaps between white and blak experiences. The Hawke government could have achieved even more with another term in office IMO.
And then the chapter I think I enjoyed the most as it revealed the larrikin behind the PM’s desk – Bob’s dedication to having a punt on the gee-gees. With offsiders detailed to call trainers and stables to find out weekly hot tips, Bob never lost his love of the turf and playing the odds.
All in all this collection of memories, insights, opinions and descriptions is of great interest from both a political aspect as well as the personal insight into a man who was both complex and simple, a left-wing radical and a moderate centre-left, a hard-nosed negotiator and a man who cried in public, an ambitious man and a man of the people. We will never see his like again I feel and more’s the pity.
I give this my vote entirely with 5 🗳️🗳️🗳️🗳️🗳️rating – not only for adult readers but perhaps senior students interested in politics and policy-making.
The Prices and Incomes Accord: A landmark agreement between the government, trade unions (ACTU), and business that aimed to restrain wage growth in exchange for improvements in the “social wage”.
Economic Deregulation: The floating of the Australian dollar in 1983 and the deregulation of the financial sector.
Social Reforms: The re-introduction of a universal public health insurance scheme in 1984, named Medicare.
Education: Re-introducing university tuition fees in 1989 through the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), an income-contingent loan system. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Environment: The intervention in 1983 to prevent the damming of Tasmania’s Franklin River, alongside widespread expansions of national parks and World Heritage listings.
Reconciliation: The establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) in 1989.
Fun fact: in my last two years of primary in the Opportunity Class (gifted and talented) at Hurstville PS, my teacher was Dorothy d’Alpuget, related by marriage to the d’Alpuget family and, if memory serves, Blanche’s sister-in-law before the Hawke marriage.
Just So Stories 
Leave a comment