Source: Wealth Creator Magazine March/April 2007

Bob Hawke facts

Mr hawke currently holds honorary positions as Member of the Board of Advisers of the Boao Forum for Asia, Chairman, The Hawke Research Institute Advisory Board at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, University of South Australia; Chairman of the Committee of Experts on membership of the Education International; Chairman, Trade Union Education Foundation and Member of the Advisory Board, Deliberative Issues Australia.

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Bob Hawke: Hawke Eye

Source: Wealth Creator Magazine March/April 2007

 

 

Bob Hawke: Hawke Eye

Bob Hawke

Hawke Eye

Life after politics has been good to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Wealth Creator examines his political and post-political legacy.

History will show that Mr Hawke made a small fortune in property after his departure from public office in 1991. However, it is his work as a consultant, most notably to Asia Pacific interests and particularly China that have immersed him as a business leader. 

As co-founder of the Boao Forum for Asia, it was Mr Hawke and other Asia leaders’ intention to encourage discussion about the aspirations of Asian countries for joint development against the backdrop of economic globalisation. Former President of China Jiang Zemin said of the Forum, “It provides people from all quarters with a place for high level dialogue on such issues as economic development, population and environment in Asia.”

Mr Hawke initiated The Forum in 1998, with former President of the Philippines Fidel V Ramos and Japan’s former Prime Minister Nakazone Yasuhiro. The creation of the Forum was arguably a direct result of his consulting work to China, where he has spent most of his time facilitating business deals. The Australian Financial Review reported that these deals have made Mr Hawke “seriously wealthy”, with an estimated worth to be $50 million. The newspaper also reported that AMP was set to pay him $30 million in the late 1990s to secure a stake in a Chinese insurer. The deal fell through, but it illustrated the nature and importance of Mr Hawke’s work abroad to business interests in Australia.

It is those interests that have dominated his life, those and his extra-curricula pursuits like spending a holiday on the ice in Antarctica with second wife Blanche D’Alpuget, playing golf and indulging his general love for sport. He is definitely enjoying life, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. There was the small matter of a Californian prosecutorial investigation into his dealing with US entrepreneur Moses Joseph. Joseph had spruiked an ‘affordable broadband’ company in September 2004. The idea was to use public powerlines in both Australia and China for Internet access. Mr Hawke had agreed to become a shareholder and Director. Eight months later Joseph was arrested on charges of fraud, for allegedly stealing approximately $9 million from a group of United States companies including Eastman Kodak and US Bank. Mr Hawke said he had nothing to do with the fraud being perpetrated and put his involvement with Joseph down to “a mistake of judgement”.

Then, as a sideshow, it was revealed, that 30 years ago, while Mr Hawke was the President of the ACTU, he was the target of Palestinian militants.

In your honour

His post parliamentary career has been varied to say the least. He has been Adjunct Professor in the Research Schools of Pacific Studies and Social Sciences at the Australian National University; Honorary Visiting Professor in Industrial Relations at the University of Sydney and membership of the Advisory Council of the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

He currently holds honorary positions as Member of the Board of Advisers of the Boao Forum for Asia, Chairman, The Hawke Research Institute Advisory Board at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, University of South Australia; Chairman of the Committee of Experts on membership of the Education International; Chairman, Trade Union Education Foundation and Member of the Advisory Board, Deliberative Issues Australia.

His skills are highly sought after. Yet one of the things he rails against is the perceived lack or shortage of skills in Australian industry. Mr Hawke has always been advocate for education, and he believes the current state of skills training is threatening to derail Australian youth and future business.

Speaking at the WorldSkills Leaders Forum in Melbourne last year, he raised the point of youth disaffection at being excluded from the workforce. “It’s not just economics. We have to do everything we can to give them … a feeling that they are a valued part of our societies. If we don’t, the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.” Mr Hawke cited last year’s Paris riots as an example of the civil unrest that can be caused by a disenfranchised workforce.

He went on to say that the lack of investment in tertiary education was contributing to the shortage of skilled labour, particularly when balanced against the rapid economic growth in China and India.

“It’s a wake up call that we do live in a world where, if we do not change and move to optimise the greatest talent we have, the skills of our people, we’re going to condemn ourselves to mediocrity … or worse.”

The learning centre

Mr Hawke, a third generation South Australian, has put his money where his mouth is and is patron to the University of South Australia’s Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre. The Centre was founded to develop an internationally recognised public learning/visitor and research facility serving local and global audiences.

The Director of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre,
Ms Elizabeth Ho, iterated the importance of the Centre and its message when she delivered, on behalf of Mr Hawke, the International Education: working together to create learning cities of the future address to the Adelaide Education Seminar in 2005. “The importance of education must be expressed by Government, fostered by all parts of the education sector, and supported by business, industry, unions and the wider community …

“Today, on our globalised world, there is a need for partnerships, exchange, dialogue and the capacity to work together for a future that is not only economically just and secure, but also a future that is inclusive, harmonious and sustainable.”

The speech elicited Mr Hawke’s sentiments and gave relevance to what he is trying to achieve in his business dealings in China and throughout the Asia Pacific region. 
“That early conviction of the central importance of developing and maintaining strong relationships with countries in our region has remained a consistent element in whatever capacity I have been addressing myself. The constantly changing environment of the last-half century has only served to reinforce my sense of correctness of this conviction.”

His vision began long before his post-political life. He first saw the need for partnership while at university when he established the International Club within the university, which helped to create “congenial relationships between students of different nationalities on campus.”

His vision continued in parliamentary life, and under his reign, Australia became a more competitive, outward looking nation. Mr Hawke supported the ANZUS Alliance, tried to heal the rift between the USA and New Zealand and introduced deregulation and competition to the Labor party, opening the doors to international investment. In 1989, he even hired environmentalist Jacques Cousteau, going against the wishes of Cabinet who were happy to leave the Antarctic open to mining, to help have it protected as a nature reserve.

But it is his legacy in regards to the economy and international relations for which he will be remembered
and continues to this day.

He told The Age in 2003, “I’m very pleased that the general consensus of the economists in this country and abroad is that the present strength of the Australian economy owes a great deal – in fact is based upon – the reforms that we brought about in the 1980s.

“When we came to office the Australian economy was in a sclerotic condition. We were no longer the lucky country, where the world was just buying our wheat and our meat and our minerals. It was much tougher and we were not going to compete in that world if we didn’t change the economy pretty basically – and we did.”

And of international relations he told the paper, “”We never said we are Asian, because by definition we are not Asian. But it was quite clear to me when I came to power that Australia’s economic future was going to be predominantly determined by the quality and extent of our relations with Asia.

Mr Hawke took risks, some that polarised the Labor party hard-liners, but he was loved by the nation for his forward thinking, entrepreneurial flair for Government and everyman persona. He seems to have lost none of the verve he displayed when Prime Minister, nor the commitment to the things he believes in. And perhaps this is why he is so successful and sought after in business today. He is constantly looking forward and facing new challenges as every entrepreneur, whether they are former Prime Minister, or retail owner, should do.