SYDNEY ¨C Bob Hawke, a transformative and charismatic left-wing lawmaker with a ¡°larrikin¡¯ streak who served as Australian prime minister from 1983 to 1991, died on Thursday aged 89, his family said.
¡°Today we lost Bob Hawke, a great Australian ¡ª many would say the greatest Australian of the postwar era,¡± his wife and former biographer, Blanche d¡¯Alpuget, said in a statement.
While others may have struggled to dismiss a reputation for boisterous, if well-meaning, behavior, silver-haired Hawke said it helped him win favor with working-class voters.
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