Bob Hawke was born on 9 December 1929 at Bordertown, South Australia. He was educated at Perth Modern School, the University of Western Australia, graduating LLB and BA(Economics), and Oxford University, which he attended from 1953 - 1955 as a Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford he gained the degree of Bachelor of Letters for his thesis on the role of the Australian Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and the development of the concept of the basic wage.

Bob Hawke Aged Four in Bordertown, SA 1933

In 1958 he became Research Officer and Advocate with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and was elected ACTU President in 1969. He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1947 and was its President for the period 1973 - 1978.

In 1980 Bob Hawke was elected to the Federal Parliament, became Leader of the Opposition in 1983, and Prime Minister at the general election in the same year. He led his party to three more successive victories, becoming Australia's longest serving Labor Prime Minister. He ceased to be Prime Minister in 1991 and resigned from the Parliament in 1992.

Bob Hawke's long career in public life, as union official and political leader, has been characterised by a commitment to the betterment of the lives of all Australians, and a faith in the future of Australia as an outward looking and independent nation, confident of its place in the world. As a leader, Hawke identified with people of diverse backgrounds and interests. He earned a reputation as a skilled conciliator, building consensus by finding the common ground between opposing sides and reaching down to shared values and interests more fundamental than the sectional values and interests represented in conflict.

Mr Hawke was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1979. He is an Honorary Fellow at University College, Oxford and holds honorary doctorates from the University of Western Australia, Nanjing University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of New South Wales. Since leaving political life he has held visiting professorial positions in several academic institutions and has been active in a wide range of community projects.