“HAWKE, BY NAME, HAWK, BY NATURE” by Des Kelly

Another fine documentary on the A.B.C. very recently about this Aussie guy by the name of Robert James Lee Hawke A.C., G.C.L., who just happened to be the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia who “served” from 1983-1991.

He held office as the leader of the “Labor Party”, according to Wikipedia. According to “this writer” , Bob Hawke held office as the leader of the “Labour Party, simply because we are “Australian” & not “American” & we “speak” English & not American. This is, of course, with due respect to Wikipedia, because I suppose the originator of the “word”, in the first place, got it wrong. The correct “English” spelling IS Labour. When we speak English we should “honour, not honor”the Queen’s language, your Honour. The Labour Party, as the name suggests, is supposed to be the “Party” that “works” for the people of Australia. Bob Hawke was the 3rd longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia by total time in office (8 years & 284 days, to be exact.
He was born in the 9th of December, 1929, & thankfully, is “still alive & kicking” @ 88 years of age.

He married his wonderful Aussie wife, Hazel, in 1956, divorced her in 1995, to then marry the woman who was writing his autobiography, Blanche d’Alpuget who was not only one of his biggest “fans”, but now, his “trouble & strife”(wife), as well.

He was reputedly, THE best Labour Leader that Oz., has had, to date. He was a “Rhodes Scholar”, yet a “Larrikin” (Aussie term for rebel, I suppose), could scull,(swallow), two pints of beer in 11 seconds flat & still stand steadily to have “another go”. Bob was also a “ladies’ man”, as the saying goes, but this was mainly due to the fact that the “ladies” actually “went for him”, as he was a good-lookibg dude, with a cheeky smile, arching eyebrows & a charisma to be envied. The only other Labour P.M. to come close to Bob was another dude named Gough Whitlam.
He (Bob), was outspoken, a top “Union Man” before he became the P.M., Like most Aussies, he loved sports, making a bad mistake once, going in to “bat”, wearing glass spectacles which were smashed by a bouncing cricket ball, almost blinding him. He was essentially a “People-Person”, loved to be seen with as many friends and fans, as possible, totally anti-racist, a ” Man’s Man”, who, at the same time, could get so emotional, he could not stop the tears welling up in his eyes, if sonething had upset him.

Narcissus had nothing on Bob Hawke. One did not have to be an expert on ” body-language” to note how he would try to smooth the odd wrinkle on his face, how he would run his hand over his “locks” to ensure that every single hair was in place, how he would react to cameras in the hands of his fans, long before “selfies” came into vogue. When he had to say something, he did not ” wax-lyrical” he said it exactly as it was, straight & to the point. He could “mix-it” with anyone, from the lowest -paid “worker” to the multi -millionaires, in Australia, or, for that matter, anywhere in the World.

Of course, it would be foolish to think that ANY P.M. in OZ.,could remain at the top of the tree forever, and Bob Hawke did make a few “blues”, one of which, was trying to stay in the top job for too long. He had this Treasurer named Keating, with whom he was competing, till he lost his seating & came tumbling down, and, as they say, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”. I admired Bob Hawke, & still do. Blanche is still with him. They will, without a doubt, celebrate their “Silver-wedding Anniversary” shortly, and in the meantime, let me wish Blanche & Bob Hawke only the very best, good luck, good health, and all this, to a man who was “HAWKE BY NAME & HAWK BY NATURE”