In a social media feed full of selfies and photos of peoples’ food the 16th of May, 2019 was different. As the news filtered through of the passing of Bob Hawke, my news feed was filled with photos and stories of a great man. A man who changed things in this country for the better.
One of my earliest memories is my mum taking me to vote in the 1983 elections. In the months prior, I had helped make signs for Franklin Dam and Anti-Nuclear protests and mum my having a button, which I still have somewhere in a box, that said “I trusted my government and now I glow in the dark”. It was always just my mum and I and I was an inquisitive kid. She had explained to me why she chose to protest and why she was voting for the man who she thought was best for the country.
Throughout most of my formative years, Bob was running the country. I have vivid memories of being awake in the earlier hours to watch Australia win the America’s Cup and Bob’s memorable moment fronting the news cameras in his black and white jacket. I remember my mum and her friends talk about the 1000’s of protesters who were murdered in Tiananmen Square and how our Prime Minister had fought back tears while fronting the news cameras and granted Chinese student studying in Australia humanitarian visa. Imagine being able to save 20,000 lives just because you decided it was the right thing to do.
I was raised in an very open-minded family. Where the idea that someone would be treated badly because of who they loved, how much money they had or the colour of their skin was unthinkable. There was someone running the country who seem to share those ideal. Not a perfect man but a good man.
Years later I settled in Newcastle and was running my own PR firm and a friend, Frank Barrett called me about the idea of looking after the media for The Jack Newton Celebrity Classic. A charity golf event which has been running for over 40 years and my first thought was that I didn’t know the first thing about golf but everyone spoke so highly and Jack and Jackie Newton, that the idea was too appealing to turn down.
Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke was the patron of the event. I have been lucky enough over my career to work with some big name, international artists and I pride myself on not fawning and remaining professional but I must admit, the first time Jackie introduced me to Bob Hawke, it took me well longer than in should have to catch my breath and speak a complete sentence. After all, what do you say to the man who shaped the world iyou live in.
For the past 9 years I have been part of the event and looked forward to the years that Bob would attend. You always knew you would hear a great joke at some point that you could share with your family over Christmas lunch and at the sponsors dinner he always did a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda. All four verses.
The thing I came to look forward to the most was watching the deep and decades long friendship between Bob and the entire Newton family. The former PM often told this story in his speech. “The reason I attend this event as often as I can is because of the deep admiration I have for Jack and Jackie Newton and the charity work they do. I had only been PM for a couple of months when Jack had his accident and I made a point of going to the hospital. They said to me Prime Minister, he may not survive. He has two things going for him. He is incredibly strong and he has Jackie. There are defining factors that I see as the best of the Australian character…. guts, determination and decency and no one embodies those things more the Jack Newton.”
I cried quietly in the dark the first time I heard that speech. Anyone who knows them, known how true that description is of the entire Newton family. Strong, principled, humble, gracious, kind and working every day to make their part of the world a better. That should be the goal in life, to leave the world a place than it was before you arrived. Bob has certainly done that. I hope his passing is a reminder that we all need to do the same. He will be greatly missed.
On tour with the kid 
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