Workplace Relations Amendment Act of 2005 (WorkChoices)
Coat of Arms of Australia
An act to amend the Workplace Relations act of 1996.
Enacted by	The Parliament of Australia

"Work Choices: A new workplace relations system": Work Choices logo from the Federal Government's advertising campaign.

The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the main federal statute which regulated industrial relations in Australia.

Work Choices was passed by the Howard Government in 2005 and was designed to improve employment levels and national economic performance by dispensing with unfair dismissal laws for companies under a certain size, removing the "no disadvantage test" which had sought to ensure workers were not left disadvantaged by changes in legislation, thereby promoting individual efficiency and requiring workers submit their certified agreements directly to Workplace Authority rather than going through the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. It also significantly compromised a workforce's ability to legally go on strike, requiring workers to bargain for previously guaranteed conditions without collectivised representation, and significantly restricting trade union activity and recruitment on the work site.

The passing and implementation of the new laws was strongly opposed by the left side of politics, particularly the trade union movement. Critics argued that the laws stripped away basic employee rights and were fundamentally unfair. The Australian Council of Trade Unions consistently ran television advertisements attacking the new laws.

Work Choices was a major issue in the 2007 federal election, as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) vowed to abolish it. Labor under Kevin Rudd subsequently won the election, with Work Choices being one of the biggest issues of the campaign, and repealed the entirety of the WorkChoices legislation shortly after assuming office.

Work Choices changes[link]

• The formation of a single national industrial relations system in relation to incorporated corporations, to replace the separate State and federal systems;
• Establishment of a body to be known as the Australian Fair Pay Commission, to decide minimum wages, in place of National Wage Cases at the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC);
• Streamlining of Certified Agreement and Australian Workplace Agreement making, including increasing the maximum life of agreements from three years to five years;
• A reduction in the number of "allowable matters", which could be covered by awards
• Creation of five minimum workplace conditions;
• Exemption of companies with fewer than 101 employees from unfair dismissal laws;
• Exemption of all companies from unfair dismissal laws, where a dismissal is for a bona fide operational reason;
• Increased restrictions on allowable industrial action;
• Mandating secret ballots for industrial action;
• Outlawing pattern bargaining and industry-wide industrial action.

Introduction of the Bill into Parliament[link]

The then Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews, who introduced the Australian industrial relations legislation, speaking at a press conference on 8 November 2005

The Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 (Cth) was introduced into the Australian House of Representatives on 2 November 2005 by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews.

The Australian Labor Party claimed it was not provided with enough copies of the Bill when it entered the Parliament. They mounted a campaign against the Bill in Parliament throughout the day. During Question Time, Opposition members continually interjected while Government members were speaking, leading the Speaker (and later the Deputy Speaker) to remove 11 of them.^[1]

The Bill passed through the House of Representatives on 10 November and was introduced into the Senate later that day by Special Minister of State, Senator Eric Abetz.^[2][3] The Bill was passed, with amendments, by the Senate, by a vote of 35–33 on 2 December 2005.

The Bill received the Royal Assent on 14 December and the parts concerning the Australian Fair Pay Commission, wages for school based trainees and apprentices, and redundancy pay for small employers became enacted immediately from that date.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations released the first set of regulations for the bill on 17 March 2006 and following that the complete act – titled in full as the Workplace Relations Act 1996, Act No. 86 of 1988 as amended – was proclaimed by Australia's Governor-General Michael Jeffery. The act commenced on 27 March 2006.

In July 2007, a new biography of John Howard has said that he pushed the Work Choices legislation through in 2006 so that it wouldn't be announced in an election year, and that several cabinet ministers had concerns that the legislation would disadvantage too many workers, which they expressed several times.^[4][5]

Opposition to the changes[link]

Kim Beazley in November 2005 declaring Labor will "oppose the Howard Government's industrial relations legislation in every respect, at every stage until the next election".

In response to the Howard Government's Work Choices package, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the peak association for Australian trade unions, launched its "Your Rights at Work" campaign opposing the changes. The campaign has involved mass rallies and marches, television and radio advertisements, judicial action, and e-activism.

The week of action culminated on Friday 1 July 2005 with a "SkyChannel" meeting of union delegates and members organised by Unions NSW. The meeting was followed by a large rally in Sydney and events in regional areas.

Greg Combet, Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, tells a media conference on 2 November 2005 that "the Australian labour movement will overturn this legislation, no matter how long it takes".

Individual State Governments have also opposed the changes. For example, The Victorian Government has introduced the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate as a form of political resistance to the changes.

In December 2005, the federal caucus of the Australian Labor Party initiated an Industrial Relations Taskforce in order to investigate the adverse effects of the legislation, chaired by Brendan O'Connor, with special emphasis on the impact on regional and rural communities, women and young people. During 2006, the Taskforce travelled to every state and territory in Australia, convening meetings with individuals, employers, church and community groups and trade unions, collecting testimony in order to inform federal Labor's policy response and to publicise instances of actual exploitation. An interim report, 'Work Choices: A Race to the Bottom' was launched by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley at Parliament House, Canberra on 20 June 2006, and widely distributed.^[6]

Campaigns[link]

The ACTU's media campaign triggered a government counter-campaign promoting the reforms. Stage one of the government campaign preceded the release of the legislation and cost approximately $46 million,^[7] including advertisements from both the government and the BCA,^[8] information booklets and a hotline.^[9]

Government polling of the period August 2005 – February 2006, not released until March 2008, revealed that the government's advertising campaign failed to make workers less apprehensive about Work Choices.^[7]

The ALP, minor parties and the ACTU attacked the advertising campaign, with ACTU President Sharan Burrow describing the advertisements as deceitful party-political advertising funded through taxes.^[10] The Government argued that such expenditure is normal procedure when introducing radical change, citing the example of the GST advertising; however, that advertising was severely criticised at the time, and for the same reasons. The expenditure was challenged in the High Court of Australia by the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Council of Trade Unions, on the grounds that the expenditure was not approved by Parliament. On 29 September the High Court rejected this argument in a majority decision.^[11]

National Days of Protest[link]

A view of a rally on 15 November 2005 in La Trobe Street, Melbourne, giving an indication of the size of the crowd

On 15 November 2005, the ACTU organised a national day of protest, during which the ACTU estimated 546,000 people took part in marches and protests in Australia's state capitals and other cities.^[12] The rallies were addressed by Labor State Premiers. Other notable Australians, including former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, also spoke in opposition to the industrial relations changes.

A second national day of protest was held across Australia on 30 November 2006 with rallies or meetings in about 300 sites nationwide. At the MCG the entertainment included Jimmy Barnes and the crowd was addressed by such speakers as the leader of the opposition Kim Beazley. Estimates for the Melbourne crowd ranged from 45,000 to 65,000 people at the MCG and the march to Federation Square. In other cities, an estimated 40,000 people attended a similar rally in Sydney, 20,000 in Brisbane, 7,000 in Adelaide, 3,000 in Perth, 2,000 in Darwin, and 1,000 in Canberra.^[13][14]

Online campaigns[link]

"Your Rights at Work" is the name of a campaign launched by the Australian labour movement since the introduction of Work Choices, resulting in widespread coverage through mass protest rallies.

As part of its campaign against the IR laws, the ACTU set up the "Your Rights at Work" campaign website. More than 170,000 people have signed up to receive updates about the campaign. The e-list also take part in online campaign actions. One of the most well-supported campaigns was "Take a Stand Barnaby!" petitioning National Party of Australia Senator Barnaby Joyce to act on his concerns about the IR laws and vote against them in the Senate in November 2005. Ultimately unsuccessful, the petition received 85,189 signatures, thought by the ACTU to be a record for an Australian online petition at that time.^[15]

Other internet activism campaigns undertaken by the Rights at Work website supporters include raising $50,000 in five working days to erect a billboard on Melbourne's Tullamarine Freeway raising awareness of the IR laws. The online campaigns have also targeted employers, like Darrell Lea CEO John Tolmie. In April, Mr Tolmie bowed to pressure and halted plans to shift his workforce onto AWA individual contracts^[16] after 10,000 Rights at Work supporters emailed him asking him to reconsider.^[17]

Scope of the System[link]

Before the commencement of Work Choices the Commonwealth relied on the concilliation and arbitration power of which provides that Commonwealth may make laws with respect to "conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one State."

The Howard Government sought to bring as many employees under Work Choices as was within its constitutional powers.

Relying on the corporations power of Section 51(xx), the Howard Government extended the coverage of the federal industrial relations system to an estimated 85% of Australian employees. All employees of "constitutional corporations" (i.e. trading, financial, and foreign corporations) are covered by the Work Choices system. Other constitutional powers used by the Federal Government to legislate industrial relations matters include the Territories power to cover the Australian Territories, including the external territories of the Christmas and Cocos Islands, the external affairs powers, the interstate and overseas trade and commerce power, and the powers of the Commonwealth to legislate for its own employees. Victoria voluntarily referred its industrial relations powers to the Commonwealth in 1996.

While one of the purposes of these changes is to provide a single national industrial relations system, in practice, each of the States' systems (except Victoria and the Territories) remains in force. State industrial relations systems continue to apply to employers that are not covered by Federal agreements (Australian Workplace Agreements or Collective Agreements), bound to a Federal Award, or are not incorporated and trading, financial or foreign organisations. Employers that remain in the State systems include sole traders, partnerships, incorporated associations which are not 'trading and financial corporations' and state government bodies.

Court decisions may be required to establish whether an organisation falls under this definition; areas of contention include local government and incorporated associations that undertake some trading activities, such as not-for-profit organisations. There have been several test cases so far in State and Federal jurisdictions, including Jacqueline Ann Bysterveld v Shire of Cue, Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (20 July 2007). The general principles established by this case and similar cases since the introduction of Work Choices are that the types of activities carried out by an individual organisation and the extent and value of these activities must be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the activities are considered substantially "trading and financial."^[18]

Significant changes[link]

Changing dismissal protection laws for most employees[link]

Work Choices contains provisions relating to both unfair dismissal and unlawful termination, which are separate matters. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) retains some of its role in hearing unfair dismissal and unlawful termination cases, but increased the emphasis on mediation and conciliation. It also reduced the timeframe within which employees are able to lodge such claims; claims must be lodged within 21 days from the date of termination. Employees can apply for an extension of this timeframe,^[19] but a review of published decision shows that extensions are infrequently granted. Fees apply for applications, currently $55.70.^[20]

Both unfair dismissal and unlawful termination claims go through an initial hearing and compulsory conciliation conference at the AIRC. Only when the conciliation has been unsuccessful and a conciliation certificate issued can the claim proceed to the next step. For unfair dismissal claims, the claim proceeds to arbitration by the AIRC, where a Member of the Commission may issue a binding decision. For unlawful termination claims, the claim proceeds to a court with appropriate jurisdiction such as the Federal Court or the Industrial Division of the Federal Magistrates Court.^[21]

Prior to Work Choices, unfair dismissal protections existed in Awards or through state industrial relation commissions. The changes to dismissal laws as part of Work Choices reduced the protections of previous unfair dismissal laws, which were introduced at a Federal level by the Labour Government of Paul Keating in 1993. The arguments for these changes relate to creating jobs by removing the burden on business of dismissing unsuitable employees. Arguments against the changes include the lack of job security for employees.

Work Choices introduced several restrictions on who is able to lodge an unfair dismissal claim with the AIRC. Unfair dismissal is defined by the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the Act) as dismissal which is "harsh, unjust or unreasonable."^[22] Employees must work for a business that has more than 100 employees, and have served a qualifying period of 6 months. Other reasons that will exclude an employee from taking unfair dismissal action include where an employee is employed on a seasonal basis or on a contract of employment for a specified period or task, employed on a probationary period that is reasonable and determined in advance, a short-term casual employee, a trainee engaged for a specific period, or an employee not employed under an Award or workplace agreement and earning more than $101,300 per year^[20] (see Section 638 of the Act for a full list of exclusions).

Significantly, the Act also excludes employees who were dismissed for "genuine operational reasons or reasons including genuine operational reasons". "Genuine operational reasons" are defined in the Act as "reasons of an economic, technological, structural or similar nature.”^[23] Interpretation of this clause by the AIRC has created precedent for a broad application of this section of the Act. In Carter v Village Cinemas, the Full Bench of the AIRC decided upon appeal that an operational reason must only be a reason for dismissal, not the sole or dominant reason for dismissal.^[24][25] In another significant decision, Andrew Cruickshank v Priceline Pty Ltd, Mr Cruickshank was employed at Priceline on a package of $101,150. He was terminated and Priceline subsequently hired a new employee in the same position on a package of $65,000–$75,000. Priceline claimed, successfully, that they had not breached the unfair dismissal provisions of the Act, as the dismissal saved the business money, therefore was for a reason including a genuine operational reason.^[26]

Unlawful termination encompasses several parts; notice of termination, Centrelink notification, and prohibited reasons. Under Section 661 of the Act, employees, other than excluded employees (including casual employees with less than 12 months regular ongoing service, apprentices) are required to be given a specified period of notice of termination or payment in lieu of this notice. Where this is not provided to an employee, an unlawful termination application may be lodged. In certain circumstances where a business terminates 15 or more employees, the business must give written notice to a body prescribed by the Workplace Relations Regulations 2006,^[27] currently Centrelink.^[28]

Prohibited reasons for termination include discriminatory reasons such as age, race, national extraction, political opinion, sex, sexual preference, religion, marital status, disability, pregnancy and family responsibilities; refusal to sign an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA)(however it is not prohibited to deny employment to a new employee who refuses to sign an AWA); being involved in proceedings against an employer for alleged breach of the law; membership or non-membership of a union or participation in union activities; and absence from work due to illness or injury, parental leave or emergency management activities."^[29] Unlike unfair dismissal provisions, there are no restrictions on employees who can lodge unlawful termination claims for prohibited reasons.

Removing the "No Disadvantage Test" for agreements[link]

Prior to the Work Choices amendments coming into force, Certified Agreements; which are referred to as Collective Agreements in the amended Workplace Relations Act (CAs) and Individual Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) had to pass a No Disadvantage Test. This test compared a proposed agreement to an underpinning and relevant award that had or should have covered employees up until the proposal for an agreement. The No Disadvantage Test weighed the benefits of the award against the proposed agreement to ensure that, overall, employees were no worse off.

Work Choices required that employers provide employees with five minimum entitlements, which covered maximum ordinary working hours, annual leave, parental leave, personal/carer's leave and minimum pay scales. These five minimum entitlements were referred to as the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard. However, the Standard did not have any bearing on agreements that were certified prior to the commencement of Work Choices: Notional Agreements Preserving State Awards (NAPSAs) If their conditions were more generous than what is provided for under the Standard, those conditions will continue to apply.

Those who supported the scrapping of the No Disadvantage Test say that it was too complex and argued that its removal created more opportunities for unemployed people to be offered a job. The example of "Billy" was used in material supporting the Government's position. Unions and other groups that remain opposed to Work Choices say that Billy is a perfect example of why the new laws are unfair and will lead to bosses exploiting their workers.^[30]

In response to widespread criticism, the government introduced a Fairness Test to replace the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard. However, the legislation was not retrospective and therefore did not apply to agreements created between the inception of the original Work Choices legislation on 27 March 2006 and when the Fairness Test became operative on 7 May 2007.

Streamlined process for agreement certification[link]

Previously, certified agreements, which are collective agreements about employment entitlements and obligations, made by an employer directly with employees or with unions, had to be lodged and certified in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).

The new legislated changes have transferred responsibility for overseeing the agreement certification process to the Workplace Authority, which has had some of its other powers of investigation transferred to the Workplace Ombudsman. Now instead of appearing before a Commissioner at the AIRC, parties to a collective agreement are only required to lodge the agreement with the Workplace Authority.

This new process has been criticised by those opposed to Work Choices as they believe that it will give unions less opportunity to scrutinise and intervene where they believe an agreement has been unfairly drafted. However the government has stated in response that the intention of this part of the Act was to improve the turn-around time for agreement certification. In addition the newly amended Act does provide for substantial penalties upon employers, employees and unions where a collective agreement does not comply with the new regulations or includes prohibited content.

Senate inquiry[link]

An token inquiry into the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 was held by the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee, to which the Bill was referred once it was introduced into the House of Representatives.

Five days were allowed for submissions to be made to the committee, with the closing date being 9 November 2005. Five days of hearings were scheduled to be held at Parliament House in Canberra commencing 14 November with the committee reporting to the Senate on 22 November.

This decision to have a rather short inquiry was criticised by Labor, who claimed that it was an attempt by the Government to avoid proper scrutiny of the Bill.^[31]

By November, the Senate had received more than 4,500 submissions, of which only 173 were published on the website. The committee did not individually acknowledge and publish all submissions, due to the large number of submissions, at least partially caused by ACTU's campaign against Work Choices, which included setting up a form on its website by which people could make a submission.

On 14 November the Senate Inquiry began its five-day hearing – in which only a fraction of the submissions were heard – with the submissions of State and Territory Industrial Relations Ministers and representatives. The representatives were each allowed only seven minutes to address the Inquiry, during which they criticised the package as being unconstitutional and undermining the rights and conditions of workers.^[32]

The Office of the Employment Advocate, now known as the Workplace Authority, conducted a survey ending in September 2006 which showed the following results with respect to 'protected' conditions lost in Work Choices legislation: of all AWAs sampled, 88 percent abolished or 'modified' overtime rates; 89 percent of AWAs either abolished or 'modified' shiftwork loading; 91 percent abolished or 'modified' monetary allowances; 85 percent abolished or 'modified incentive payments; 82 percent abolished or 'modified' public holiday payments; and 83 percent abolished or 'modified' rest breaks. In each of these cases conditions were more often abolished than modified, and all modifications represented decreases in conditions. Lastly, though 66 percent of AWAs resulted in wage increases, 52 percent of these increases were unquantified or not guaranteed.^[33]

Political reactions and consequences[link]

When it was tabled in the Parliament, there was significant concerns from civil libertarians and the Opposition that the Bill was passed far too quickly for those voting on it to actually read the document closely, and that insufficient physical copies of the bill had been given to the Opposition to read before a vote was held.^[34]

Employer associations such as the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had indicated they supported Work Choices at the time, figures that ran counter to the 50 per cent of employers cited in a 2007 AC Nielsen poll as opposing the measures.^[35] The Australian labour movement, represented by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, ran a very effective media campaign attacking the proposed changes, and alternate models were proposed by the centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP), who won the subsequent election in a landslide. The Liberal (right-wing) Government at that time used federal funds to produce and air an advertising campaign promoting Work Choices, a decision that which was criticised by the federal opposition and challenged in the High Court. In addition, the state governments of Australia (all of which were Labor at the time) used the High Court to challenge the legality of the Commonwealth using the Corporations Act to sidestep the usual parliamentary oversight and implement Work Choices, but were ruled against.

Work Choices was not a 2004 election policy,^[36] however following the 2004 federal election, the Liberal-National coalition gained a majority in both houses of parliament, and amendments were introduced into the House of Representatives on 2 November 2005.^[37] A senate inquiry was held into the Bill from 14 November 2005 to 22 November 2005. The length of this was criticised by the Opposition as being too short.^[31] A survey by the Workplace Authority found that although most AWAs (Australian Workplace Agreement) removed some leave loadings, this was also accompanied by a wage rise in most cases.^[38] Work Choices was accepted by the Senate on 2 December 2005.^[37] The primary changes came into effect on 27 March 2006.

Work Choices was a prominent issue in the defeat of the centre-right Howard Liberal government at the 2007 federal election. The centre-left Rudd Labor government dismantled the legislation in 2008, declaring it "dead".^[39]

High Court Challenge[link]

At the commencement of the Work Choices reforms every state and territory of Australia had a Labor government. The States lodged a challenge to the Constitutional validity of Work Choices in the High Court of Australia. Various union groups also lodged their own challenge in the High Court. The High Court heard arguments between 4 May 2006 and 11 May 2006. On 14 November 2006 the High Court, by a 5 to 2 majority, rejected the challenge, upholding the Government's use of the corporations power as a constitutionally valid basis for the Work Choices reforms.^[40]

'Work Choices' brand discarded[link]

The Australian Government stopped using the name "Work Choices" to describe its industrial relations changes on 17 May 2007.^[41] Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey said the brand had to be dropped due to the union and community campaign against the Work Choices laws. "It has resonated because it's been the most sophisticated and political campaign in the history of this country".^[42] The ACTU countered that the name may have changed but the laws were the same.^[43] The Government did not rename the brand, but did launch a new advertising campaign that did not refer specifically to WorkChoices.^[44] This gave rise to the jibe from critics and commentators alike that the policy was one that dare not speak its name, an allusion to the euphemism coined by Lord Alfred Douglas for homosexuality.^[45] Another notable curiosity was the continuation of the https://www.workchoices.gov.au/ website.

Legacy[link]

Kevin Rudd (second from right) campaigning against Work Choices at Labour Day 2007

Kevin Rudd took over the Australian Labor Party leadership on 4 December 2006, and in the process reaffirming his opposition to Work Choices. As Labor won government at the 2007 federal election, it will retain a federal rather than states-based system. Additionally, it plans to phase out Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) over a period of years with a preference of collective agreements and awards with an exclusion to those earning over $100,000. Unfair dismissal laws would be restored to all businesses, however, employees joining companies with under 15 employees will be placed under a twelve month probationary period.^[46] Restrictive right of entry rules in to workplaces for unions introduced under Work Choices will remain and secret ballots (rather than open ballots) to decide on carrying out strikes will continue, which would become banned except during periods of collective bargaining.^[47] The dismantling of the group of industrial relations bodies created by the government would also occur, and in their place a service known as "Fair Work Australia" would be created.^[48]

Kevin Rudd used part of the 2007 election debate to argue that the Liberal Party was being influenced by the H. R. Nicholls Society to make further reforms to industrial relations, citing Nick Minchin's attendance to last year's H. R. Nicholls Society conference, where he told the audience that the coalition knew its reform to Work Choices were not popular but the process of change must continue,^[49] and that "there is still a long way to go... awards, the IR commission, all the rest of it..."^[50] The Australian Labor Party stated that "We know the HR Nicholls society supports the abolition of awards, supports the abolition of the minimum wage, supports the abolition of the independent umpire, the Industrial Relations Commission".^[51]

In 2007, the Society criticised the WorkChoices legislation for creating even more regulation. The Society, which in fact supports deregulation of the labour market to the extent that employers and employees simply form contracts with each other and then deal with any disputes via the courts, admonished the WorkChoices model particularly for its length and the amount of red tape, claiming it was "all about regulation" and comparing it to the "old Soviet system of command and control", as well as on federalist grounds saying "This attempt on his part to diminish the role of the states, to concentrate all power in Canberra, is very much to Australia's detriment".^[52] Society President Ray Evans stated that in creating Work Choices "John Howard has assumed an omnipotence that Labor will inherit and to which no mortal should aspire. It will end in tears."^[53] Des Moore stated on behalf of the Society that "The HR Nicholls Society is very disappointed with the work choices changes."^[54]

Howard's successor as leader of the Liberal Party, Brendan Nelson declared that his party has "listened and learned" from the Australian public. He also declared that WorkChoices was "dead" and would never be resurrected as part of Coalition policy, and called on Rudd to move quickly to introduce draft industrial relations legislation.^[55] Former IR minister Joe Hockey said the laws "went too deep" but were introduced with "the best intentions". "As I said yesterday and I've said since election day, WorkChoices is dead, and there is an overwhelming mandate for the Labor Party's policy of tearing up Work Choices," he said.^[56]

Former Prime Minister John Howard broke his post-election silence in March 2008 by attacking Rudd's industrial relations policy while defending WorkChoices.^[57]

In March 2008 Federal Industrial Relations Minister Julia Gillard revealed that the previous government had spent $121 million on what she described as WorkChoices propaganda including promotional material such as 98,000 mousepads, 77,000 pens and 100,000 plastic folders.^[58]

On 19 March 2008, a bill was passed in the Senate that prevented new AWAs from being made, and set up provisions for workers to be transferred from AWAs into intermediate agreements.^[59]

On 27 March 2008, the ban on new AWAs came into effect in Australia. The date was chosen by Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard to have the law given Royal Assent as it coincided with the second anniversary of the Work Choices legislation. "On this two-year anniversary of Work Choices, we are here to start burying Work Choices" announced Julia Gillard. Brendan Nelson, Leader of the Opposition, made it clear that the Liberal-National Coalition will not seek to reintroduce AWAs, saying: "I made it clear on behalf of the Coalition prior to Christmas that Work Choices is dead."^[60]

See also[link]

• Australian labour law
• Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)
• Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC)
• Australian labour movement
• Section 51(xx) of the Australian Constitution, article on the 'corporations power' of the Australian Constitution
• New South Wales & Ors v Commonwealth (Workplace Relations Challenge)
• Public holidays in Australia

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Wooden, Mark (2006). "Implications of Work Choices Legislation". Agenda 13 (2): 99–116. http://epress.anu.edu.au/agenda/013/02/13-2-A-1.pdf. 
• Sacked staff to get $4000 in legal help – National – smh.com.au
• Lateline – 10 October 2005: IR clashes begin despite lack of detail
• Casual Workers – 12/10/2005 – NSW Parliament

External links[link]

• Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 (pdf – 766 pgs) Warning, large file.
• Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 (pdf – 691 pgs) Warning, large file.
• Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 Explanitory Memoranda (pdf – 565 pages) Warning, large file.
• Official WorkChoices website
• ACTU Rights at Work campaign website with factsheets and online campaigns
• Giving the workers what they want?^{[dead link]} 19 July 2005 Clyde Russell – economics editor of the West Australian.
• PM rules out any IR compromise The Age 7 July 2005.
• Speech To The National Press Club – Greg Combet, ACTU Secretary 7 July 2005 from the ACTU website
• Government employment and workplace relations official website
• Papers from Australian Labour Market experts^{[dead link]}
• Comparisons with Master and Servant Act include from Commentator Kenneth Davidson, Casual Workers – 12/10/2005 – NSW Parliament Ian West] in the NSW Legislative Council, and a May 2005 speech PDF by Doug Cameron, National Secretary of the AMWU

The Honourable Bob Hawke AC GCL
23rd Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990
In office 11 March 1983 – 20 December 1991
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir Ninian Stephen Bill Hayden
Deputy	Lionel Bowen Paul Keating Brian Howe
Preceded by	Malcolm Fraser
Succeeded by	Paul Keating
Leader of the Opposition
In office 3 February 1983 – 11 March 1983
Preceded by	Bill Hayden
Succeeded by	Andrew Peacock
Treasurer of Australia
In office 3 June 1991 – 4 June 1991
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	John Kerin
Member of the Australian Parliament for Wills
In office 18 October 1980 – 20 February 1992
Preceded by	Gordon Bryant
Succeeded by	Phil Cleary
Personal details
Born	Robert James Lee Hawke (1929-12-09) 9 December 1929 (age 82) Bordertown, South Australia, Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Hazel Masterson (1956–1995) Blanche d'Alpuget (1995–present)
Children	Three One died in infancy
Alma mater	University of Western Australia University College, Oxford Australian National University

Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL (born 9 December 1929) is a former Australian politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991.

After a decade as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he entered parliament as a Labor MP at the 1980 federal election and became Prime Minister within three years, leading Labor to victory at four consecutive federal elections: 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990. Hawke was defeated as Labor leader in a 1991 spill against Paul Keating. He is Labor's longest-serving Prime Minister and Australia's third-longest-serving Prime Minister.

Early life and education[link]

Hawke's memorial at the Turf Tavern for downing a yard of ale (2.5 imperial pints or 1.4 litres) in just 11 seconds in 1963 [sic] while at Oxford University, a record at the time, and entered in the Guinness Book of Records. The record was actually set in 1953.

Hawke was born in Bordertown, a small town in South Australia near the Victorian border. His father Clem was a Congregationalist minister; his uncle, Albert Hawke, was Labor Premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959 and was a close friend of Labor Prime Minister John Curtin, who was in many ways Bob Hawke's role model. Hawke's mother, Ellie, had an almost messianic belief in her son's destiny^[1] and this contributed to his supreme self-confidence throughout his career. Both his parents were of Cornish origins^[2] and he himself has stated that his background is Cornish.^[3] This led the Cornish writer and historian A.L. Rowse to write "Bob Hawke's characteristics are as Cornish as Australian. I know them well: the aggressive individualism, the egoism, the touchiness, the liability to resentment, even a touch of vindictiveness."^[4] While attending the 1952 World Christian Youth Conference, held in Kottayam in southern India, Hawke was struck by "this enormous sense of irrelevance of religion to the needs of the people" and abandoned his Christian beliefs.^[5] By the time he entered politics he was a self-described agnostic.^[6] Hawke told Andrew Denton in 2008 that his father's Christian faith continued to influence his outlook however: "[My father] 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."^[7]

Hawke was raised in Perth and attended Perth Modern School and completed undergraduate degrees in Law and Arts (Economics) at the University of Western Australia. At age 15, he boasted that he would one day become Prime Minister of Australia.^[8] He joined the Labor Party in 1947, and successfully applied for a Rhodes Scholarship at the end of 1952.^[9][10] In 1953, Hawke went to the University of Oxford to commence a Bachelor of Arts at University College.^[11] He soon found he was covering much the same ground as his Bachelor's degree from Perth, and switched to a Bachelor of Letters, with a thesis on wage-fixing in Australia.^[12] The thesis was successfully presented in January 1956.^[13]

His academic achievements were complemented by setting a new world speed record for beer drinking: he downed 2 1/2 pints - equivalent to a yard of ale - from a sconce pot in eleven seconds as part of a college penalty.^[14][15] In his memoirs, Hawke suggested that this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other, by endearing him to a voting population with a strong beer culture.^[13]

In March 1956, Hawke married Hazel Masterson, at Trinity Church, Perth, Western Australia.^[16] In the same year, Hawke accepted a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the area of arbitration law in the law department of the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra.^[13][16] Soon after arrival at ANU, Hawke became the students' representative on the University Council.^[16]

In 1957, Hawke was recommended to the ACTU president Albert Monk for the position of ACTU research officer to replace Harold Souter, who had become ACTU secretary. The recommendation was made by Hawke's mentor at ANU, H.P. Brown, who for a number of years had assisted the ACTU in national wage cases. Hawke decided to abandon his doctoral studies and accept the offer. The Hawke family moved to Melbourne.^[17]

Trade union leader[link]

Not long after Hawke began work at the ACTU, he became responsible for the presentation of its annual case for higher wages to the national wages tribunal, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He was first appointed as the ACTU advocate in 1959. The 1958 case, under advocate R.L Eggleston, had yielded only a five-shilling increase.^[18] The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke.^[19] He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as ACTU advocate, that in 1969 he was encouraged to run for ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union.

He was elected to the presidency of the ACTU in 1969 on a modernising platform, by a narrow margin (399 to 350)^[20] and with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the Communist Party.

Hawke declared publicly that "socialist is not a word I would use to describe myself" and his approach to government was pragmatic. He concerned himself with making improvements to workers' lives from within the traditional institutions of government, rather than to any ideological theory. He opposed the Vietnam war, but was a strong supporter of the US-Australian alliance, and also an emotional supporter of Israel. It was his commitment to the cause of Jewish Refuseniks that led to a planned assassination attempt by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and its Australian operative Munif Mohammed Abou Rish.^[21]

In industrial matters, Hawke continued to demonstrate a preference for and considerable skill at negotiation, and was generally liked and respected by employers as well as the unions he advocated for. As early as 1972 speculation began that he would soon enter Parliament and become Labor leader. But while his career continued successfully, his heavy use of alcohol and his notorious womanising^[22] placed considerable strains on his family life.

In 1973 Hawke became Federal President of the Labor Party. When the Gough Whitlam government was controversially dismissed by the Governor-General in 1975 and the government defeated at the ensuing election, Whitlam initially offered the Labor leadership to Hawke, although it was not within Whitlam's power to decide who would succeed him.^[23] Hawke decided not to enter Parliament at that time, a decision he soon regretted. He was, however, influential in averting national strike action.^[24] The strain of this period took its toll, and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse.

This shock led Hawke to make a sustained and ultimately successful effort to conquer his alcoholism – John Curtin was his inspiration in this as in other things. He was helped in this by his relationship with the writer Blanche d'Alpuget, who in 1982 published an admiring biography of Hawke. His popularity with the public was unaffected, and polling suggested that he was a far more popular politician than either Bill Hayden, the Labor leader since 1977, or the incumbent Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Parliamentarian[link]

Hawke addresses the Labour Day crowd in October 1980

Hawke initially attempted to enter parliament at the 1963 federal election in the seat of Corio and achieved a 3.1 percent swing against the national trend, but fell short.^[25] Later, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the Melbourne seat of Wills at the 1980 election held on 18 October. Immediately upon his entry into Parliament, Hawke was appointed to the Opposition front bench, taking his place as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Employment and Youth.^[26] With the opinion polls indicating that Hawke was 'a certain election winner',^[27] Hayden called a leadership ballot for 16 July 1982. Although Hayden defeated the ambitious Hawke, his five vote victory over the former President of the ACTU was not large enough to dispel doubts in caucus that he could lead the ALP to victory at the next election, due sometime in the forthcoming year.^[28]

Hayden's leadership was further questioned when Labor performed poorly in a December 1982 by-election for the Victorian seat of Flinders, following the resignation of the former Liberal minister, Sir Phillip Lynch. Labor needed a swing of 5.5% to win the seat, but only achieved 3%.^[29] This convinced many doubters within caucus that only Hawke could guarantee a Labor victory at the upcoming election. Labor party power-brokers such as Graham Richardson and Barrie Unsworth now lined up behind Hawke.^[29] More significantly, Hayden's staunch friend and political ally, Labor Senate Leader John Button, eventually became convinced that Hawke's chances of victory were greater than Hayden's. Button's influence was crucial in encouraging Hayden's decision to resign less than two months after Labor's lacklustre performance in Flinders.^[30] Hawke's leadership ambitions were realised when Hayden announced his resignation as Labor leader on the morning of 3 February 1983, at a meeting of the shadow ministry in Brisbane. Hawke was named interim leader.^[30] The same day, Fraser, hoping to capitalise on Labor's feuding, and unaware of events that had taken place in Brisbane, called a double dissolution election for 5 March.^[31] He believed he'd caught Labor before it could replace Hayden, and was surprised to find out Hayden had resigned mere hours before the writs were dropped. Hawke was formally elected Hayden's successor five days later. Twenty five days later, Labor won power on a 24-seat swing, ending seven years of conservative rule.

Prime Minister 1983–91[link]

The inaugural days of the Hawke government were distinctly different from those of the Whitlam era. Rather than immediately initiating extensive reform programmes, Hawke announced that Fraser's pre-election concealment of the budget deficit meant that many of Labor's election commitments would have to be deferred.^[32] Hawke managed to persuade the Labor caucus to divide the ministry into two tiers, with only the most important ministers attending regular cabinet meetings. Caucus still selected the full ministry, but allowed Hawke to select which ministers would comprise the 13-strong inner cabinet.^[33] This was to avoid what Hawke viewed as the unwieldy nature of the 27-member Whitlam cabinet. The caucus under Hawke also exhibited a much more formalised system of parliamentary factions, which significantly altered the dynamics of caucus operations.^[33]

A cheque for Ash Wednesday bushfire relief to South Australian Premier John Bannon is presented by Hawke in April 1983.

Hawke used his great authority to carry out a substantial set of policy changes. Accounts from ministers indicate that while Hawke was not usually the driving force for economic reform (that impetus coming from the Treasurer Paul Keating and Industry Minister John Button), he took the role of reaching consensus and providing political guidance on what was electorally feasible and how best to sell it to the public, at which he was highly successful. Hawke proved to be very popular with the Australian electorate and continues to hold the highest historical ACNielsen approval rating.^[34]

Keating and Hawke provided a study in contrasts. Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early.^[35] Hawke's enthusiasms were cigars, horse racing and all forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture, Mahler symphonies, and collecting English Regency and French Empire antiques.^[36] Hawke was consensus-driven; Keating revelled in aggressive debate. Hawke was a lapsed Protestant; Keating was a practising Catholic. Despite their differences, the two formed an effective political partnership.

According to political commentator Paul Kelly, 'the most influential economic decisions of the 1980s were the floating of the Australian Dollar and the deregulation of the financial system'.^[37] Although the Fraser government had played a part in the process of financial deregulation by commissioning the Campbell report^[38] – published in 1981 – opposition from Fraser himself, the National Party and Treasury Secretary John Stone stalled the deregulation process. When the Hawke-Keating Government implemented a comprehensive program of financial deregulation and reform, it 'transformed economics and politics in Australia'.^[37] The Australian economy became significantly more integrated with the global economy.^[37] Both Hawke and Keating have claimed the credit for being the driving force behind the Australian Dollar float.^[39]

Among other reforms, the Hawke Government dismantled the tariff system,^[40] privatised state sector industries, ended subsidisation of loss-making industries, and sold off the state-owned Commonwealth Bank of Australia.^[41] The tax system was reformed, with the introduction of fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax^[42] – a reform strongly opposed by the Liberal Party at the time, but not reversed when they returned to office. Partially offsetting these imposts upon the business community – the 'main loser' from the 1985 Tax Summit, according to Paul Kelly – was the introduction of full dividend imputation, a reform insisted upon by Keating.^[43] Funding for schools was considerably increased, while financial assistance was provided for students to enable them to stay at school longer. Considerable progress was also made in directing assistance “to the most disadvantaged recipients over the whole range of welfare benefits.”^[44]

Hawke benefited greatly from the disarray into which the Liberal opposition fell after the resignation of Fraser. The Liberals were divided between supporters of the dour socially conservative John Howard and the urbane Andrew Peacock. The arch-conservative Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, also helped Hawke with his "Joh for Canberra" campaign in 1987, which proved highly damaging for the conservatives. Exploiting these divisions, Hawke led the Labor Party to comfortable election victories in 1984 and 1987.

Hawke's Prime Ministership saw considerable friction between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, who were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke's iconoclasm and willingness to cooperate with business interests. All Labor Prime Ministers have at times engendered the hostility of the organisational wing of the party, but none more so than Hawke, who expressed his willingness to cull Labor's "sacred cows". The Socialist Left faction, as well as prominent Labor figure Barry Jones, offered severe criticism of a number of government decisions. He has also received criticism for his 'confrontationalist style' in siding with the airlines in the 1989 Australian pilots' strike.^[45]

In spite of the criticisms levelled against the Hawke Government, it succeeded in enacting a wide range of social reforms during its time in office.^[46][47] Deflecting arguments that the Hawke Government had failed as a reform government, Neville Wran, John Dawkins, Bill Hayden, and Paul Keating made a number of speeches during the Eighties arguing that the Hawke Government had been a recognisably reformist Labor government, drawing attention to Hawke’s achievements as prime minister during his first four or five years in office. Apart from the reintroduction of Medibank (under the name Medicare), these included a doubling of child care places, the introduction of occupational superannuation, a boost in school retention rates, a focus on young people’s job skills, a doubling of subsidised home care services, the elimination of poverty traps in the welfare system, a 50% increase in public housing funds, an increase in the real value of the old-age pension,^[48] the development of a new youth support program, the re-introduction of six-monthly indexation of single adult unemployment benefits, and significant improvements in social security provisions.^[49] As pointed out by John Dawkins, the proportion of total government outlays allocated to families, the sick, single parents, widows, the handicapped, and veterans had been higher under the Hawke Government than under the Whitlam Government.^[48]

A notable success for which the government's response is given considerable credit was Australia's public health campaign about AIDS.^[50] In the later years of the Hawke government, Aboriginal affairs saw considerable attention, with an investigation of the idea of a treaty between Aborigines and the government, though this idea was overtaken by events, notably including the Mabo court decision.

The Hawke government also made some notable environmental decisions. In its first months in office it stopped the construction of the Franklin Dam, on the Franklin River in Tasmania,^[51] responding to a groundswell of protest about the issue. In 1990, a looming tight election saw a tough political operator, Graham Richardson, appointed Environment Minister, whose task it was to attract second-preference votes from the Australian Democrats and other environmental parties. Richardson claimed this as a major factor in the government's narrow re-election in 1990,^[52] Hawke's last triumph.

Richardson felt that the importance of his contribution to Labor's victory would automatically entitle him to the ministerial portfolio of his choice – Transport and Communications.^[53] He was shocked, however, at what he perceived as Hawke's ingratitude in allocating him Social Security instead. He vowed – in a telephone conversation with Peter Barron,^[32] a former Hawke political staffer – to do 'whatever it takes' to 'get' Hawke.^[54] He immediately transferred his allegiance to Keating and subsequently claimed credit for playing a vital role in Keating's campaign for the leadership as a numbers man.^[55]

Decline and fall[link]

The late 1980s recession and high interest rates saw the government in considerable electoral trouble. Although Keating was the main architect of the government's economic policies, he took advantage of Hawke's declining popularity to plan a leadership challenge. In 1988 Hawke had responded to pressure from Keating to step down by making a secret agreement (the so-called "Kirribilli agreement" or "Kirribilli accord") to resign in favour of Keating some time after winning the 1990 election.^[56] After Keating made a speech to the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery that Hawke considered disloyal, Hawke indicated to Keating that he would renege on the agreement.^[57]

Bob Hawke with then Labor leader Mark Latham unveils a plaque in 2004 to commemorate the centenary of the Chris Watson Labor government in 1904.

Bob Hawke campaigning in support of Kevin Rudd and Labor for the 2007 federal election with Julie Owens MP for Parramatta at a local retail precinct.

In June 1991 Keating responded by resigning from Cabinet and challenging for the Labor Party leadership. Hawke defeated Keating's leadership challenge, but he was clearly a wounded leader.^[58] Hawke had himself sworn in as Treasurer for one day while he decided between the rival claims of Ralph Willis and John Kerin for the job, eventually choosing Kerin, who proved to be unequal to the job.^[59]

Hawke's leadership was further damaged as a consequence of the new Liberal leader, Dr John Hewson, releasing Fightback!, a detailed proposal for sweeping economic change, including a goods and services tax and deep cuts to government spending and personal income tax, in November 1991.^[60] Hawke's response to this challenge was judged to be ineffective,^[61] and a rattled Labor Party turned to Keating. At a second challenge, on 19 December 1991, Keating defeated Hawke in a party-room ballot, 56 votes to 51. Hawke resigned from Parliament on 20 February 1992,^[62] sparking the 1992 Wills by-election, which was won by independent Phil Cleary from a record field of 22 candidates.

Hawke apparently had few regrets, although his bitterness towards Keating surfaced in his memoirs. Hawke now claims to have buried his differences and considers Keating a friend.^[63]

In July 1990, Hawke had overtaken Malcolm Fraser to become Australia's second-longest serving Prime Minister. This record has since been overtaken by John Howard. Hawke remains the Australian Labor Party's longest-serving Prime Minister.

It is also said by a former Tony Blair staffer that UK Labour and Blair learnt from the Hawke government in the 1980s on how to govern when they took power in the UK.^[64]

Life after politics[link]

After politics, Hawke entered the business world with considerable success. Hazel Hawke, who for the sake of the Labor cause had put up with the open secret of his relationship with his biographer Blanche d'Alpuget while he was Prime Minister, divorced him, and shortly afterwards he married d'Alpuget. He had little to do with the Labor Party during Keating's leadership. In fact he often criticised the Keating Government publicly.^[65] After the election of the Howard Liberal government in 1996 he became a close supporter of Opposition Leader Kim Beazley.

Bob Hawke at Parliament House for the national apology to the Stolen Generations.

In the run up to the 2007 election, Hawke (at the age of 78) made a considerable personal effort to support the Australian Labor Party's campaign, making speeches at a large number of campaign office openings across Australia. As well as campaigning against WorkChoices, Hawke also attacked John Howard's record as Treasurer, stating "it was the judgement of every economist and international financial institution that it was the restructuring reforms undertaken by my government with the full cooperation of the trade union movement which created the strength of the Australian economy today".^[66]

In 2009, Hawke helped establish the Centre for Muslim and Non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia. Interfaith dialogue is an important issue for Hawke, who told the Adelaide Review that he is "convinced that one of the great potential dangers confronting the world is the lack of understanding in regard to the Muslim world. Fanatics have misrepresented what Islam is. They give a false impression of the essential nature of Islam."^[67]

In the 2010 election campaign, Hawke leant considerable support to Julia Gillard in the election against Tony Abbott.

In 2011 Hawke publicly supported NSW Premier Kristina Keneally in an election campaign, who was facing almost certain defeat to opposition leader Barry O'Farrell, describing her campaign as "gutsy".^[68]

Honours[link]

Bust of Bob Hawke by political cartoonist, caricaturist and sculptor Peter Nicholson located in the Prime Ministers Avenue in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

Hawke was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1979.^[69]

In late 2008, he was made Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, the highest Papua New Guinean honour available to non-Papua New Guinean citizens, entitling him to be referred to as "Chief". In a letter to Bob Hawke, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare informed him that he was being honoured for his "support for Papua New Guinea [...] from the time you assisted in the development of our trade union movement, and basic workplace conditions, to the strong support you gave us during your term as Prime Minister of Australia".^[70]

In August 2009 Bob Hawke became just the third person to be awarded life membership of the Australian Labor Party.^[71]

Bob Hawke has received the following honours from academic institutions:^[72][73]

• Honorary Fellow – University College, Oxford
• Honorary Doctor of Letters – University of Western Australia
• Honorary Doctor of Civil Law – Oxford University
• Honorary Doctor of Humanities – Rikkyo University
• other honorary doctoral degrees from Nanjing University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of New South Wales, and the University of South Australia
• The University of South Australia named the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library in his honour.

Television film[link]

A television film titled Hawke detailing his political career aired on the Ten Network in Australia on 18 July 2010, with Richard Roxburgh playing the title character. Rachael Blake and Felix Williamson portrayed Hazel Hawke and Paul Keating respectively. Patrick Brammall starred as then Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazley.^[74]

See also[link]

• First Hawke Ministry
• Second Hawke Ministry
• Third Hawke Ministry
• Fourth Hawke Ministry
• The Accord

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Anson, Stan (1991). Hawke: An Emotional Life. Macphee Gribble. ISBN 0-86914-279-8, 0869141961. 
• Blewett, Neal (2000), 'Robert James Lee Hawke,' in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales, pages 380-407. ISBN 1-86436-756-3
• Bramston, Troy and Ryan, Susan (2003). The Hawke Government : A Critical Retrospective. Pluto. ISBN 1-86403-264-2. 
• d'Alpuget, Blanche (1982). Robert J Hawke. Schwartz. ISBN 0-86753-001-4. 
• Davidson, Graham; Hirst, John; MacIntyre, Stuart (1998). The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553597-9. 
• Edwards, John (1996). Keating, The Inside Story. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-026601-1. 
• Hawke, Bob (1994). The Hawke Memoirs. Heinemann. ISBN 0-85561-502-8. 
• Hurst, John (1983). Hawke PM. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-14806-6. 
• Jaensch, Dean (1989). The Hawke-Keating Hijack. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-04-370192-2. 
• Kelly, Paul (1992). The End of Certainty: The story of the 1980s. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-227-6. 
• Mills, Stephen (1993). The Hawke Years. Viking. ISBN 0-670-84563-9. 
• Richardson, Graham (1994). Whatever It Takes. Bantam. ISBN 1-86359-332-2. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bob Hawke

• Hawke Swoops into Power – Time 14/3/1983
• Robert Hawke – Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
• Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
• Player profile: Bob Hawke from CricketArchive
• Video of Hawke campaigning for McKew in Bennellong in late 2007
• Video of Hawke campaigning for an Australian republic
• Video of Norman Gunston, Gough Whitlam, Bill Hayden and Bob Hawke at 'The Dismissal'

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2009)

Dr. John
Dr. John at the 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr.
Also known as	Dr. John Creaux Mac Rebennack
Born	(1940-11-21) November 21, 1940 (age 71)
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Genres	Blues, rock, New Orleans rhythm and blues
Occupations	Vocalist, musician
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Atco, Blue Note, Nonesuch, GRP, Trip, United Artists
Associated acts	John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Van Morrison, Dan Auerbach, Curious George (TV series), Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Joe Walsh
Website	http://www.nitetripper.com/

Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux, or Dr. John the Night Tripper), is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.^[1]

Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider prominence in the early 1970s with a wildly theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack has recorded over 20 albums and in 1973 scored a top-20 hit with the jaunty funk-flavored "Right Place Wrong Time", still perhaps his best-known song.

The winner of five Grammy Awards, Rebennack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by singer John Legend on Monday, March 14, 2011.^[2]

Early life and career[link]

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Dr. John's Acadian ancestry traces back to the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. He claims that his lineage took root in New Orleans sometime in the early 1800s. Growing up in the Third Ward, Dr. John found early musical inspiration in the minstrel tunes sung by his grandfather and a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins who played piano. He did not take music lessons before his teens, he only endured a short stint in choir before getting kicked out.^[3] His father, the owner of an appliance store and record shop, exposed him as a young boy to prominent jazz musicians like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Throughout his adolescence his father's connections enabled him access to the recording rooms of burgeoning rock artists such as Little Richard and Guitar Slim. From these exposures he advanced into clubs and onto the stage with varying local artists, most notably, Professor Longhair. ^[4]

Dr. John met Professor Longhair when he was about 13 or 14 years old, the start to a period in his life that would mark rapid growth as a musician and the beginnings of his entry into professional music. He describes his initial impression of Professor Longhair with note, not only of his musical prowess, but of his style: "I was also fascinated that he was sitting out there in a turtleneck shirt with a beautiful gold chain with a watch hangin’ on it, and an Army fatigue cap on his head. And I thought, Wow, I never seen nobody dressed like this guy. Just everything about the man was totally hip. And he had gloves on him, too, beautiful silk gloves. I’ll never forget this^[5]."

At age 16 he was hired by Johnny Vincent as a producer at Ace Records. There, he worked with artists like James Booker and Earl King, his musical experience expanding notably. He struggled through intermittent years of high school, eventually focusing entirely on music. Thereafter an entry into heavy narcotics use would fuel his desire to get out of New Orleans and move to California where his character, Dr. John, was born.^[6]

In late 1950s New Orleans, Dr. John originally concentrated on guitar and he gigged with local bands including Mac Rebennack and the Skyliners, (Paul Staele/Dennis "Bootsie" Cuquet, drums; Earl Stanley, bass; Charlie Miller, trumpet; Charlie Maduell, sax; Roland "Stone" LeBlanc, vocals), Frankie Ford and the Thunderbirds, and Jerry Byrne and the Loafers. He had a regional hit with a Bo Diddley-influenced instrumental called "Storm Warning" on Rex Records in 1959. During these days he was an A&R man producing, with Charlie Miller, monophonic singles on 45s for Johnny Vincent and Joe Corona for such local labels as ACE, RON, RIC and others. For these sessions he oversaw A&R and the rhythm section while Miller wrote the horn arrangements and headed up the horns. It was a productive team until Miller decided to move to New York and to study music formally.

Rebennack's career as a guitarist came to an end when his left ring finger was injured by a gunshot while he was defending singer/keyboardist Ronnie Barron, his bandmate, Jesuit High School classmate, and longtime friend. After the injury, Rebennack concentrated on bass guitar before making piano his main instrument; pianist Professor Longhair was an important influence on Rebennack's piano-playing style.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1963 where he became a "first call" session musician on the booming Los Angeles studio scene in the 1960s and 1970s, providing backing for Sonny & Cher (and some of the incidental music for Cher's first film, Chastity), and for Canned Heat on their albums Living the Blues (1968) Future Blues (1970), and Freak Out! for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1966); along with many other acts.

HANDCUFFED[link]

Dr. John grew up with full exposure to the realities of New Orleans. Prostitutes, pimps, thieves and addicts all marked the same nightlife scene that contributed to his development as a musician.^[7] He was introduced to marijuana at a young age, among other drugs, ultimately gaining an addiction to heroin in his teen years. He recalls being "loaded" the first time while at high school, identifying the high he would chase for all of his life. Not so fondly, Dr. John looks back on the shortsighted moneymaking schemes he would devise through his teens and twenties, all to pay only for the next dose of heroin. He sold narcotics, ran a whorehouse, and even opened a business offering abortions (illegal at the time) during the 1950s. Drug-induced nightclub furies throughout Louisiana and into Florida would result in frequent shootouts and bouts with the police, and he picked up a list of arrests that finally led to prison time in Texas. His sentence ended in 1965 and he left for Los Angeles.

His characteristic, nameless genre of jazzy funk, emphasized with a flair of psychedelic rock, was a direct image of his drug habit throughout his hoodoo albums of the 1960s and up through the 1970s. He failed to heed the warnings of friends and paid no attention to his mother's concern; through the 1980s he continued his habit, failing to beat addiction after numerous stays at rehabilitation. Finally, after experiencing cardiac problems in New York, Dr. John exited his final rehabilitation stint, sober, in December, 1989. He went on to struggle with psychiatric problems through the 1990s, but, today, is sober and mentally stable with the help of medication.^[8]

TRYING TO ESCAPE THE HANDCUFFS (NO WAY)[link]

Dr. John was always fascinated with New Orleans voodoo, and in Los Angeles he developed the idea of the Dr. John persona for his old friend Ronnie Barron. He imagined it as an interesting stage show and an emblem to their New Orleans heritage. "Well, there was a guy the name of Dr. John, a hoodoo guy in New Orleans. He was competition to Marie Laveau. He was like her opposite. I actually got a clipping from the Times Picayune newspaper about how my great-great-great-grandpa Wayne was busted with this guy for runnin’ a voodoo operation in a whorehouse in 1860. I decided I would produce the record with this as a concept." Of course, he would assume the role of Dr. John himself, which he claims, came apprehensively.^[9]

He recalls reading about the original Doctor John in his youth, a purported Senegalese prince who came to New Orleans from Haiti, a medicinal and spiritual healer. The Doctor was a free man of color who lived on Bayou Road and claimed to have fifteen wives and over fifty children. He maintained a fascination with reptiles and kept an assortment of snakes and lizards, along with embalmed scorpions and animal and human skulls. His specialization was healing, and as such, in selling Gris-Gris, voodoo amulets that protected the wearer from harm. Gris Gris, would, of course, become of the name of Dr. John, the musician's famed debut album, his own form of "voodoo medicine."^[10]

1968-1971: HANDCUFFED AGAIN[link]

Beginning in the late 1960s, Rebennack gained fame as a solo artist after adopting the persona of "Dr. John, The Night Tripper". Dr. John's act combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues with psychedelic rock and elaborate stage shows that bordered on voodoo religious ceremonies, including elaborate costumes and headdress (reflecting and presumably inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins's stage act). The name "Dr. John" came from a legendary Louisiana voodoo practitioner of the early 19th century.^[11] On the earliest Dr. John records, the artist billing was "Dr. John, The Night Tripper", while the songwriting credits billed him as "Dr. John Creaux". Within a few years the "Night Tripper" subtitle was dropped, and Rebennack resumed using his real name for writing and producing/arranging credits.

Gris-Gris, his 1968 debut album combining voodoo rhythms and chants with the New Orleans music tradition, was ranked 143rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. Three more albums, 1969's Babylon, 1970's Remedies, and 1971's The Sun, Moon, And Herbs were released in the same vein of Gris-Gris, but none of them have enjoyed the popularity of his first album.

During early-to-mid-1969, Dr. John toured extensively, backed by supporting musicians Richard "Didymus" Washington (congas), Richard Crooks (drums), David Leonard Johnson (bass), Gary Carino (guitar), and singers Eleanor Barooshian, Jeanette Jacobs from The Cake, and Sherry Graddie. A second lineup formed later in the year for an extensive tour of the East Coast with Crooks and Johnson joined by Doug Hastings (guitar) and Don MacAllister (mandolin). Also in 1969, Dr. John contributed to the Music from Free Creek "supersession" project, playing on three tracks with Eric Clapton. Washington and Crooks also contributed to the project.

By the time The Sun, Moon, and Herbs was released, he had gained a notable cult following, including artists such as Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, who both took part in the sessions for that album. This album would serve as a transition from his Night Tripper voodoo, psychedelic persona to one more closely associated with traditional New Orleans R&B and funk. His next album, Dr. John's Gumbo, proved to be a landmark recording which is one of his most popular to this day; with drummer Fred Staehle serving as the band's backbone.

[edit] 1972-1974: Gumbo, In the Right Place, and Desitively Bonnaroo

Along with Gris-Gris, Dr. John is perhaps best known for his recordings during 1972-1974. 1972's Dr. John's Gumbo, an album covering several New Orleans R&B standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone in New Orleans music. In his 1994 autobiography, Under a Hoodoo Moon, Dr. John writes, "In 1972, I recorded Gumbo, an album that was both a tribute to and my interpretation of the music I had grown up with in New Orleans in the 1940s and 1950s. I tried to keep a lot of the little changes that were characteristic of New Orleans, while working my own funknology on piano and guitar." The lead single from the album, "Iko Iko", broke into the Billboard top 40 singles chart. In 2003, Dr. John's Gumbo was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It also earned a place on Offbeat magazine's 1999 listing of the Top 100 Louisiana CDs.

With Gumbo, Dr. John expanded his career beyond the psychedelic voodoo music and theatrics that had driven his career since he took on the Dr. John persona, although it has always remained an integral part of his music and identity. It wasn't until 1998's Anutha Zone that he would again concentrate on this aspect of his music wholly for a full album. "After we cut the new record", he wrote, "I decided I'd had enough of the mighty-coo-de-fiyo hoodoo show, so I dumped the Gris-Gris routine we had been touring with since 1967 and worked up a new act—a Mardi Gras revue featuring the New Orleans standards we had covered in Gumbo."

In early 1973 Thomas Jefferson Kaye produced an album featuring a collaboration with Dr. John, Mike Bloomfield and John Paul Hammond. This album, Triumvirate, was recorded in Columbia Studios, San Francisco, and Village Recorders, Los Angeles.

In 1973, with Allen Toussaint producing and The Meters backing, Dr. John released the seminal New Orleans funk album, In the Right Place. In the same way that Gris-Gris introduced the world to the voodoo-influenced side of his music, and in the manner that Dr. John's Gumbo began his career-long reputation as an esteemed interpreter of New Orleans standards, In the Right Place established Dr. John as one of the main ambassadors of New Orleans funk. In describing the album, Dr. John states, "The album had more of a straight-ahead dance feel than ones I had done in the past, although it was still anchored solid in R&B." It rose to #24 on the Billboard album charts, while the single "Right Place Wrong Time" landed at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. A second single, "Such a Night", peaked at #42. Still in heavy rotation on most classic rock stations, "Right Place Wrong Time" remains his single most recognized song. Artists such as Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, and Doug Sahm contributed single lines to the lyrics, which lists several instances of ironic bad luck and failure.

Dr. John attempted to capitalize on In the Right Place's successful formula, again collaborating with Allen Toussaint and The Meters for his next album, Desitively Bonnaroo, released in 1974. Although similar in feel to In the Right Place, it failed to catch hold in the mainstream like its predecessor. It would be his last pure funk album until 1994 with Television, although like his voodoo and traditional New Orleans R&B influences, funk has continued to heavily influence most of his work to the present day, especially in his concerts. While Dr. John stated in an interview during 1990s that he'd like to work with Toussaint again for a full album, this has yet to come to fruition.

In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost twenty-year-long collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus to create songs for Dr. John's releases City Lights and Tango Palace and for B.B. King's Stuart Levine-produced There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded "I'm On a Roll", the last song written with Pomus prior to Pomus' death in 1991, for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titled Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus that also included covers of Pomus-penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, the Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke and Lou Reed. According to Doc Pomus' daughter, Dr. John and her father were very close friends as well as writing partners; Dr. John delivered one of a number of eulogies and performed with singer Jimmy Scott at Pomus' funeral on March 17, 1991, in New York City.

On Thanksgiving Day 1976 he performed at the farewell concert for the Band, which was filmed and released as The Last Waltz. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendary Professor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording Crawfish Fiesta as a guitarist and co-producer. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980, and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January, 1980.

Later work[link]

Dr. John at the 2006 Jazz à Vienne festival, in Vienne, France.

By the mid-1970s, Rebennack began focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B, Tin Pan Alley standards and more.

In 1975 Dr. John's manager, Richard Flanzer, hired legendary producer Bob Ezrin. Hollywood Be Thy Name was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions.

In 1981 and 1983 Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two recordings Dr. John plays many of his own compositions in boogie-woogie.

He has also been a prominent session musician throughout his career, playing piano on the Rolling Stones' 1972 song "Let It Loose", as well as backing Carly Simon and James Taylor in their duet of "Mockingbird" in 1974 and Neil Diamond on 1976's Beautiful Noise. He also contributed the song "More and More" to Simon's Playing Possum album. He played on three songs on Maria Muldaur's 1973 solo debut album, including his composition "Three Dollar Bill". He sang on four songs and played piano on two songs on Muldaur's 1992 Louisiana Love Call. He was co-producer on Van Morrison's 1977 album A Period of Transition and also played keyboards and guitar. He contributed three songs as writer or co-writer ("Washer Woman", "The Ties That Bind", and "That's My Home") and also played guitar and keyboards on Levon Helm's 1977 release, Levon Helm and the RCO Allstars. He performed on the March 19, 1977 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. He played keyboards on the highly successful 1979 solo debut album by Rickie Lee Jones and has toured with Willy DeVille and contributed to his Return to Magenta (1978), Victory Mixture (1990), Backstreets of Desire (1992), and Big Easy Fantasy (1995) albums. His music has been featured in many films including "Such a Night" in Colors in 1988. In 1992 Dr. John released the album Goin' Back to New Orleans which included many classic songs from New Orleans and many great New Orleans based musicians like Aaron Neville, the Neville brothers, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain backed up Dr. John on this album. He performed as the first American artist at the Franco Follies festival in 1992.

Dr. John has also done vocals for Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits' "Luv dat chicken..." jingle, as well as the theme song ("My Opinionation") for the early-1990s television sitcom Blossom. A version of "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" with Harry Connick, Jr. was released on Connick's album 20 and VHS Singin' & Swingin' in 1990. Dr. John's longtime confidant and personal manager, Paul Howrilla was responsible for moving Dr. John from Los Angeles, California to New York, New York and securing the "crossover" work, as well as modifying Dr. John's image from the 1970's to the 1990's. Paul Howrilla was the brains behind the scenes, as Dr. John would attest. They remain very close friends to the present day.

His movie credits include Martin Scorsese's documentary The Last Waltz (in which he joins the Band for a performance of his song "Such a Night"), the 1978 Beatles-inspired musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", and Blues Brothers 2000 (in which he joins the fictional band the Louisiana Gator Boys to perform the songs "How Blue Can You Get" and "New Orleans"). His version of the Donovan song "Season of the Witch" was also featured in this movie and on the soundtrack.

He also wrote and performed the score for the film version of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" released in 1982. In 1993, his hit song "Right Place Wrong Time" was used extensively in the movie Dazed and Confused.

Dr. John has also been featured in several video and audio blues and New Orleans piano lessons published by Homespun Tapes. In addition to the instructional value, there is historical context about many other blues artists. Other documentary film scores include the New Orleans dialect film Yeah You Rite! (1985) and American Tongues in 1987.

Between July and September 1989 Dr. John toured in the first Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, alongside Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Nils Lofgren, Jim Keltner, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston and Clarence Clemons. The tour produced the 1990 live album Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.

Dr.John at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy.

In 1997, he appeared on the charity single version of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day". In the same year, he played piano on the Spiritualized song "Cop Shoot Cop...", from their critically acclaimed album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. Frontman Jason Pierce, a fan of John's music, reciprocated by guesting on John's 1998 album Anutha Zone along with drummer Damon Reece and guitarist Thighpaulsandra.

He recorded the live album Trippin' Live with drummer Herman Ernest, David Barard, bass, Tommy Moran, guitar, trumpeter Charlie Miller, tenor Red Tyler, and baritone sax Ronnie Cuber.

In September 2005 he performed Fats Domino's "Walkin' to New Orleans", to close the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon. This was for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims; following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans.

In November 2005, he released a four-song EP, Sippiana Hericane, to benefit New Orleans Musicians Clinic, Salvation Army, and the Jazz Foundation of America. On February 5, 2006, he joined fellow New Orleans native Aaron Neville, Detroit resident Aretha Franklin and a 150-member choir for the national anthem at Super Bowl XL as part of a pre-game tribute to New Orleans. On February 8, 2006, he joined Allen Toussaint, Bonnie Raitt, The Edge, and Irma Thomas to perform "We Can Can" as the closing performance at the Grammy Awards of 2006.

On May 12, 2006, Dr. John recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road. His performance was aired alongside those of LeAnn Rimes and Massive Attack on the Sundance Channel in the USA and Channel 4 in the UK.

Dr. John performing at Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, 2011.

On July 30, 2006, Dr. John performed a solo piano benefit for New Orleans composer and arranger Wardell Quezergue (King Floyd's "Groove Me") at a New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund benefit at the Black Orchid Theatre in Chicago.^[12] Special guest Mike Mills of R.E.M. was in attendance, along with an all-star funk band.

Dr. John performed the theme music to the Fox drama K-Ville. He also performed and co-produced the theme song for the PBS children's show Curious George.

In 2007, Dr. John accepted an invitation to contribute to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. He contributed his version of Domino's "Don't Leave Me This Way".

In January 2008, Mac Rebennack, Dr. John, was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, in February, he performed at All-Star Saturday Night, part of the NBA All-Star Weekend hosted by New Orleans.

In the 2009 Disney film The Princess and the Frog, Dr. John sings the opening tune, "Down in New Orleans".

He reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux for the 2010 New Orleans Mardi Gras season.

Dr. John played keyboards and had a major role in shaping Gregg Allman's 2011 album Low Country Blues which was produced by T-Bone Burnett.^[13]

In 2011 he collaborated with Hugh Laurie on the song "After You've Gone" on his album Let Them Talk.

In 2011 Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and The Meters performed Desitively Bonnaroo at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee as part of the festival's tenth year celebration. The name of the festival was inspired by the album.

In 2012, he released Locked Down, a collaboration with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who produces and plays guitar.^[11] The album received very positive reviews for its raw, Afrobeat-influenced sound. The Los Angeles Times said it showed Dr. John "exiting a period of relative creative stagnation by creating something magical, the embodiment of everything he’s done but pushed in a clear new direction."^[14]

Cover versions[link]

Dr. John's song "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" was covered in 1969 by Marsha Hunt and produced by Tony Visconti; also in June 1969 by Cher on her 3614 Jackson Highway album, and was released as a single; and in July 1970 by Johnny Jenkins, whose supporting musicians included slide guitarist Duane Allman and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny Johanson; Allman also performed on Ton Ton Macoute, the album that contained it. Allman Brothers bass guitarist Berry Oakley also appeared on other tracks on the album). "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" was also covered in the 1970s by Humble Pie on their album Performance Rockin' the Fillmore, and is track 3 on Paul Weller's 1995 album Stanley Road. Widespread Panic and The Allman Brothers Band also perform this song regularly.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Gris-Gris (1968) (Atco, SD 33-234)
• Babylon (1969)
• Remedies (1970) (Atco, SD 33-316)
• The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971) (Atco, SD 33-362)
• Dr. John's Gumbo (1972)
• In the Right Place (1973) (Atco, SD 7018)
• Desitively Bonnaroo (1974) (Atco, SD 7043)
• Hollywood Be Thy Name (1975) (UA-LA552G)
• City Lights (1978)
• Tango Palace (1979) (Horizon, SP-740)
• Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 1 (1981)
• Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack Vol. 2 (The Brightest Smile in Town) (1983)
• In a Sentimental Mood (1989)
• ZuZu Man (1989) (Trip Records TLP-9518)
• Bluesianna Triangle , w/ Art Blakey and David 'Fathead' Newman (1990) (Windham Hill)
• Goin' Back to New Orleans (1992)
• Television (1994)
• Afterglow (1995)
• Trippin' Live
• Anutha Zone (1998)
• Duke Elegant (1999) (Parlophone, 7243 5 23220 2 2)
• Creole Moon (2001)
• All By Hisself, Live At The Lonestar (2003) (Skinji Brim) recorded live Dec. 22 & 23, 1986
• N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or d'Udda (2004)
• Sippiana Hericane (2005)
• Mercernary (2006) (Blue Note 54541)
• The City That Care Forgot (2008)
• Tribal (2010)
• Locked Down (2012)