15 May 2020
Saturday May 16 is the first anniversary of the death of former Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, and The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA is using the occasion to highlight his life and legacy.
UniSA’s Executive Director & Events and Exhibitions Producer of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Jacinta Thompson says Hawke’s influence on life in Australia was immense and continues beyond his death.
“While we grieve for his loss, we also give thanks for the life Bob lived and how he helped reshape this nation in such powerful ways,” Thompson says.
“One year on, Bob will be deservedly remembered by many Australians, and by this University in particular, not only as a politician of great talent and principle, but as a man who was an active campaigner for education and the opportunities it offered to people. He was also unfailing in his support for social justice, the environment, peace and interfaith dialogue.
“Hawke’s formidable intellect drove him to the highest reaches of Australian public life, but Bob never lost the genuine connection with, and understanding of, everyday Australians and the joys and challenges in their lives.
“We are inviting everyone to take a moment to reflect on Bob’s achievements and commemorate his legacy by visiting the Remembering Bob Hawke webpage.”
The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre was established in 1997 to consolidate the legacy of Hawke’s work with a full program of events that emphasise public engagement is issues around society justice, policy making and cultural understanding, including the Annual Hawke Lecture and the UniSA Nelson Mandela lecture series, which is named in honour of the Centre’s first international patron.
The Centre is also home to The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library, a significant national archive of Hawke’s time in office and his life and contribution to the nation, providing researchers with an invaluable resource for both political and social research from the Hawke era.
“At the opening of the Centre, Bob said, ‘knowledge is the antidote to fear and prejudice and it is the indispensable basis of good policymaking and of a cohesive community’,” Thompson says.
“The Hawke Centre and Library continue to honour the Bob Hawke’s values – support for education, for international understanding, and the quest for balance between equity and the economy in the service of the greater social good.”
COVID-19 restrictions permitting, The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre will recommence live events shortly. Please visit their website for details on future events, including online series and podcasts.
Media contact: Michele Nardelli phone: +61 418 823 873 email: michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
