Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Hazel Hawke, as members in this place have so eloquently articulated, was more than the wife of Australia's 23rd Prime Minister, Bob. She was a woman of undeniable strength and tenacity whose ability to raise her family and be, as her children described, 'both a mother and a father' whilst also maintaining a very public persona and a passion for equality will be remembered for years to come. As the member for McPherson just noted, her legacy will live on. Born Hazel Masterson on 20 July 1929 in Perth, Hazel's intelligence, dedication and passion for the arts was on display at a very early age. At her local parish church she met her future husband and the man who was to be Labor's longest serving Prime Minister. Hazel and Bob married on 3 March 1956, and Hazel assumed the role of a loving wife and mother who supported her ambitious husband as he assumed the presidency of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and later as a distinguished member of this House and Prime Minister. Bob's career was such that he was away from home very frequently and often for long periods. This is something to which I am sure we will all be able to relate, but Hazel's loyalty to her husband and family was unfaltering. As the member for Hotham noted, she even typed Bob's thesis while he was studying as part of his Rhodes scholarship.

In her own right, Hazel was an extraordinary individual. She was an accomplished concert pianist who played at the Sydney Opera House and whose singalongs often entertained the press corps and foreign dignitaries on the Prime Minister's international trips. Further to this, Hazel was a passionate advocate on social issues. Whether those issues were feminism, the arts or mental health, community advocacy was her passion. No-one will forget her tireless and brave campaigning on Alzheimer's disease and dementia. In her typical style, Hazel did not let her affliction deter her. Rather, when learning of her diagnosis she said, using that familiar Aussie term, 'bugger' to describe her disappointment. One of her greatest regrets was losing her driver's licence.

In trying to make a suitable tribute to Hazel, I thought I would go to country Labor's local representatives in my electorate. I spoke to Glenn Elliott Rudder, who is the president of the Wagga Wagga branch, and he certainly extended his condolences to Hazel's family and to Bob. He described her as a strong role model throughout her life. He said that she did it very tough, not only being from such a public family, but also the fact that she was expected to look after the kids and to raise them in the times her husband was frequently absent. He said she was a person in her own right and she certainly led the way. She was a great role model in those difficult days of the 1970s and 80s, when women's rights were really being extended and when women were not prepared to stay at home but were forging their own way in the world. She was a great exemplary model for women during those years.

Peter Knox, who is the senior vice president and publicity officer for the Griffith branch of country Labor, talked about Hazel's championing of Australian content on Australian television and he was fondly reminiscent of how she championed the cause of more Aussie programs on our own television stations rather the some of the foreign content that we so often get. He also talked about Hazel as a role model to others. I also liked the tweet of my colleague Barnaby Joyce. He probably best described Hazel as having the warmth and familiarity of an everyday mum—somebody we could relate to. That best described Hazel. She was certainly up there as the first lady of Australia—the wife of the Prime Minister. Everybody knew her in that role, but, as Barnaby put it, she had the warmth and familiarity of our own mums. Vale, Hazel Hawke. May she rest in peace.

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