- Bob Hawke has been presented with life membership of the ALP and is now speaking at the party's National Conference… #
- Hawke: I'm a bit emotional and you're testing the floodgates… #
- Hawke: I have lived through the period of most rapid and profound change in recorded history… #
- Hawke: the world 62 years on from 1947 when I joined the ALP is very different… #
- Hawke talking of 1941 defeat of the conservatives in federal parlt: when Curtin/Chifley came to power they didn't just want to restore past. #
- Hawke: post-war migration policy excited me in 1940s. We had to expand and grow, despite opposition to this policy… #
- Hawke: Even though labour movement was apprehensive, the Labor govt of 1940s was committed to a vision of change… #
- Hawke: removing the White Australia Policy from ALP platform was evidence of the party's capacity to change and modernise… #
- Hawke talks of his 22 years in the ACTU…embracing "changeless values"…the right of workers to be fairly protected… #
- Hawke: the right to equal opportunity & the right to a decent education were values embraced by Labor men who had not had education chances. #
- Hawke says he was embraced by "mighty men" when he arrived in the labour movement fresh from university… #
- Hawke is choked and tearful as he speaks at the ALP National Conference… #
- Hawke speaks of Lee Kuan Yew's quote about Australia becoming the "white trash" of Asia. "I knew Aust had to change in the 1980s." #
- Hawke: the repudiation of any discrimination based on race, gender, colour or creed was one of my goals in the 1980s… #
- Hawke talks of his 1983 slogan of "reconciliation, reconstruction and recovery". Aust was riven, divided after the Fraser years (1975-83)… #
- Hawke talks of the 1983 Economic Summit and the unanimous communique that emerged from it… acceptance of need for change… #
- Hawke talks of self-sacrifice and commitment of trade union movement after 1983 to bring about fundamental change in the Aust. economy. #
- Bob Hawke: Education was fundamental to the new Australia. One third of kids completed secondary education when I came to office… #
- Hawke: we targeted specific areas of need for education allowances… school retention rate went to 75%… nothing we can be prouder of… #
- Hawke: every economist and economic institution says our reforms in 1980s is the basis of the strength of the economy today… #
- Hawke talking now of ALP's role in ending apartheid in South Africa in 1980s… trade sanctions were not working… #
- Hawke: I proposed an investment ban and that is now regarded as crucial to toppling apartheid in South Africa…quotes Mandela in support… #
- Hawke says he is also particularly proud of decisions on Antarctica… #
- Hawke says reacted with "bullshit" when he discovered Antarctic Treaty proposed allowing mining… #
- Hawke talks of meeting with his "great friend Jacques Cousteau" and planning campaign against mining in Antarctic… #
- Hawke: "enmeshment with Asia" was a crucial attitude… but the relationship with USA was vital "but not exclusive". #
- Hawke: One of the great distinctions between ALP and conservatives is ability to discern "just" and "unjust war"… Vietnam, Iraq… #
- Hawke: There are no heroes of war in the cemeteries of Aust who ask questions about the justness of Labor's foreign policies… #
- Hawke: 2007 victory was absolutely essential if we were to have an equal and just society, one respected abroad… #
- Hawke to Rudd: you have been confronted with economic challenges of financial crisis and climate change.. greater than any before… #
- Hawke: The Labour movement and the ALP have been an enduring love of my life. I thank millions of people like yourselves for support… #
- Hawke: I thank you for inspiration and sustenance… and thank you for this honour of life membership… #
- Hawke calls for commitment to progress and survival of the Rudd government… #
- A teary Hawke concludes his speech and shakes hands with Rudd, Gillard, Crean and others at the ALP National Conference in Sydney… #
- Bob Hawke is receiving a long and standing ovation at the Sydney Convention Centre after receiving life membership of the ALP… #
- RT @theburgerman: I remember one salient moment from the Hawke era in particular: http://bit.ly/AikTe #
- Well, he did mention years of Lib rule… RT @babyexpat: Excellent reading your Hawkey tweets. I wish he had said something about regrets. #
- @efficiencycoach Thanks for that… hope we have a few things in common. in reply to efficiencycoach #
- Party snoozes off during Ruddfest – http://bit.ly/QSfoK – Annabel Crabb on the "Rudd-shaped party". #
- RT @KevinRuddPM: Just presented Bob Hawke with ALP Life Membership… Hawkie made a big contribution to Oz like setting up Medicare. KRudd #
- Penny Wong is fired up at the ALP Conference…not sure if there are interjectors in the room but she's putting the ETS policy to applause. #
- Peter Garrett now speaking at ALP conference…commends Wong and recites list of environmental decisions over past 18 months… #
- Australian democracy's mixed scorecard – http://bit.ly/otxzE – Norman Abjorensen says we are nowhere near as good as we like to think we are #
- RT @shalailah: A dozen climate change protesters have taken to the floor at the ALP conference, forcing a relocation of the podium. #
- A-PAC has stopped live broadcasting of the ALP Conference and is showing "highlights" (ie. Jenny Macklin) – is this related to the protest? #
- Meanwhile… "Dazed Malcolm Turnbull still bleeding" – http://bit.ly/ksbAP – Laurie Oakes provides the best commentary of the day. #
- Kevin Rudd's speech on Bob Hawke's ALP Life Membership – http://bit.ly/Iv2tr – and Simon Crean's – http://bit.ly/6jEBf #
- Corazon Aquino (1933-2009) – http://bit.ly/1GqCK – now that's a political career by any measure. #
- @jadecraven Blog title: JadeNotJaded.com? JadeNotCraven.com? You've got 2 names that lend themselves to wordplay. in reply to jadecraven #
- Swan Songs? http://bit.ly/jzFRO The music recording industry could be decimated before Madonna's 60th birthday as access beats acquisition. #
- Twitter defined at last…RT @John_Taylor: Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses. ~Margaret Millar #
- Have Gun, Will Travel – http://bit.ly/4E93eV – Gail Collins on the endlessly fascinating looniness of Americans, guns and gun laws. #
- Anger Has Its Place – http://bit.ly/1cc8s – Bob Herbert says the "teachable moment" delivered the wrong lessons. Powerful and convincing. #