Obituary: Bob Hawke died on May 16th

WHATEVER YOU thought about Bob Hawke, and he gave people plenty to think about, you couldn’t deny that he brimmed with self-confidence. At the age of 15 he was telling friends he was going to be prime minister. Even at three, visiting a sick old lady with his minister father, he climbed on a chair and preached a sermon to her, which mightily raised her spirits.

He did the same for the whole of Australia in the nearly nine years he was prime minister: raised its spirits. He opened up the economy, tore down tariff walls, floated the currency, demolished inflation, privatised state-owned companies, revived universal health care and set the path for decades of uninterrupted growth. Thanks to him, Australia was hardly hurt by either the Asian financial crisis of 1997 or the Great Recession. Other people helped along the way, especially his treasurer Paul Keating, with whom he blew hot and cold (and the feeling was mutual). But the engine room driving change was his own personal office. He also opened up Australia to the world, pivoting towards the countries of Asia as neighbours and trading partners and founding APEC, which grew to 21 members. Cocky insouciance was his middle name as he strode across the global stage, forcing the end of apartheid in South Africa, leading the campaign to ban mining in Antarctica, encouraging China to engage. Golda Meir consulted him on how to sort out the Middle East, and Mikhail Gorbachev asked him how he should restructure the Soviet economy. He was glad to tell them. He also, incidentally, taught Shane Warne how to bowl.