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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.
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 MP, 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]
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]
Henry Alfred "Harry" Jenkins, is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1986 to 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
Katherine Margaret Ellis is an Australian former politician, who represented the Division of Adelaide in the Australian House of Representatives for the Australian Labor Party from 2004 until 2019. She served in multiple portfolios in the outer ministry of the 2007–2013 federal Labor government and was in the shadow cabinet after that. In March 2017 Ellis announced that she would step down from shadow cabinet as of the next reshuffle and leave parliament at the 2019 federal election.
John Joseph Fahey AC was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1992 to 1995 and as the federal Minister for Finance from 1996 to 2001. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1996 and the federal House of Representatives from 1996 to 2001. Fahey also served as president of the World Anti-Doping Agency and later became chancellor of the Australian Catholic University.
Michael Costa is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2001 until 2008, and Treasurer of New South Wales from 2006 to 2008 and held other ministerial portfolios in the governments of premiers Bob Carr and Morris Iemma.
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Joseph Guerino Tripodi is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Fairfield for the Labor Party between 1995 and 2011. He was Minister for Finance, Infrastructure, Regulatory Reform, Ports and Waterways under former Premier Nathan Rees. He was a controversial figure during his time in politics, known as a factional boss, within the NSW Labor Right whose Terrigals sub-faction has twice dumped the sitting Labor Premier during 2007 and 2009. On 11 November 2010, he announced his decision to not contest the 2011 state election. Tripodi had his membership of the Labor Party terminated in June 2014 after the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) found that Tripodi acted in corrupt conduct by deliberately failing to disclose to his Cabinet colleagues his awareness of the Obeid family's financial interests in Circular Quay leases. In 2016 ICAC made a second finding of corruption against Tripodi for leaking confidential Treasury information to benefit Nathan Tinkler's business interests, and recommended charges. In 2017 ICAC made a third finding of corruption against Tripodi for using his ministerial position to try to award a government water contract to benefit the Obeid family.
John Joseph Della Bosca is an Australian former politician, representing the Labor Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council. From 1999 to 2009, Della Bosca served a range of ministerial portfolios, including Minister for Health and Minister for the Central Coast in the NSW State Government.
Barry Morris was an Australian politician, who in 1995 was jailed for making bomb and death threats. The incident was considered a key factor in the Labor Party being returned to power in New South Wales after seven years in Opposition.
Robert John Carr is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later entered federal politics as a New South Wales senator, and served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2013. Following his departure from politics he served as the Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) from 2014 to 2019 at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
Donald Edward Farrell is an Australian politician and former trade unionist. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State in the Albanese government since 2022. He has served as a Senator for South Australia since 2016, after a previous term from 2008 to 2014.
Christopher "Chris" Peter Hartcher is an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2015, representing the electorates of Gosford (1988–2007) and Terrigal (2007–2015). He represented the Liberal Party for most of his career, serving as its deputy state leader from 2002 to 2003, and in the O'Farrell Ministry as Minister for Resources and Energy, Special Minister of State and Minister for the Central Coast. In 2013, he resigned to sit as an independent following his implication in an ongoing Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry, and retired at the 2015 state election.
Jason Dean Clare is an Australian politician serving as Minister for Education since 1 June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Division of Blaxland in Western Sydney since 2007.
Mark Victor Arbib is an Australian former Labor Party politician and trade unionist, who was an Australian Senator for New South Wales from 2008 to 2012.
Mark Christopher Butler is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.
John Maurice Power was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy in 1924, after previously serving as mayor of Paddington (1917–1918), ALP state president (1921–1923), and on the New South Wales Legislative Council (1921–1924). However, he died two months after his appointment at the age of 41, without taking his seat in parliament.
Hawker Britton is a lobbying and political consulting firm, headquartered in Australia. It is known to have influence with the Australian Labor Party.
Bruce Hawker is an Australian political strategist, commentator and chairman of Campaigns & Communications Group, which he founded in January 2011.
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