I had a good personal relationship with Lee Kuan Yew and I used him, in the sense, that he... He made a statement in 1980, and he said in that statement that, "If Australia keeps going the way it is, it will finish up the poor, white trash of Asia." And he was right, because we were just going backwards.
Bob Hawke[John Howard] led the Government. They had the numbers, and just basically automatically went along with the Americans.
Bob HawkeI just loved him and he loved me... He was a most humble man, the most decent man I've ever met in my life and he always looked for the best in people to find positives and he said something to me that always remained with me. He said if you believe in the fatherhood of God you must necessarily believe in the brotherhood of man, it follows necessarily and even though I left the church and was not religious, that truth remained with me.
Bob HawkeOne of the features of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings was [that] she [ Elizabeth II] would have a meeting with each of them. You'd have an allotted time.
Bob HawkeGeorge Bush Junior [George W Bush] was a religious fanatic, and Tony Blair wasn't far behind in a way.
Bob Hawke[Malcolm Fraser] went straight from Melbourne Grammar to Oxford. And he would have been a very lonely person, and I think he probably met a lot of black students there who were also probably lonely. I think he formed friendships with them, which established his judgement about the question of colour. Thatโs my theory. I donโt know whether itโs right or not, but thatโs what I always respected about Malcolm. He was absolutely, totally impeccable on the question of race and colour.
Bob Hawke