FORMER Federal Leader of the Opposition and Governor-General Bill Hayden was remembered as a national leader, a man who defined the modern Labor Party, a humble achiever who introduced major social security reforms and policy change and a family man.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to him as a “legend of the labour movement”.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating recognised an array of his achievements in while he was in office.
The Prime Minister and former Prime Minister joined Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Governor-General David Hurley, Governor of Queensland Jeannette Young, former Governors-General, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, current and past Ministers, Senators and MPs at St Mary’s Church in Ipswich on Friday to honour Bill Hayden at a State Funeral.
Mr Hayden was elected to Federal Parliament as Member for Oxley in 1961 and served as Minister for Social Security and Treasurer in the Whitlam Government, Leader of the Federal Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Hawke Government and as Australia’s 21st Governor-General from 1989 to 1996.
Mr Keating spoke of Hayden’s hallmark achievements in establishing Medibank and his achievements as Foreign Minister in the Hawke Government and spoke of his success in re-establishing Federal Labor in his time as opposition leader as his crowning achievement.
“Labor had just but three years in elected office in the previous 30. Bill Hayden rescued and resuscitated the Labor Party as a national force,” he said.
Mr Albanese said Hayden gave the Australian Labor Party the chance of a future.
“Some giants cast a shadow but Bill Hayden was not one of them. With his quiet strength of character, this legend of the labour movement shone the light that let us see the road ahead.
“As we mourn him in death, we celebrate what his life meant in all of its integrity, all of its substance, and importantly, all of its consequence. We take heart from all that Bill made possible, and every life that he changed for the better, including mine.
“The truth is that Bill Hayden didn’t just light the road ahead. He did so much to lay its foundations.
“We can be grateful that this child of the Depression, turned police officer, joined the Australian Labor Party to advance his values.
“He may never have resided in the Lodge, but Bill Hayden was the fulcrum on which the Labor Party’s fortunes turned for the better.”
