Robert J Hawke

Cover Type: Hardcover
Book Condition: Good
Jacket Condition: Good
Publisher: Schwartz Publishing Group P/L
Publisher Place: East Melbourne
Publisher Year: 1983
Edition: Reprint

Description: 426 pages. Book and Jacket are both in Good condition. There is some light shelf and reading wear, but still a presentable copy. Those Who Read This Biography Will Come To Know Hawke Intimately...The Only Exception Are A Few Light Age Markings On The Inside Page.

Publishers Description: Robert James Lee Hawke is one of the great men of Australian public life, and his story, much of it never before revealed, makes compelling reading.Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar, educated in three universities, before rejecting an academic career to commit himself to the trade union movement. Son of devout Christian parents, he had been reared to public duty and to the ambition of political leadership.He first came to prominence in 1959 as the new union wages advocate, and before the age of thirty he had established a reputation for brilliance in that arena. To unionists he was a giant killer; employers saw him as a crypto-Communist bent upon their destruction.In his decade as the Australian Council of Trade Unions advocate, he confronted the inadequacies of Australias wage fixing system, forcing reform upon that central sphere of economic life. The same role took him to Papua New Guinea, where he helped germinate the seeds of independence.As President of the ACTU from 1970 to 1980 he was a master negotiator and peacemaker in industrial life. He agitated for social and economic reforms, becoming a folk hero and the most popular Australian of his time. In the International Labour Organisation he led the workers of the Western World in opposition to atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific, and was acclaimed as a fighter for human rightsand, champion of his great love, Israel. Hawkes devotion to Israel nearly destroyed his career.While he was president of the Australian Labor Party he sought to heal its wounds after the sacking of the Whitlam governmentand in his capacity as union leader he held back potentially violent industrial action over this most divisive issue.Those who read this biography will come to know Hawke intimately. A fine writer, Blanche dAlpugets sensitivity and psychological insight illuminate this complex and enigmatic mana man whose greatest challenges still lie ahead.

ISBN: 0867530014