Bill Hayden

For the fictional spy character, see Bill Haydon.

The Honourable Bill Hayden AC KStJ
Bill Hayden in May 1990.
21st Governor-General of Australia
In office 16 February 1989 – 16 February 1996
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sir Ninian Stephen
Succeeded by	Sir William Deane
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
In office 11 March 1983 – 2 September 1988
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Tony Street
Succeeded by	Gareth Evans
Treasurer of Australia
In office 6 June 1975 – 11 November 1975
Prime Minister	Gough Whitlam
Preceded by	Jim Cairns
Succeeded by	Phillip Lynch
Minister for Social Security
In office 19 December 1972 – 6 June 1975
Prime Minister	Gough Whitlam
Preceded by	Lance Barnard
Succeeded by	John Wheeldon
Member of the Australian Parliament for Oxley
In office 9 December 1961 – 8 October 1988
Preceded by	Donald Cameron
Succeeded by	Les Scott
Personal details
Born	23 January 1933 (1933-01-23)
Political party	Labor
Alma mater	University of Queensland
Profession	Politician
Religion	None (Atheist)

William George "Bill" Hayden AC (born 23 January 1933) was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the Malcolm Fraser-led Liberal/National coalition.

Early life

Bill Hayden was born in Brisbane, the son of an Irish American sailor.^{[citation needed]} He was educated at Brisbane State High School and served in the Queensland Police Force from 1953 to 1961. He furthered his education through private study, completing an economics degree at the University of Queensland. Prior to the 1970s he was a self-described democratic socialist.

Politics

He became active in the Labor Party, and in the 1961 federal election he surprised everyone, including himself, by winning the House of Representatives seat of Oxley, defeating Don Cameron, the Minister for Health in the Menzies Liberal government. Hayden's win was part of a 15-seat swing to Labor that nearly brought down the Menzies government.

Hayden was a diligent member of parliament and in 1969 he was elected to the Opposition front bench. When Labor under Gough Whitlam won the 1972 election, Hayden became Minister for Social Security, and in that capacity introduced the single mothers pension and Medibank, Australia's first system of universal health insurance. On 6 June 1975 he succeeded Jim Cairns as Treasurer, a position he held until the Whitlam Government was dismissed by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, on 11 November 1975. Labor was severely defeated in an election held a month later; Hayden was left as the only Labor MP from Queensland. He tried to oust Whitlam as leader, but failed.

When Labor lost the 1977 election, Whitlam retired as leader and Hayden was elected to succeed him. His political views had become slightly more moderate, and he advocated economic policies which encompassed the private sector and the American alliance. At the 1980 election he significantly improved Labor's position, but narrowly failed to topple Malcolm Fraser's Liberal government. He did, however, manage to more than halve Fraser's majority, from 48 seats to 21. At this election the popular union leader Bob Hawke, known to harbour leadership ambitions, was elected to Parliament.

By 1982 it was evident that prime minister Fraser was manoeuvring to call an early election. Hawke began mobilising his supporters to challenge Hayden's leadership. On 16 July Hayden narrowly defeated Hawke's challenge in a party ballot, but Hawke continued to plot against Hayden. In December Labor failed to win the vital Flinders by-election, further raising doubts about Hayden's ability to win an election.

On 3 February 1983, in a meeting in Brisbane, Hayden's closest supporters told him that he must resign. He reluctantly accepted their advice. Hawke was then elected leader unopposed. Later that morning, unaware of the events in Brisbane, Fraser in Canberra called a snap election for 5 March. Fraser had been well aware of the infighting within Labor, and believed he'd caught the party before it could replace Hayden with Hawke. He only found out later that Hayden had resigned literally hours before the writs were dropped. At a press conference that afternoon Hayden, still chagrined, said that "a drover's dog could lead the Labor Party to victory at the present time". Labor under Hawke won the 1983 election, and Hayden became Minister for Foreign Affairs, a position he held until 1988.

As Foreign Minister, Hayden advocated closer integration between Australia and its Asian neighbours. In a 1983 interview, he stated: "Australia is changing. We're an anomaly as a European country in this part of the world. There's already a large and growing Asian population in Australia and it is inevitable in my view that Australia will become a Eurasian country over the next century or two. Australian Asians and Europeans will marry another and a new race will emerge: I happen to think that's desirable." Asiaweek, 19 August 1983.

Governor-General

After the 1987 federal election Hawke offered Hayden the post of Governor-General as some consolation for his stepping down as leader and not having the chance to become the Prime Minister. The Queen of Australia's appointment of Hayden as the next Governor-General to succeed Sir Ninian Stephen was publicly announced in mid-1988, and he immediately left parliament and severed all connections with the Labor Party. He assumed the post in early 1989, and served with discretion and distinction^{[citation needed]} during the transition from the Hawke government to the Keating government in December 1991. As a mark of respect for the service Hayden had rendered to the Australian Crown, the usual term of five years for a Governor-General was extended to seven years by The Queen of Australia.

Early in his term, he was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia to fulfil the Governor-General's role as Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order. He had previously said he would never accept any honours.

Former Prime Minister John Howard and Bill Hayden at Paddy McGuiness' funeral

The Governor-General is normally the Chief Scout of Australia. Hayden declined the office on the grounds of his atheism, which was incompatible with the Scout Oath.

Later life

Hayden's 1996 autobiography indicates that after Hayden left office in 1996 he was still irritated his treatment from some sections of the Labor Party. The book suggests that he had an animosity towards Paul Keating whom he believed to have helped engineer the 1983 leadership change. By the late 1990s Hayden joined the board of the magazine Quadrant.^{[citation needed]} In the debate preceding the 1999 republic referendum, Hayden rejected the specific proposal and sided with the monarchists, stating he only supported direct election of a president.

Since retirement from the position of Governor General, Hayden has continued to contribute to public policy discussion in Australia. While on the board of Quadrant, which is a well-known monthly cultural and public policy magazine in Australia, he took time to lend personal support to the publication and wrote a tribute to the editor of Quadrant, P.P. McGuinness, when McGuinness died in 2009. He has also continued to write opinion and comment pieces for other magazines and newspapers in Australia about current social, economic and political issues including foreign affairs.

Honours

By virtue of being Governor-General, he was the Chancellor of the Order of Australia and its Principal Companion (AC).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Queensland in 1990 for his distinguished contributions to Australian life. He was appointed to the Order of St John Australia and also received the Gwanghwa Medal of the Korean Order of Diplomatic Merit.

In 1996 he was recognised as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies.

In 2007 at the 45th State Conference of the Queensland Branch of the Australian Labor Party, Bill Hayden was made a Life Member of the party.

Styles and honours

• Mr William Hayden (1933–61)
• Mr William Hayden MP (1961–72)
• The Hon William Hayden MP (1972–88)
• The Hon William Hayden (1988–89)
• His Excellency the Hon William Hayden AC (1989–96)
• The Hon William Hayden AC (1996–present)

References

• Denis Murphy, Hayden, A Political Biography, Angus & Robertson Publishers 1980 ISBN 0-207-14101-0
• John Stubbs, Hayden, William Hienemann 1989
• Bill Hayden, Hayden, An Autobiography, Angus and Robertson 1996 ISBN 0-207-18769-X

External links

Political offices
Preceded by William Wentworth	Minister for Social Security 1972–75	Succeeded by John Wheeldon
Preceded by Jim Cairns	Treasurer 1975	Succeeded by Phillip Lynch
Preceded by Tony Street	Foreign Minister 1983–88	Succeeded by Gareth Evans
Government offices
Preceded by Sir Ninian Stephen	Governor-General of Australia 1989–96	Succeeded by Sir William Deane
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Don Cameron	Member for Oxley 1961–88	Succeeded by Les Scott
Party political offices
Preceded by Gough Whitlam	Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1977–83	Succeeded by Bob Hawke