Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee Hawke AC GCL (December 9, 1929 – May 16, 2019) was an Australian politician. From March 11, 1983 to December 20, 1991, he served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia as leader of the Australian Labor Party.^[1] He was the third longest serving Prime Minister of Australia.

The Honourable Bob Hawke
23rd Prime Minister of Australia
In office March 11, 1983 – December 20, 1991
Preceded by	Malcolm Fraser
Succeeded by	Paul Keating
Constituency	Wills (Victoria)
Personal details
Born	(1929-12-09)December 9, 1929 Bordertown, South Australia
Died	May 16, 2019(2019-05-16) (aged 89) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Hazel Masterson ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1994)​ Blanche d'Alpuget ​ (m. 1995)​

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.^[2]

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".^[3] He died on 16 May 2019 in Sydney, at the age of 89. His death happened two days before the election.^[4]