Campaigns & Communications Group

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Campaigns & Communications Group[1] is an Australian election campaign and communications advisory company founded by Bruce Hawker in 2011.[2] Hawker was formerly chairman and co-founder of the government relations and lobbying firm Hawker Britton, established with David Britton in 1997.

Political Work[edit]

In the Wran-Unsworth Government, Hawker was a senior advisor to Frank Walker, Attorney-General and Minister for Housing from 1982 to 1988.[3] From 1988 to 1997, Hawker was chief of staff to Bob Carr, while Carr was Opposition Leader from 1988 to 1995 and Premier from 1995 to 1997.[4] While Labor was in Opposition in New South Wales under Carr, Hawker is credited with uncovering many scandals of the Greiner-Fahey period including the Community Polling affair, a covert Liberal fundraising operation which funded phoney independent candidates in the 1988 state election.[5] Hawker is also credited with uncovering scandals and controversies involving former Coalition MPs including Wal Murray, Matt Singleton, Phillip Smiles, Tony Packard, Neil Pickard and Barry Morris.[6] These and other controversies became part of Labor's campaign against the NSW Coalition Government and contributed significantly to Labor winning office in 1995.[7]

In 1997, Hawker and David Britton resigned from their positions as Chief of Staff and Chief of Communications, respectively, to start Hawker Britton.[8] When asked to comment about Hawker's resignation, Bob Carr joked, "After all nine years is a long time to spend in a political office."[8] Hawker has had a central role in Labor Party campaigns in all States, the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth, since 1997. Between 1998 and 2007 the Labor Party won every State and Territory election it contested.[9] Hawker was at the centre of a decade of success for Labor in State and Territory elections.[10] Between 1998 and 2007 Labor won every State and Territory election it contested.[11] Hawker has also provided advice on campaigns in Greece and New Zealand.[12] Columnist Piers Akerman described Hawker's role in this way: "This model, labelled the Hawker Britton approach by some conservatives, was first trialled successfully by the young Bruce Hawker when he was former NSW premier Bob Carr's chief of staff. It has been adopted by Labor in every state and federally since Hawker, and Carr's former senior adviser David Britton, left Carr's office in 1997 to form the eponymous political consultancy".[13] The columnist criticised the approach in these terms: "The Hawker Britton approach is about spin, not substance".[14] Hawker has been referred to as a stalwart of Labor campaigning and described by former South Australian Premier, Mike Rann as "the greatest political strategist in Australia."[15] When he was Health Minister, current Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott described Hawker and Hawker Britton as "dirty tricks merchants",[16] while former Prime Minister John Howard compared Hawker Britton to Liberal Party strategists Crosby Textor, saying "Hawker Britton would leave them (Crosby Textor) for dead."[17]

Recent political work[edit]

The 2010 Australian federal elections resulted in a hung parliament. Hawker led the negotiations on behalf of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor Party with independent members of parliament Bob Katter, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott. They negotiated the incumbent Labor government a second term in office.[18]

In its assessment of the process which saw Labor returned to power in 2010, The Age newspaper said Hawker was the official point man during Rob Oakeshott's drafting of reforms to parliamentary process.[19] The Age reported that in the negotiations, Hawker was "an effective behind-the-scenes hub" for Labor.[20] The newspaper also reported that Hawker "has made a professional lifetime of being the man in the room – and his long investment in moving, cajoling, strategising and shaking in professional politics and beyond paid dividends for the ALP in a very dark hour."[21] Hawker's involvement was said to cause "disquiet" amongst Liberal ranks[22] with claims that the independent MPs had been "manipulated by the ALP's strategic mastermind".[23] When agreement was finally struck between Labor and the independents, The Daily Telegraph reported that "Hawker is now being hailed within Labor circles as the man who won Labor back the election."[24] In February 2012, Hawker backed former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his unsuccessful bid for the Labor leadership.[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Campaign & Communications". Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  2. ^ Kelly, Joe (7 January 2011). "Independents to discuss Cabinet reform with Labor strategist Bruce Hawker | The Australian". The Australian. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  3. ^ Who's Who 2012, Crown Content p.1029
  4. ^ Marilyn Dodkin, ‘Bob Carr: The Reluctant Leader’, Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 2003, pp.11, 155
  5. ^ Marilyn Dodkin, ‘Bob Carr: The Reluctant Leader’, Sydney, UNSW Press, 2003, pp23-24
  6. ^ Marilyn Dodkin, ‘Bob Carr: The Reluctant Leader’, Sydney, UNSW Press, 2003, pp23, 24, 51, 92, 97, 105
  7. ^ Marilyn Dodkin, ‘Bob Carr: The Reluctant Leader’, Sydney, UNSW Press, 2003, pp112-116, 119-122
  8. ^ a b Nason, David. "Senior staffers quit Carr office" (PDF). The Australian. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  9. ^ "Q&A, ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  10. ^ "Hawker Britton - Government Relations, Government Lobbying, Lobbyists, Campaigns, Strategies Communications Australia". Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Federal Election Dates and Outcomes". Retrieved 11 December 2011.; List of New South Wales legislative elections; List of Northern Territory general elections; List of elections in South Australia; List of elections in Victoria; Elections in Tasmania; Elections in Western Australia; Elections in the Australian Capital Territory
  12. ^ Sky News, PM Agenda, Mon 21 November 2011
  13. ^ Akerman, Piers (28 September 2008). "Tide turns on Labor's politics of spin | The Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  14. ^ Akerman, Piers (28 September 2008). "Tide turns on Labor's politics of spin | The Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  15. ^ Van Onselen, Peter (22 March 2010). "Secrets of the unlikely victory | The Australian". The Australian. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  16. ^ Hansard, House of Representative, 20 June 2007 http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr200607.pdf
  17. ^ Hansard, House of Representatives, 7 August 2007 http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansardr/2007-08-07/0052/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf
  18. ^ "Independents to discuss Cabinet reform with Labor strategist Bruce Hawker | News.com.au". News.com.au. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2011.; "Labor to form government". ninemsn.com.au. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2011.; Benson, Simon (9 September 2010). "Cajoling, strategising paid dividends for ALP | The Australian". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  19. ^ Murphy, Katharine (8 September 2010). "Cajoling, strategising paid dividends for ALP | The Age". The Age. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  20. ^ Murphy, Katharine (8 September 2010). "Cajoling, strategising paid dividends for ALP | The Age". The Age. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  21. ^ Murphy, Katharine (8 September 2010). "Cajoling, strategising paid dividends for ALP | The Age". The Age. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  22. ^ Massola, James (2 September 2010). "Coalition doubts grow over deal with key independents to form minority government| The Australian". The Australian. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  23. ^ Akerman, Piers (27 August 2010). "Maverick three fall for Labor's spin doctor | The Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  24. ^ Benson, Simon (9 September 2010). "Cajoling, strategising paid dividends for ALP | The Australian". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  25. ^ staff (22 February 2012). "Labor Strategist Bruce Hawker says Kevin Rudd will Contest the Labor Leadership | The Daily Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 9 May 2012.
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