- Prime Minister of Australia from 11 March 1983 to 20 December 1991.
- He was awarded the A.C. (Companion of the Order of Australia) on January 26, 1979 for his services to industrial relations and trade unions in Australia.
- Set a new world speed record for beer drinking; he downed 2 1/2 imperial pints (1.4 l) - equivalent to a yard of ale - from a sconce pot in 11 seconds as part of a college penalty.
- Is to date Australia's longest serving Labor prime minister.
- To date, he is the only Australian Prime Minister to be born in South Australia, as well as being the only one raised and educated in Western Australia.
- He is a Rhodes Scholar.
- He has called for the legalization of voluntary Euthanasia.
- Due to the increasing costs of the commonwealth funding universities, the Hawke government initiated the deregulation and privatization of tertiary education. In December 1987, a fee for tertiary studies called the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) was introduced, initially for some courses. HECS became compulsory for all courses from 1989 onwards.
- Advocated Australia to switch to nuclear energy, and also store the world's nuclear waste.
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