I rang my friend Jim Wolfensohn, who was then running a private commercial bank in New York. I said, “Come up to Vancouver”, and he did. I put my proposition to him. He said, “I think it could work.”
The personality of the Queen [ Elizabeth II]… For instance, once she goes – if she’s ever going to die, it seems to be questionable – if Charles [of Wales] were there, whether there’d be the same sort of cement is very questionable, I think.
There is a reciprocal respect for [ Elizabeth II], for her interest in the Commonwealth. The members of the Commonwealth recognise that here is a genuine interest from the top. So, that’s one reason. I’m not putting it necessarily in order of importance.
You could talk to her about any of the fifty-one countries of the Commonwealth and you could have an intelligent conversation with her about the economics, the politics. She really immersed herself in the Commonwealth.
It [also] lives on its history, now, to some extent: its achievements [ of the Commonwealth] in Rhodesia and South Africa, which were enormous. And they’ll live on that for some time,
[Malcolm Fraser] went straight from Melbourne Grammar to Oxford. And he would have been a very lonely person, and I think he probably met a lot of black students there who were also probably lonely.
I hated [Robert Mugabe]. He’s one of the worst human beings I’ve ever met. He treated black and white with equal contempt. He was a horrible human being.
While society cannot provide employment for its members, the production/work/income nexus has to be abandoned as a justification for our present parsimony to the unemployed.
He 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.
![Bob Hawke Quote - She [ Elizabeth II] is, you know, “Do-what-you’re-told, Lady”. But in the Commonwealth, she is much more than just a figurehead.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/she-elizabeth-ii-is-you-know-do-what-youre-told-la.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - The personality of the Queen [ Elizabeth II]… For instance, once she goes – if she’s ever going to die, it seems to be questionable – if Charles [of Wales] were there, whether there’d be the same sort of cement is very questionable, I think.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/the-personality-of-the-queen-elizabeth-ii-for-inst.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - There is a reciprocal respect for [ Elizabeth II], for her interest in the Commonwealth. The members of the Commonwealth recognise that here is a genuine interest from the top. So, that’s one reason. I’m not putting it necessarily in order of importance.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/there-is-a-reciprocal-respect-for-elizabeth-ii-for-683x1024.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - It [also] lives on its history, now, to some extent: its achievements [ of the Commonwealth] in Rhodesia and South Africa, which were enormous. And they’ll live on that for some time,](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/it-also-lives-on-its-history-now-to-some-extent-it.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - [Malcolm Fraser] went straight from Melbourne Grammar to Oxford. And he would have been a very lonely person, and I think he probably met a lot of black students there who were also probably lonely.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/malcolm-fraser-went-straight-from-melbourne-gramma-683x1024.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - I hated [Robert Mugabe]. He’s one of the worst human beings I’ve ever met. He treated black and white with equal contempt. He was a horrible human being.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/i-hated-robert-mugabe-hes-one-of-the-worst-human-b-683x1024.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - Brian Mulroney, myself, [and] Rajiv Gandhi; I think that was the real core [of the Commonwealth ]. That was the engine room, I reckon.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/brian-mulroney-myself-and-rajiv-gandhi-i-think-tha-683x1024.jpg)
![Bob Hawke Quote - I believe [ Rajiv Gandhi] had a real sense that he would be assassinated.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/i-believe-rajiv-gandhi-had-a-real-sense-that-he-wo-683x1024.jpg)
