'This past week, we celebrated the life of Hazel Hawke, the one-time wife of prime minister Bob Hawke and a woman who was part of Australian public life for decades. Mrs Hawke's contribution to society is too often defined by her decision, in 2003, to become one of the first prominent Australians to reveal publicly she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. That courageous TV appearance did much to raise awareness of the affliction and diminish the stigma that is attached to it.'