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HAWKE major tv drama event Premieres 8.30 Sunday July 18 SCREEN EDUCATION 1 WWW. METROMAGAZINE.COM.AU AUSTRALIAN TEACHERS OF MEDIA SCREEN EDUCATION 2 Hawke is a 95-minute feature film biography of Bob Hawke. ith eight years in office, of entering politics and proposes to Hawke was Australia’s Blanche, who accepts. But his mother, longest-serving Labor prime the formidable woman who believed Wminister. He became prime – even before he was born – that he minister after only two years in parliament would one day lead the country, dies. – and only one month as leader of the It’s his destiny. And with Liberal prime Opposition. minister Malcolm Fraser dividing the nation, the time is now. But if Bob’s Building on his success as president of going to run, he’ll need a loving wife the Australian Council of Trade Unions, by his side. Hazel, still in love with him, Hawke reached a consensus among agrees to stick with him. In return, Bob the government, unions and business vows to give up the booze and women. to stabilise wage growth, to improve the ability of business to compete in global Blanche, having already abandoned her markets and to deregulate the Austral- own husband, is distraught. But after ian economy and promote growth. licking her wounds, she decides to write Bob’s warts-and-all biography, giving How do you depict these achievements the country an intimate understanding but still focus on the person himself? of their future leader. The book is a huge That’s the challenge that Hawke success, and Paul Keating agrees to addresses. support Bob in a bid for the leadership in return for his own ‘go’ when Bob’s December 1991. Australia’s prime min- had his turn. Bob’s popularity soars, ister, Bob Hawke, is in a secret meeting helping him overthrow Bill Hayden and with his six closest ministers, including carry Labor to a landslide victory in his faithful friend and surrogate son, 1983, flanked, of course, by his new Kim Beazley. Despite their unwavering treasurer and loyal partner, Paul Keat- loyalty, they want him to step down. The ing. Together they introduce some of the battle with his challenger, Paul Keating, most stunning economic reforms of the is destroying the party. But Bob refuses century, and Bob’s popularity reaches to bow to the Keating challenge. an all-time high. Australia loves him and he loves them. 1977. Sideburns. Gaudy suits. Cigars and Fosters. The brilliant, fiery, worka- Then, his private life implodes. His holic president of the Australian Council youngest daughter is addicted to heroin of Trade Unions is hailed by some as and, having just given birth, close to the nation’s messiah. Some say he’s death. Bob, devastated, blames himself. already running the country. As a star For the first time he’s forced to confront negotiator, his big talent is helping war- how his former lifestyle affected those ring factions find common ground – and closest to him. Meanwhile, Paul, initially seducing women, including the young happy to pick up the slack, becomes novelist Blanche d’Alpuget. Despite his unsettled by Bob’s personal issues, talents, Bob fails to weave his magic on growing increasingly impatient for the the Labor Party, clashing with its leader, top job. But after healing his family, Bill Hayden. Bob – with a new sense of humanity – is determined to stay on. He still has However gifted Bob may be, he seems things to do on the world stage. hell bent on self-destruction, with his drinking continuing to worsen. His long- As Bob fights to maintain the leader- SCREEN EDUCATION suffering wife, Hazel, can no longer bear ship in the days before Paul’s challenge, the humiliation. She knows all about we witness the 1988 leadership pact his affairs and wants a divorce. Fine at Kirribilli House, the prime minister’s with him. Bob buries his lifelong dream Sydney residence. Bob attempts to 3 BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM Chances are you, as an individual, do not know much about Bob Hawke. How- ever, you may be surprised at how much you know collectively as a class. Brain- storm to list all the ideas and information you have. You can add to this by talking to your families. Then summarise all this information under these headings: • Personal details buy peace by secretly agreeing to hand • Character and qualities over power after the 1990 election. But • Role in Australian politics after 1990, Bob stalls, forcing an infuri- • Achievements and failures ated Paul to use tough tactics. Bob calls • What he is most remembered for Paul’s actions treachery and announces that their pact is off, setting the stage for You will have a chance to review this list one of the most ferocious political battles after watching Hawke. in Australian history. Now, fuelled by his ‘love affair with the Australian people’, Bob must face his final battle behind EXPLORING IDEAS AND ISSUES closed doors in a secret ballot against IN THE FILM Paul – without the help of the public. Relying solely on his friendships and The film starts on 12 December 1991. allegiances within the party, Bob needs to muster all his reserves to hold onto the Hawke is about to lose the leadership of job he loves, for the country he adores. the Australian Labor Party and thus his position as prime minister. CURRICULUM APPLICABILITY The film will show how Hawke came to be in this position, and in doing so tells Hawke is a film that can be used with senior the story of this significant person in students in a number of curriculum areas: Australian political history. • History/Politics/Australian Studies An effective way of watching the film - The Australian political system as shown is to focus on a number of significant by the period of the Hawke government scenes, to decide what they are really (1983–1991) showing the viewer and to think about the issues and ideas that they raise. • English - Creating a biography The table on pages 6–9 of this study • Film/Media Studies guide gives you a guide for doing this. - Creating a political biography feature film While the film will tell you about the his- Teachers need to be aware that there is strong torical figure of Bob Hawke, it will also language and some nudity in the film. raise many questions and issues that can be explored by having your local member of parliament visit your class. Some of the questions ask you to do some further research. You will find a starting point for these in the ‘Timeline’ on pages 14–15 and the ‘Summary of SCREEN EDUCATION key issues’ on pages 16–18. 4 SCREEN EDUCATION 5 Time / Scene Summary of the scene Aspects to consider and discuss 00:00 We start at the end of the story – Hawke What do you think must have happened for the party to be Leadership is about to lose the challenge to his lead- considering replacing him? challenge, ership from Keating. Hawke’s tactic is to December 1991 force a vote that he hopes he will win. We do not see what the problem is. Research it to find out. 04:30 Here we see Hawke before he runs for What do we learn about Hawke’s vision for Australia? What 1977 ACTU parliament. At this point, he holds the do we learn about his power before his decision to enter par- congress position of president of the Australian liament? Why would he give up that position? What qualities Council of Trade Unions. of leadership do we see here? We also see Hawke as a womaniser. Should people’s private lives be relevant in their political lives and, as a result, be made public? Explain why or why not. 07:45 What do we learn from this scene about Vision is considered important, but vision depends upon With Blanche Hawke’s ideas and ideals? a person’s individual values. Look at the current parties, define their core values and see how these are reflected in some of their main policies. A current idea is that a political party must be able to create SCREEN EDUCATION an effective narrative to persuade voters to support them. A narrative is a way of telling a story that gives coherence and appeal to a party’s policies. See if you can describe the nar- rative that each major party is trying to present. 6 Time / Scene Summary of the scene Aspects to consider and discuss 09:35 We are introduced to Hawke’s wife, Hazel, This scene suggests that Hawke’s mother has had a vision of In Perth for the first time, as well as his parents, him as a leader of the nation. especially his mother. Here is an extract from Hawke’s memoirs: What qualities do we see in Hawke here? Without a doubt, the most significant turning point in my life was in my first year at university … while I was on the way home I had this blackout, and was thrown off the motorbike … I was on the critically ill list for days and my life was literally in the balance … I had a very strong feeling that my life had been spared for a reason and I decided I was going to make the most of it.1 Why might the film stress his mother’s ‘vision’ of him as a leader rather than his own explanation? 12:15 This scene shows Hawke’s vision, and his The Prices and Income Accord was a policy that required Parliament preparedness to replace Bill Hayden as cooperation between unions, employers and the govern- House ALP leader to achieve it.