Bob Hawke had been a trade union leader and Labor politician, before becoming Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991.
Hawke's achievements as prime minister included modernising the economy and integrating it into the global community, establishing Medicare, and championing environmental issues.
He won four federal elections, making him Labor's longest-serving prime minister and Australia's third-longest-serving prime minister behind Robert Menzies and John Howard
He was awarded an honorary doctorate in civil law from Oxford University as part of the 100th anniversary of the Rhodes Scholarship. Hawke was chosen as one of 150 great South Australians by a panel of The Advertiser senior writers to celebrate the 150th Anniversay of The Advertiser newspaper, 12 April 2008.
He married Hazel Hawke in 1956. The couple separated and subsequently divorced after Hawke left office in 1991. Bob Hawke married Blanche D'Alpuget in 1995.