Condolence Motion - Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee Hawke was Prime Minister for the first seven years of my life. He was just 11 days into his second term when I was born. I am so grateful to have grown up in Bob Hawke's Australia. Indeed, I grew up in Fremantle, which itself was transformed by the hosting of the America's Cup in 1987.

Bob Hawke and Labor's winning of the 1984 election was in large part due to Medicare. I'm so thankful that they did. It was that universal health system that Bob Hawke built that helped me, as an asthmatic child, be healthy, fit and here today. Equally, Medicare allowed my parents—both teachers on average wages—to worry about my health, not their bank balance.

Though Bob was born in South Australia to Clem and Ellie, it's no surprise that Western Australians claim Bob as one of their favourite sons. Bob spent his formative years in West Leederville, then in the electorate of Fremantle and held by his hero, John Curtin. He attended Perth Modern School in the middle of World War II. It's no surprise that there he enrolled in army cadets. Indeed, the community of Perth Modern remembers his contribution at that time in digging trenches at the school as part of that cadet training. Later he enjoyed the wonders of university life at the University of Western Australia. We thank Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia for their contribution to giving us that great Labor Prime Minister. Bob became guild president of the University of Western Australia in 1951. I know that because every guild president from the University of Western Australia I have ever met tells you very proudly, 'You know, Bob Hawke was guild president'—wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

In 1953 he graduated, and in 1953 his uncle Bert Hawke became Labor Premier of Western Australia. Bert Hawke's compassion for Aboriginal Western Australians and his commitment to raising school leaving ages and to the practical alleviation of poverty was clearly an inspiration to his nephew. It was also on the streets of Perth where Bob crashed his Panther motorcycle. The accident left him drifting between life and death. His parents worried they would lose another son. Western Australia did help form the Prime Minister that we have been celebrating in this place today. Western Australia also gave him the much-loved Hazel and helped bring into the world his children. I think it's been great to hear the tributes to Hazel as well today.

As union leader and then president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he brought people together. He reformed the Labor movement. As Western Australians, we loved him, and we showed that at the 1983 election. That adoration shone through. He won eight out of 11 seats in Western Australia, something the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party could only dream of today. There was an average swing of almost nine per cent across the state. It was at that election that Labor regained the seat of Perth, which we have now held for the last 35 or so years. On election night, when the results came in, it became apparent that the Hawke government had not just won but had won in a landslide, with 24 seats gained—the largest defeat of a sitting government in more than 30 years. Because of that election, more children than ever finished their schooling, health care was finally accessible to all and the nation benefited from both real and social wage increases. Women's rights, economic participation, reconciliation with our First Peoples, regional economic engagement and environmental protection—we've spent the day celebrating all of those achievements. His 1983 campaign slogan, 'Bringing Australia together', defined his character and the entire time he served as Prime Minister.

After his time as Prime Minister, he continued to campaign. He loved campaigning and he loved advocating the cause of Labor. I saw that up close in March 2017 as campaign director for the WA Labor Party. Five days out from the election, Bob was our final secret weapon. We had him come to endorse Mark McGowan at the Perth Town Hall, and he did so. I think he was really there to endorse Bob Hawke, but nonetheless he did help us with a historic election win. The night before, I had the privilege of dining with him; Mark McGowan; my wife, Jess; and the members for Brand, Burt and Fremantle amongst others at the Kent Street Deli in Rockingham. I'm almost certain that was the only time Bob would have ever gone to the Kent Street Deli in Rockingham. It was a great night. He was in great spirits, telling jokes I could not repeat in this place or anywhere, and also complaining that we hadn't given him enough campaigning to do. I want to thank Gary Gray for organising that dinner. That was my last meaningful engagement with Bob, and I'm very grateful for that opportunity.

I want to commend the Prime Minister for his announcement of the scholarship to honour the Hawke legacy. I think that's a really touching and meaningful announcement that he made this morning. In the same vein, I want to note the commitment that next year in Subiaco, in Western Australia, Bob Hawke College will open. Many young Australians from my electorate will complete their schooling years at Bob Hawke College. It won't be just a great school; it will carry on Bob's legacy. It will carry on his belief that education really can transform a child's future.

I want to pass on my sincerest condolences to Blanche, the Hawke family, all of Bob's former staff, Jill Saunders and everyone in Australia who loved him and had a relationship with him, whether they knew him or not. In solidarity forever, vale Bob Hawke.