Hawke, Latham and Labor Tradition

In: Australian quarterly: AQ, Band 76, Heft 1, S. 24-29

Abstract

The disparagement of Bob Hawke during the end of his 1991 term by members of his own Labor Party is studied to determine whether future Labor leaders must disassociate themselves from the Hawke legacy in order to achieve electoral victory. Several achievements realized by the Hawke administration between 1983 & 1991 are noted, eg, the creation of several social programs that advanced women's & ethnic minority groups' rights; nevertheless, various decisions made by the Hawke government that were condemned by certain Australian groups are identified. Rather than support the popular position that the Labor party under Hawke's leadership abandoned its socialist origins, it is claimed that the Hawke administration achieved social reform & was principally guided by its pursuit of social justice. Additional criticism against the Hawke government for its adoption of neoliberal economics is addressed; specifically, it is stated that the Hawke administration adopting novel economic perspectives averted greater economic deterioration. It is noted that current Labor leader Mark Latham has successfully appropriated positive aspects of Labor's history into his campaign for Prime Minister, thus concluding that Hawke's political legacy should be remembered, not disavowed, within the Labor Party. J. W. Parker