"The golden bowl is broken." Mr Hawke's death has rocked the federal election campaign. The former Labor leader, who was prime minister from 1983 to 1991, on Wednesday wrote an open letter to Australians backing Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to win Saturday's election against Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In a statement on Thursday night, Mr Shorten said Mr Hawke was a "leader of conviction – and a builder of consensus". Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

"In Australian history, in Australian politics, there will always be B.H. and A.H: Before Hawke and After Hawke. After Hawke, we were a different country. A kinder, better, bigger and bolder country," Mr Shorten said. "The Australian people loved Bob Hawke because they knew Bob loved them, this was true to the very end. Loading "At our Labor launch I told Bob we loved him, I promised we would win for him. I said the same to him the next day at his home, when I visited. "I gave the man who inspired me to go into politics a gentle hug, I tried to tell him what he meant to me, what he meant to all of us. I couldn’t quite find the right words, few of us can, when we’re face to face with our heroes.

"But Bob knew. He knew what he meant to Australia, he knew what he had achieved for the country. He knew he was loved, right to the end." Paul Keating, who served as treasurer under Mr Hawke and defeated him in a leadership ballot to become prime minister in 1991, said the death also represented the passing of "a partnership we formed with the Australian people". "Bob possessed a moral framework for his important public life, both representing the workers of Australia and more broadly, the country at large," Mr Keating said on Thursday night. "Bob, of course, was hoping for a Labor victory this weekend. His friends, too, were hoping he would see this." Former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating recently reunited to endorse Bill Shorten's plan for the economy. Credit:Craig Emerson

Mr Hawke will be laid to rest in a private service to be attended by Ms d'Alpuget and his children. A memorial service will be held in Sydney in coming weeks. "Bob Hawke and Paul Keating and their governments modernised the Australian economy, paving the way for an unprecedented period of recession-free economic growth and job creation," Ms d'Alpuget said. "Bob’s consensus-style approach of bringing together the trade union movement and the business community boosted job opportunities while increasing the social wage through Medicare and extra financial support for low-income families. Loading "Together with his highly talented cabinets, he foresaw the Asian Century and positioned Australia to take full advantage of it through a program of sweeping economic reforms.

"Among his proudest achievements were large increases in the proportion of children finishing high school, his role in ending apartheid in South Africa, and his successful international campaign to protect Antarctica from mining. "He abhorred racism and bigotry. His father, the Reverend Clem Hawke, told Bob that if you believed in the Fatherhood of God then you must also believe in the Brotherhood of Man. Bob would add today the Sisterhood of Women." Former Hawke government minister and Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson said there was no greater post-war Australian. "You can say occasionally someone is a great Australian - that's a phrase that's thrown around too easily. But if there was anyone you could nominate as a great Australian it would be this guy," Mr Richardson said.

"People loved him. He just had that thing about him, he was always so approachable." In Brisbane ahead of the last full day of campaigning for Saturday's election, Mr Morrison praised Mr Hawke as a leader who "served our country with passion, courage" with an"intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger". "He was true to his beliefs in the Labor tradition and defined the politics of his generation and beyond," the Prime Minister said. "He had a unique ability to speak to all Australians and will be greatly missed." Loading Robert Tickner, the Aboriginal affairs minister under Mr Hawke, said Australia was in Mr Hawke's debt.