Bill Hayden

Born in Brisbane, Bill Hayden was the son of George Hayden, an Irish-American sailor originally from Oakland, California, and already 52 years old at the time of Bill's birth.[2] His paternal grandparents were from County Cork, Ireland and significant parts of his approach to social issues and politics throughout his public life reflected this background and non-denominational education at Brisbane State High School.[3]

A keen sportsman, he played rugby and rowed, and served in the Australian Military Force, and Navy as well as the Queensland Public Service and Police Force (the latter, from 1953–61).[4] He continued his education privately, completing an economics degree (on a part-time basis) at the University of Queensland. Prior to the 1970s, he was a self-described democratic socialist.[5]

Hayden shortly after his election, in 1962.

During the late 1950s he became active in the Labor Party.[6] In the 1961 federal election he surprised almost everyone, including himself, by winning the House of Representatives seat of Oxley, located in southwest Brisbane.[7] He ousted Don Cameron, the Minister for Health in the Menzies Liberal government, on a nine-point swing. Hayden's win was part of a 15-seat swing to Labor that nearly brought down the Menzies government.

Hayden in 1969.

Overcoming initial resistance to his membership of the Labor party (due to a distrust within the party of his father's views as being too radical), Hayden was soon popularly elected as one of the then youngest members of the federal parliament (only 28 years old at the time he entered it). He proved to be a diligent, well-spoken parliamentarian.[8] In 1969, he became a member of the Opposition front bench.[9] When Labor won the 1972 election under Gough Whitlam, Hayden was appointed Minister for Social Security, and in that capacity, among other efforts to promoting reform, 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 suffered its worst-ever defeat in the election held a month later, and Hayden was left as the only Labor MP from Queensland.[10]

Foreign Minister

Labor won the 1983 election handily, and Hayden became Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. In that post, he 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.[16]

Hayden in 1987, signing an agreement with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze (right).

As Foreign Minister Hayden had oversight of the Australian foreign aid program. He pursued efforts to engage Vietnam and Cambodia despite vehement opposition from allied nations and key stakeholders. In 1983 Hayden announced a review of the Australian foreign aid program (known as the "Jackson Review" after the chair, Sir Gordon Jackson) which reported in March 1984.[17] The main recommendations of the report, which were directed at improving the professional quality of the Australian aid program, were accepted by the Government. During the next few years, in various speeches Hayden set out the foreign aid priorities of the government.[18]

After winning the 1987 election, Hawke offered Hayden the post of Governor-General as a consolation for replacing him earlier as Labor Leader in 1983 and thus denying him the chance to become Prime Minister. The Queen's appointment of Hayden as Governor-General to succeed Sir Ninian Stephen was announced in mid-1988.[19] In the following months, Hayden resigned from Parliament and severed his political connections with the Labor Party. He took up the post of Governor-General in early 1989 and served during the period of transition from the Hawke Government to the Keating Government in December 1991. The usual term of for a Governor-General was five years but, by agreement between the government and Hayden, his term was extended for an additional two years to early 1996.[20][21]

Upon his appointment as Governor-General, he became, ex officio, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Australia.[22] He had previously said he would never accept any honours.

The Governor-General is normally the Chief Scout of Australia.[23] Hayden declined the office, because he had identified an atheist, which was incompatible with the Scout Promise.[24] Instead, he served as the "National Patron" of the Scout Association during his time in office.

Bill Hayden and John Howard at Padraic McGuinness's funeral in 2008

By the late 1990s Hayden joined the board of Quadrant. In the debate preceding the 1999 republic referendum, he rejected the specific proposal and sided with the monarchists,[25] stating he only supported direct election of a president.[26]

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, he took time to lend personal support to the publication and wrote a tribute to its editor P.P. McGuinness on his death in 2008.[27] 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.[28]

In September 2018, Hayden was baptised as a Roman Catholic at St Mary's Church, Ipswich. He told The Catholic Leader that "there’s been a gnawing pain in my heart and soul about what is the meaning of life".[29] The baptismal ceremony was attended by a gathering of family, friends, and former colleagues. Hayden's siblings, Patricia Oxenham, John Hayden, and Joan Moseman, along with other members of family, were present for the event.

By virtue of being Governor-General, he was the Chancellor of the Order of Australia and its Principal Companion (AC).[20] In 1999, Latvia awarded Hayden the Order of the Three Stars 3rd Class.[30]

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Queensland in 1990 for his distinguished contributions to Australian life. Other awards included admission to the Order of St John Australia and also the Gwanghwa Medal of the Korean Order of Diplomatic Merit.[31]

In 1996 he was recognised as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies.[32] In 2007 at the 45th State Conference of the Queensland Branch of the Australian Labor Party, Hayden was made a Life Member of the party.

In September 2017, in delivering the second Hayden Oration at the University of Southern Queensland in Ipswich, former Australian prime minister Paul Keating spoke at length of Hayden's contribution to the Labor Party. Keating spoke, in particular, of the reform period during the Hawke Labor Government in the 1980s in Australia. He noted that the foundations for the reforms had been set down before the Labor Party won office in 1983 during the period when Hayden was Leader of the Opposition and was working to prepare the Party for government. "Those great reforms", Keating said, "began with the frameworks Bill Hayden brought to the front bench, the day he became Leader of the Labor Party."[33]

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

A series of Hayden orations, sponsored by the University of Southern Queensland has been established to honour Bill Hayden. Lectures held in the series include the following:

• 2016 First Oration, David Hamill, 14 August.
• 2017 Second Oration, Paul Keating, 29 September.
• 2018 Third Oration, Neal Blewett, 15 August.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bill Hayden.

• 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