Hawke PM: the making of a legend. David Day. 2025.

In 1979, a pivotal moment in Australian history occurred when the immensely popular Bob Hawke, then the head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, made the monumental decision to enter politics. After spending nearly fifty years focused on achieving the ultimate political goal, he finally made his move. This is the story of how the larrikin powerbroker became a political legend.

Bob Hawke was one of the most influential Australians of the twentieth century and became the longest serving Labor prime minister. The government of this formerly hard-drinking womaniser did much to transform the Australian economy, reorient Australian foreign policy towards Asia and introduce groundbreaking social welfare measures. After the difficult years of the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was a time of renewed confidence exemplified by the winning of the America’s Cup and the celebration of Australia’s Bicentenary but also a time of national introspection, with the demand for a treaty with Indigenous Australians, the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign and the questioning of Australian identity.. Bob Hawke was at the centre of it all, and for much of his time in office enjoyed and unprecedented level of popularity. But a prime minister-in-waiting intent on taking his position and Hawke’s difficult family contrasted with his jovial public image.