ACTU Leader Bob Hawke

ACTU leader Bob Hawke prepares to speak at the Newcastle Civic Centre in 1974, while listening to a shop steward complaining of fatally dangerous conditions at nearby Cessnock mines.

"The heavyset man to whom Bob Hawke is listening intently is a local shop steward saying "Jeez Hawkie, men are dying down the mines in Cessnock!" I found out about the meeting from a 1970's version of social media - hundreds of A4 posters scattered on telegraph poles around Newcastle simply saying "Bob Hawke, Newcastle Civic Centre Thursday night..." That was all that was needed in 1974 when Hawke proved sometimes it was as important to listen as to speak."

Biography:
For more than five decades, Robert McFarlane has been dedicated to documenting critical social issues and performance, primarily in Australian society, theatre and cinema - as poetically, unsentimentally, and truthfully as possible.

"I try to follow the belief practised by the great US documentary photographer Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940) who professed that the camera should faithfully address what should either be appreciated or changed. Therefore, it has been a privilege to witness, amongst many subjects, the incandescent beginnings of Australian careers as diverse as those of politician Bob Hawke, actor Cate Blanchett and Indigenous activist Charles Perkins.