Editing Bob Hawke (section)

==Australian Council of Trade Unions==
[[File:Bob Hawke elected President of the ACTU, Paddington Town Hall, Sydney, 10 September 1969 - Uwe Kuessner, Australian Photographic Agency (5757040416).jpg|thumb|left|Hawke is elected President of the ACTU at [[Paddington Town Hall]], Sydney, 10 September 1969]]
Not long after Hawke began work at the ACTU, he became responsible for the presentation of its annual case for higher wages to the national wages tribunal, the [[Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission]]. He was first appointed as an ACTU advocate in 1959. The 1958 case, under previous advocate R.L. Eggleston, had yielded only a five-shilling increase.<ref>Hurst (1983), p. 27</ref> The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke.<ref>Hurst (1983), p. 31</ref> He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as an ACTU advocate that, in 1969, he was encouraged to run for the position of ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bramble |first=Tom |title=Trade Unionism in Australia: A History from Flood to Ebb Tide |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107321199}}</ref>

He was elected ACTU President in 1969 on a modernising platform by the narrow margin of 399 to 350, with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the [[Communist Party of Australia]].<ref>Hurst, J., (1983), p. 78</ref> He later credited [[Ray Gietzelt]], General Secretary of the [[FMWU]], as the single most significant union figure in helping him achieve this outcome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unitedvoice.org.au/news/vale-ray-gietzelt|title=Vale Ray Gietzelt|work=United Voice|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407162330/http://www.unitedvoice.org.au/news/vale-ray-gietzelt|archive-date=7 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Questioned after his election on his political stance, Hawke stated that "socialist is not a word I would use to describe myself", saying instead his approach to politics was [[pragmatism|pragmatic]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/16/bob-hawke-obituary|title=Bob Hawke obituary|last=Zinn|first=Christopher|date=2019-05-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-05-16|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=16 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516180139/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/16/bob-hawke-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> His commitment to the cause of Jewish [[Refuseniks]] purportedly led to a planned assassination attempt on Hawke by the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], and its Australian operative [[Munif Mohammed Abou Rish]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/palestinian-plot-to-kill-hawke/2006/12/31/1167500010729.html|title=Terrorists plotted Hawke assassination: ASIO|work=The Age|date=31 December 2006|access-date=25 April 2010|location=Melbourne|first=Brendan|last=Nicholson|url-access=registration|archive-date=18 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918054335/http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/palestinian-plot-to-kill-hawke/2006/12/31/1167500010729.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bob Hawke 1970.jpg|thumb|upright|Hawke as ACTU President in 1970]]
In 1971, Hawke along with other members of the ACTU requested that South Africa send a non-racially biased team for the [[1971 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia|rugby union tour]], with the intention of unions agreeing not to serve the team in Australia. Prior to arrival, the Western Australian branch of the [[Transport Workers' Union of Australia|Transport Workers' Union]], and the Barmaids' and Barmens' Union, announced that they would serve the team, which allowed the [[South Africa national rugby union team|Springboks]] to land in Perth. The tour commenced on 26 June and riots occurred as anti-apartheid protesters disrupted games. Hawke and his family started to receive malicious mail and phone calls from people who thought that sport and politics should not mix. Hawke remained committed to the ban on apartheid teams and later that year, the South African cricket team was successfully denied and no apartheid team was to ever come to Australia again. It was this ongoing dedication to racial equality in South Africa that would later earn Hawke the respect and friendship of [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>D'Alpuget, Blanche (1982). ''Robert J. Hawke: A biography'', p. 192. Schwartz, Melbourne; {{ISBN|0867530014}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs255.aspx|title=Australia and the issue of apartheid in sport|year=2014|website=National Archives of Australia|access-date=7 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302211702/http://naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs255.aspx|archive-date=2 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=28 September 2011 |title=1971 Springbok tour: When campaigners scored a victory against racism |url=https://solidarity.net.au/aboriginal/1971-springbok-tour-when-campaigners-scored-a-victory-against-racism |access-date=31 July 2023 |website=Solidarity Magazine |archive-date=6 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906143754/https://solidarity.net.au/aboriginal/1971-springbok-tour-when-campaigners-scored-a-victory-against-racism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In industrial matters, Hawke continued to demonstrate a preference for, and considerable skill at, negotiation, and was generally liked and respected by employers as well as the unions he advocated for. As early as 1972, speculation began that he would seek to enter the [[Parliament of Australia]] and eventually run to become the [[Leader of the Australian Labor Party]]. But while his professional career continued successfully, his heavy drinking and womanising placed considerable strains on his family life.<ref>Davidson, G., et al. (1998), p. 303</ref>

In June 1973, Hawke was elected as the [[Australian Labor Party|Federal President of the Labor Party]]. Two years later, when the [[Gough Whitlam|Whitlam government]] was controversially [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|dismissed by the Governor-General]], Hawke showed an initial keenness to enter Parliament at the [[1975 Australian federal election|ensuing election]]. [[Harry Jenkins Sr.|Harry Jenkins]], the MP for [[Division of Scullin|Scullin]], came under pressure to step down to allow Hawke to stand in his place, but he strongly resisted this push.<ref>Obituary "Labor stalwart who would not stand aside for Bob Hawke", ''The Age'', 6 August 2004, p.9</ref> Hawke eventually decided not to attempt to enter Parliament at that time, a decision he soon regretted. After Labor was defeated at the election, Whitlam initially offered the leadership to Hawke, although it was not within Whitlam's power to decide who would succeed him.<ref>Hawke (1994), p.70</ref> Despite not taking on the offer, Hawke remained influential, playing a key role in averting national strike action.<ref>Hurst, J., (1983), p. 198</ref>

During the [[1977 Australian federal election|1977 federal election]], he emerged as a strident opponent of accepting [[Vietnamese boat people]] as refugees into Australia, stating that they should be subject to normal immigration requirements and should otherwise be deported. He further stated only refugees selected off-shore should be accepted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/05/queue-jumpers-and-boat-people-the-way-we-talk-about-refugees-began-in-1977|title='Queue jumpers' and 'boat people': the way we talk about refugees began in 1977|first=Klaus|last=Neumann|publisher=[[Guardian Australia]]|date=5 June 2015|access-date=15 April 2021|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415163924/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/05/queue-jumpers-and-boat-people-the-way-we-talk-about-refugees-began-in-1977|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hawke resigned as President of the Labor Party in August 1978. [[Neil Batt]] was elected in his place.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250360199?searchTerm=%22Neil%20Batt%22%20%22President%22&searchLimits=sortby%3DdateAsc%7C%7C%7Cl-decade%3D197 |title=Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (Port Moresby : 1969 - 1981), 3 August 1978 (p.6) |newspaper=Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |date=3 August 1978 |access-date=2 February 2020 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126171443/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250360199?searchTerm=%22Neil%20Batt%22%20%22President%22&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc%7C%7C%7Cl-decade=197 |url-status=live }}</ref> The strain of this period took its toll on Hawke and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse. This shock led Hawke to publicly announce his alcoholism in a television interview, and that he would make a concerted—and ultimately successful—effort to overcome it. He was helped through this period by the relationship that he had established with writer [[Blanche d'Alpuget]], who, in 1982, published a biography of Hawke. His popularity with the public was, if anything, enhanced by this period of rehabilitation, and opinion polling suggested that he was a more popular public figure than either Labor Leader [[Bill Hayden]] or [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] Prime Minister [[Malcolm Fraser]].

===Informer for the United States===
During the period of 1973 to 1979, Hawke acted as an [[informant]] for the United States government. According to Coventry, Hawke as concurrent leader of the ACTU and ALP informed the US of details surrounding labour disputes, especially those relating to American companies and individuals, such as union disputes with [[Ford Motor Company]] and the [[General strike|black ban]] of [[Frank Sinatra]].<ref name="Coventry-2021">{{cite journal |last=Coventry |first=C. J. |title=The 'Eloquence' of Robert J. Hawke: United States informer, 1973–79 |journal=Australian Journal of Politics & History |year=2021 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=67–87 |doi=10.1111/ajph.12763 |s2cid=237825933 }}</ref> The major industrial action taken against Sinatra came about because Sinatra had made sexist comments against female journalists. The dispute was the subject of the 2003 film ''[[The Night We Called It a Day (film)|The Night We Called It a Day]]''.

{{blockquote|In retaliation, unions grounded Sinatra's private jet in Melbourne, demanding he apologise. The popular view was that Mr Hawke engaged in protracted, boozy negotiations with Ol' Blue Eyes to reach a settlement. The [diplomatic] cables say the US embassy reached a deal with Mr Hawke to end the standoff, no apology was sought from Sinatra and that most of Mr Hawke's time was spent with the singer's lawyer.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jamie |last=Walker |title='Secret notes claimed Hawke 'informed' for US |date=28 June 2021 |work=The Australian |pages=1–2 |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fsecret-notes-claim-bob-hawke-informed-for-us%2Fnews-story%2F84cc958a7093f0764ad5b6d2a2c8c501&memtype=registered&mode=premium |url-access=subscription |access-date=4 February 2022 |archive-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716135557/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fsecret-notes-claim-bob-hawke-informed-for-us%2Fnews-story%2F84cc958a7093f0764ad5b6d2a2c8c501&memtype=registered&mode=premium |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Hawke was described by US diplomats as "a bulwark against anti-American sentiment and resurgent communism during the economic turmoil of the 1970s", and often disputed with the [[Whitlam government]] over issues of foreign policy and industrial relations. US diplomats played a major role in shaping Hawke's consensus politics and economics.<ref name="Coventry-2021"/> Although Hawke was the most prolific Australian informer for the United States in the 1970s, there were other prominent people at that time who secretly gave information.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sparrow |first=Jeff |date=2021-07-02 |title=Secret embassy cables cast the Bob Hawke legend in a different light |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/03/secret-embassy-cables-cast-the-bob-hawke-legend-in-a-different-light |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Biographer Troy Bramston rejects the view that Hawke's prolonged, discreet involvement with known members of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] within the US Embassy amounted to Hawke being a CIA "spy".<ref>Troy Bramston, Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny, Viking 2022.</ref>