The childhood home of former prime minister Bob Hawke will be offered as short-term accommodation by the National Trust of Western Australia, three years after it was bought for almost $1.5 million.
The childhood home of former prime minister Bob Hawke will be offered as short-term accommodation by the National Trust of Western Australia, three years after it was bought for almost $1.5 million.
The government handed over the keys to the house, at 101 Tate Street in West Leederville, to the National Trust on Sunday, citing the home’s historical and cultural significance as the residence of the popular prime minister. The Western Australian government purchased it late in 2020 for $1.45 million.
The National Trust plans to turn the home into a short- and long-stay accommodation facility, hosting public open days where visitors can learn about Mr Hawke's life.
National Trust chair and former state Labor MP Bob Kucera said the home would be restored to tell the story of Mr Hawke’s childhood and rise to prominence.
“As we’ve done with John Curtin’s house, we will put a proper interpretation on the house so the story of Bob Hawke can get told, the story of his younger days as he formed up to become a prime minister will be told through this [home],” he said.
Mr Kucera said while the home would accommodate short-term rentals, it would not be turned into an Airbnb.
“What we normally do is have short-stay tenants that want to stay in a premises that’s associated with the subject,” he said.
“A lot of people who use John Curtin’s house are writers in residence and things like that.
“There will be opportunities for people to stay in the house on a short-term basis, but not as an Airbnb; that’s not how we’ll be doing it.”
Mr Hawke lived in house from the age of 10 through to 24, and continued to visit his parents at the home until it was sold in 1981.
The three-bedroom red brick and tile home has had three owners since it was built in the 1920s and retains features of the period.
Premier Roger Cook said placing the home in the care of the National Trust would safeguard an important piece of WA’s cultural heritage – remembering the modest childhood of “one of the great larrikin prime ministers of our time”.
“In preserving this national asset, we are keeping alive a powerful symbol of Bob Hawke’s rise to one of this country’s highest offices, from a seemingly ordinary childhood in Western Australia,” he said.
“Bob Hawke’s house will also be a place where visitors can learn about his life, his political career and the values and principles he held dear.”
Mr Kucera said the house, which was under residential lease following the government’s purchase, had most recently accommodated students and would be closed for maintenance for a period before being reopened to the public.
As Labor leader, Mr Hawke became prime minister in 1983 and held office until December 1991.
In addition to his political achievements, Mr Hawke’s uncle Albert Hawke was WA premier for much of the 1950s.
The home sits within the catchment area of Bob Hawke College, opened in 2020.
Students from the college and Perth Modern School, which Mr Hawke attended while living in the home, took part in a game of backyard cricket at the home yesterday to celebrate the handover.
