Bob Hawke’s 90th birthday beer launch is blindsided by Rosslyn Dillon claims

Bob Hawke’s family has broken their silence about court claims he asked his daughter Rosslyn not to go to police with allegations she was raped by a Labor MP.

‘I love and support my sister and disagree with this,’ Mr Hawke’s oldest daughter, Sue Pieters-Hawke, said at a Sydney pub on Monday. 

To mark what would have been Mr Hawke’s 90th birthday, Ms Pieters-Hawke was attending the first pour of a new Hawkes’ branded beer. 

She was joined by the ex-PM’s granddaughter, Sophie Taylor-Price – who hopped behind the bar – and stepson Louis Pratt.

Ms Pieters-Hawke said it would be ‘foolish’ if the controversy changed how Australians think about the former leader, adding that the allegations may be tested in court.

Meanwhile, Mr Pratt said the family was ‘surprised’ by the controversy. The first he heard of it all was from the news. 

Hawke’s step-son Louis Pratt (left) and granddaughter Sophie Taylor-Price (right). Mr Pratt said he first learned about Rosslyn’s allegations from the news: ‘We’re all very surprised’

Mr Hawke's wife Blanche d'Apluget was conspicuously absent from the launch - but her son, Louis Pratt, was there

Rosslyn Dillon has made a $4.2 million claim on her ex-PM father's estate. Her list of demands include $2.5 million to buy a house in Sydney's east

Mr Hawke’s wife Blanche d’Apluget (left)  was conspicuously absent from the launch. Rosslyn Dillon (right) has made a $4.2 million claim on her ex-PM father’s estate

Bob Hawke's daughter, Sue Pieters-Hawke (red pants) told reporters it would be 'foolish' if the claims changed how Australians see the former Labor leader's legacy

Bob Hawke’s daughter, Sue Pieters-Hawke (red pants) told reporters it would be ‘foolish’ if the claims changed how Australians see the former Labor leader’s legacy

The beer launch was long in the works but awkwardly timed, coming just days after Rosslyn Dillon filed an explosive affidavit to the NSW Supreme Court making sensational claims. 

In the claim, Ms Dillon reportedly alleged that she told her father she was raped by the now-dead Labor MP Bill Landeryou in 1982, but he said not to go to the police. 

‘You can’t go to the police. You can’t. I can’t have any controversies right now. I am sorry but I am challenging for the leadership of the Labor party,’ she claims he said. 

Ms Dillon is asking the court for $4.2 million of the former prime minister’s estate. 

Mr Hawke’s estate was handed to his second wife, Blanche d’Apluget, but each of his four surviving children, including his step-son, were given $750,000. 

Ms Dillon claims she is a disability pensioner – who earns barely more than $60 per day and lives in a cockroach-infested one bedroom flat – and has not been adequately provided for.

Mr Hawke’s widow and biographer, Blanche d’Apluget, was conspicuously absent from today’s event, after a press release had hinted she ‘might’ be attending.  

That left Mr Hawke’s three family members to be barraged with questions by reporters.

Ms Pieters-Hawke said it would be ‘foolish’ if the controversy changed how her father’s legacy was seen. 

‘I hope not. I think it would be foolish if they did and as media, I think you’d be foolish if you contributed to that’.

She said the allegations ‘may or may not be’ tested in court and declined to comment further.

Ms Dillon said in the affidavit that she suffers from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and agoraphobia andlives on a $61 per day disability pension

Ms Dillon said in the affidavit that she suffers from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and agoraphobia andlives on a $61 per day disability pension

Text message exchanges emerged today between Paul Dillon and Blanche d'Apluget, as part of Rosslyn's legal claim

Text message exchanges emerged today between Paul Dillon and Blanche d’Apluget, as part of Rosslyn’s legal claim

‘Is there any other generic thing that can put it to rest for you guys?’ she testily asked reporters.

She insisted she wasn’t going to ‘expand’ on remarks to The New Daily that she believed there was a ‘supportive response’ to Rosslyn’s claims in the 1980s. 

She reportedly told the publication that the response ‘didn’t involve using the legal system. 

Ms Pieters-Hawke told a media scrum she got along well with Blanche and that was ‘on the record’. 

But she refused to talk about her private conversations with her sister or Ms d’Apluget about the matters.

Blanche’s son and Mr Hawke’s step-son Louis Pratt said he was shocked by the claims, which he learned from the news.

Mr Pratt, an artist who lived with Mr Hawke for 10 years, said: ‘We’re all very surprised, obviously, because I know that Bob loved Rosslyn very much and I know what his character is. 

Ms Taylor-Price said a 90th birthday is a time for happy and sad memories - and poured a flawless Hawke's beer

Ms Taylor-Price said a 90th birthday is a time for happy and sad memories – and poured a flawless Hawke’s beer

'I do think this (drinking a beer) is the perfect way to celebrate (Mr Hawke),' she said

‘I do think this (drinking a beer) is the perfect way to celebrate (Mr Hawke),’ she said 

‘I just know he loved her very much.’ 

Mr Hawke’s granddaughter, Sophie Taylor-Price, declined to talk about the legal fight but poured a flawless first schooner of the Hawke’s Legend IPA.  

‘It would have been Pop’s 90th birthday today, and a 90th is a milestone,’ she said.  

‘It’s a time for sadness and reflection but it is also a time for celebration.

‘I do think this is the perfect way to celebrate,’ she said.

Money raised from Hawke’s beer goes to Landcare, an environmental organisation that Hawke played an instrumental role in.   

FAMILY TIES: THE HAWKE FAMILY WILL SPAT EXPLAINED  

Bob Hawke with first wife Hazel and family

Bob Hawke with first wife Hazel and family

Mr Hawke had four children with his first wife, Hazel Hawke: Sue Pieters-Hawke, Stephen, Rosslyn and Robert Jr., who died when he was a baby.

His third-eldest, Rosslyn Dillon, fought a heroin addiction that famously reduced the then-prime minister to tears.

Ms Dillon, a mother-of-two, made a $4.2 million claim against his second wife, Blanche D’Apluget, months after Mr Hawke’s death.

She claimed her father had failed to provide adequate family provision for her share of his $18 million estate.

Mr Hawke’s will awarded the estate to Ms D’Apluget, who he was married to for 24 years. But each child, and stepson Louis Pratt, received $750,000.

Extracts of an affidavit tendered to the NSW Supreme Court were published by The New Daily at the weekend.

In the affidavit, Ms Dillon alleges she told Mr Hawke she was raped by Labor MP Bill Landeryou in the 1980s.

She claims she was told: ‘You can’t go to the police. You can’t. I can’t have any controversies right now. I am sorry but I am challenging for the leadership of the Labor party’.

She also revealed her son, Paul, took exception to Ms d’Apluget’s public auction of many of Mr Hawke’s possession.

Text messages from Mr Dillon tendered in the affidavit said: ‘Blanche, are you kidding with this auction? Selling all the Harry Bilsons? No thought to ask the family to take furniture or anything?!!

‘Don’t you have a limit,’ he reportedly asked. The case continues.

 

 

 

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