Patricia
Thank you for this article. History has a tendency to remember the biased and populist versions of actual events and characters.

Hazel Hawke was a wonderful lady and certainly deserved more than the way she was portrayed in the film - the frumpy housewife riding on Bob's coat-tails is more an attempt at validation, made even more poignant by painting the affair as a great love story just to top it off.

While I know the film was all about Bob and time was of the essence, there was nothing at all mentioned, even in passing, of Hazel's charitable works nor her ability to get on with people from all walks of life.

Hazel Hawke will not know about this less than flattering portrayal but her children and friends who knew her will take it for what it is worth - tabloid romance.

Thanks again for sharing your personal experiences of Hazel Hawke.

Well said Dr Edgar.

I've just been given the book,
"Hawke: The Prime Minster," by Blanche
D'Alpuget as a gift, so I haven't read it yet.
However I did watch the TV movie, "Hawke,"
and took it simply as a TV drama. In it I thought
Hazel Hawke was portrayed with dignity, as she
deserved to be. I don't think anybody will
seriously take the TV movie to be anything more
than what it was - a TV drama. Hazel Hawke was recognised
for her achievements in public life with the Order of
Australia in 2001, before she became too ill to know
how appreciated she is. She achieved a lot in her
time in The Lodge, and nobody can take that away from
her.

Hazel was the personification of all that should be bet in the character of the Australian woman; she is an iconic figure.Australia has been blessed by her life nad vision. We all fall terribly short by her standards. As for Bob,...well, what can I say... if he has a conscience he must be, in secret at least, a very troubled person by memories of her.
Thankfully Hazel is no longer in a position to care one way or another what he does.

socratease