Bob Hawke's Secret Life Was Much Nastier Than You Thought

Hawke’s Public Image and Popularity

The video contrasts Bob Hawke’s celebrated image as a charismatic, beer-drinking “larrikin” who cried in public with the private troubles of his family. His tears in 1984, as his daughter Roslyn’s heroin addiction became public, were widely seen as a sincere, human moment. His approval rating was reportedly about 75% that year.

Hawke’s famous “yard of ale” feat helped him seem like an everyman. The video notes that accounts differ about the time, date, and venue of the record, illustrating how an appealing story can become part of a public legend without its details being checked.

Marriage and Family Life

Hawke and Hazel married in 1956 and had four children. Their youngest son, Robert James, died shortly after birth in 1963. Hazel’s accounts describe Hawke’s heavy drinking, long absences, and her doubts about his fidelity.

The video also emphasizes Hazel’s own work and public life, including her advocacy and her later openness about Alzheimer’s disease.

An Affair and a Painful Separation

Hawke met writer Blanche d’Alpuget in 1970. They later began an intermittent relationship that, according to d’Alpuget, lasted nearly two decades. Hawke and Hazel divorced after he left office, and he married d’Alpuget in 1995.

D’Alpuget later described Hawke as a womanizer and said he had many partners. The video stresses that the specific claim about “hundreds” is her account and has not been independently confirmed.

Political and Personal History

The video recounts Hawke’s rise from the trade-union movement to prime minister, his 1991 leadership loss to Paul Keating, and his death in 2019. It also cites historian C. J. Coventry’s research, based on declassified cables, which argues that Hawke supplied information to US diplomats while leading the ACTU and the Labor Party.

An Untested Allegation

In 2019, Roslyn Dillon alleged in a court filing that a Labor politician had raped her in the early 1980s and that Hawke discouraged her from going to police because of the political consequences. Accounts within the family differed over whether Hawke knew.

The case was settled out of court, the allegations were never tested at trial, and the accused politician had died before they were made public. The video presents these as unresolved claims, not established findings.

The Video’s Central Argument

The video argues that the country’s willingness to forgive Hawke’s flaws came at a cost borne largely by his family, especially Hazel and his children. It questions what the public chose to notice when it celebrated Hawke’s vulnerability and popularity, while those closest to him lived with addiction, bereavement, marital betrayal and, in Roslyn’s account, silence.

Presenters and Contributors

The presenter is not identified in the subtitles. No other presenters are identified. The video cites or discusses sources including Paul Kelly, C. J. Coventry, Hazel Hawke, Blanche d’Alpuget, and Roslyn Dillon.