Australia’s Hawke Claims Victory; Opponent Yields

Prime Minister Bob Hawke claimed victory today in the March 24 general election, becoming the first Labor leader to win four consecutive terms.

His opponent, Liberal Party leader Andrew Peacock, conceded defeat.

Final results still are not in, but preliminary results gave Labor 77 seats in the 148-seat House of Representatives. Peacock’s conservative party won 70, and one seat was held by an independent.

Hawke, 60, has been in power since 1983 and is the longest-serving prime minister in Australia’s history. He campaigned on promises of stability. In his acceptance speech, he promised to work for “all Australians.”

“It is the commitment of myself and my colleagues that we will, from the first day of new government, set about undertaking the hard work needed to secure an Australian future of greater prosperity, social justice, fairness and security,” Hawke said.

Labor was hurt by Australia’s $100-billion foreign debt and record 18% interest rates. Going into the election, it held 85 seats in the House of Representatives.

Peacock, 51, a former foreign minister, campaigned against the Hawke government’s handling of the economy. He also lashed out at a Japanese proposal to build a high-tech, futuristic city in Australia.

This brought charges of racism from Hawke, which Peacock denied.

It was Peacock’s second bid for the leadership. Political analysts said his defeat may mark the end of a 26-year career in politics.

Peacock said he will resign as leader of the Liberal Party, and he endorsed his treasury spokesman, John Hewson, to replace him. Hewson said he will retain Peacock in the No. 2 position.

Hawke will become the second-longest-serving prime minister behind Robert Menzies by the turn of the year, overtaking the Liberal Party’s Malcolm Fraser, the man he unseated in the 1983 election.

The slim, silver-haired prime minister has vowed to stay for the full three-year term although political analysts believe he may step down earlier in favor of Treasurer Paul Keating.

Both men believe that the government’s harsh economic medicine of the past 18 months will bear fruit in the next 12 months.

Hawke, who is the son of a church minister, has mellowed in his seven years of office, but strong emotions, which used to find their outlet in strong language and heavy drinking, remain near the surface.

Hawke wept unashamedly during a remembrance service for those who died in Tian An Men Square last year. Last September he was forced to apologize to an elderly pensioner after losing his temper and calling the man “a silly old bugger.”