HAYDEN FADIN’
Former Governor-General of Australia Bill Hayden has died aged 90. He served as treasurer under Gough Whitlam’s government (and died nine years to the day after Whitlam’s death) before the controversial dismissal of Whitlam in 1975. Whitlam remained at the helm of Labor in opposition, but their shellacking in the next two elections forced Whitlam to step down, and Hayden took his place. Seen as the best man in Australian politics to never become prime minister, he took Labor close to victory in 1980 but the more charismatic Bob Hawke smelled blood in the water, outmanoeuvred Hayden, and took Labor to its 1983 landslide. Hayden served as foreign minister under the Hawke government before accepting the Governor-General post in 1989, which was largely seen as an apology note from Hawke for denying Hayden the chance to be PM.
The former atheist Hayden was baptized Catholic in 2018, and this late-game Pascal’s wager set off alarm bells in Pity da Foolz’s ears. He picked him for his title defence the next year, which ended at a respectable second place, and indeed was one of the “old people who could die tomorrow or in five years” picks I had to watch with bated breath as the clock ticked down to my own win! Though not a title contender this year, PdF kept the faith with Hayden, and joining in is a joker pick for Dick Smith’s OzEDeath List.
Bill Hayden
23 January 1933 – 21 October 2023, aged 90
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 9 POINTS