Journalism is sometimes called the first draft of history. Near contemporary works, such as the University of Canberra’s long running series of books on Australian governments, going back to the Hawke government (1983-1991), might be viewed as the second draft.

Gold Standard? Remembering the Hawke Government differs from both. The book is timely. Edited by eminent academics Frank Bongiorno, Carolyn Holbrook and Joshua Black, it has been produced while it is still possible to have many chapters written by authors who observed the government in action, and some by those who worked in or for it.

But it can also assess the actions of the Hawke government from a distance, knowing its longer term consequences. It can compare the government to its successors, not just its predecessors.

Review: Gold Standard? Remembering the Hawke Government – edited by Frank Bongiorno, Carolyn Holbrook and Joshua Black (NewSouth)

Gareth Evans, who served as minister for foreign affairs, was the first to apply the term “gold standard” to the Hawke government. The book’s title adds a question mark, but most of the contributors seem to agree that the Hawke government was indeed the “gold standard”. Glyn Davis, in his preface, wonders whether “nostalgia has softened judgement”.

Gold Standard? is certainly less critical than some evaluations, such as those by political historians Graham Maddox and Dean Jaensch, both of whom criticise the government for its alleged betrayal of Labor traditions.

The book is nevertheless a more objective account than Hawke’s 1994 autobiography, which the editors describe as “the product of the overgrown ego of an embittered former leader”.

Hawke, his cabinet and his opponents

Hawke is the Australian Labor Party’s most electorally successful leader. Ian McPhee, a Liberal contemporary, recalls him as “intelligent, practical and charming”. But Hawke was an unusual mix as a person.

His interests were sporting, rather than cultural or intellectual. He could be quick-tempered. He was a womaniser and a heavy drinker (though he abstained while serving as prime minister). And he had a competitive streak. Michelle Grattan relates the story of Hawke signing up Australian cricketing great Rod Marsh as a special advisor, just so Marsh could play in the prime minister’s team in an exhibition match against the press gallery.

Hawke had undoubted strengths as a leader. Grattan, whose time in the press gallery predates the Hawke era, recalls it as a time when television was supreme as the public’s source of information on political events. This was a........

© The Conversation