Bruce Hawker

Bruce Hawker
Hawker in 2010
Born	Bruce Hawker
Nationality	Australian
Education	University of Queensland University of New South Wales
Occupation	political pundit, political writer, political consultant, political advisor
Years active	1982 -
Website	http://www.candcgroup.com.au/

Bruce Hawker is an Australian political strategist, commentator and chairman of Campaigns and Communications Group, which he founded in January 2011.^[1] He was the Chairman and founding member of Hawker Britton (along with David Britton), resigning in January 2011.^[2][3] Hawker was the Chief of Staff to New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, a position he held for 9 years before resigning to establish Hawker Britton in April 1997.^[2][3][4] Hawker has played a key role as a strategist on a series of election campaigns for Kevin Rudd; New South Wales Premier Bob Carr; South Australian Premier Mike Rann and Queensland Premiers Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh.^[5] In 2013, he was appointed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Political Director.^[6] He is the author of The Rudd Rebellion: The Campaign to Save Labor, published in November 2013 by Melbourne University Press.^[7]

Education

Hawker has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland and a Law degree from the University of New South Wales.^[8]

Hawker Britton

In 1997, Hawker and David Britton resigned from their positions as Chief of Staff and Chief of Communications, respectively, to start Hawker Britton. When asked to comment about Hawker's resignation, Bob Carr joked, "After all, nine years is a long time to spend in a political office."^[4][9] In 1999, Hawker Britton outgrew its office in The Rocks, relocating to a heritage post office building in Millers Point. It now has at least six Australian offices; an office in Wellington; another in New Zealand; and three international offices in Washington, D.C., London and Shanghai.^[8]

Political work

Following the 2010 Australian federal election, a hung parliament resulted. Hawker led the negotiations with independents Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott which secured the incumbent Labor government led by Julia Gillard a second term.^[10][11]

In June 2013, Hawker was appointed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Political Adviser, a position he held until the Government's defeat in the Australian federal election, 2013 in September 2013.^[12] Following the election, Melbourne University Publishing published his campaign diaries, The Rudd Rebellion: The Campaign to Save Labor.^[13]

The News Corp press whom brought in feared political editor Col Allan from New York especially for the election coverage attacked the Labor campaign with continuous negative stories.^[14]

A review of press coverage commissioned by the Labor party found that the Daily Telegraph published negative press at a rate double that of nearest competitor Fairfax.^[15]

Against considerable odds the Labor campaign led by Hawker managed to hold onto 55 seats when a total wipe out of around 30 was predicted.^[16]

During a 74-day campaign Labor managed to go from political annihilation to achieving an election outcome that saw every cabinet minister returned to parliament.^[17]

Hawker is a regular contributor to the media, writing opinion pieces and editorials for The Sydney Morning Herald and frequently appearing in interviews on Sky News and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[2] When it was suggested that he was resigning from Hawker Britton due to the thinning out of state Labor governments, Hawker dismissed these suggestions saying, "We've always worked on the basis that Labor governments will come and Labor governments will go, we've always tried to assist in the election of Labor governments, but we are realistic and pragmatic enough to understand no government lasts forever."^[18]

See also

• Hawker Britton
• Kevin Rudd

External links

• Bruce Hawker Blog,
• Campaigns and Communications Group

References