Three-and-a-half years before he became Prime Minister, Bob Hawke laid out his vision for a radical remake of Australia.

In 1979, while still president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he presented the ABC's Boyer Lectures, where a prominent Australian is invited to give a series of talks.

He titled his lectures "The Resolution of Conflict" — but began by noting he was not talking about interpersonal conflict, which he said was "an area of my own life where I have at times been less than spectacularly successful".

Instead, he outlined structural changes he thought could resolve some sources of conflict in Australia — conflicts he said threatened "the very fabric of a free society".

Hawke's Boyer Lectures ranged across topics including the functioning of government and trade unions, equal rights for women and Indigenous peoples, the rise of China and the Middle East peace process.

While some of his proposals — such as reforms to industrial relations — became part of his legacy, others were nigh-on unachievable.

And although 40 years have passed, many issues he identified are still relevant to Australian society in 2019. Here are a few of them.

Rethink the need to work

Foreshadowing some of the economic trends of the past 40 years, Hawke observed that the growth of service industries was not offsetting the decline in manufacturing jobs. He also detailed the rapid increase in part-time work, at the expense of full-time jobs.

He said emerging technologies could provide a "release from dull and unimaginative work".

Hawke credited the post-war immigration boom with enabling Australia's period of full employment in the 1950s and 60s, which, he said, allowed society to welcome migrants and "slough off" the White Australia policy.

"Full employment was the cement that bound our society together ... That cement is crumbling, and as it crumbles we can discern the beginnings of fracture in our society."

He described the stingy rate of unemployment benefits — a small gift from society to tide someone over for the brief period they were out of work — as a relic from this earlier era.

Hawke said all political parties should still aim for a society where anyone who wants a job can get one. But rather than concentrating solely on increasing supply, he proposed simultaneously working to decrease demand.

Bob Hawke, pictured here in 1976, was ACTU leader when he presented the Boyer Lectures. ( Supplied: Robert McFarlane )

He noted that many people had found satisfaction and fulfilment in an "alternative lifestyle" — a reference to the rise of off-the-grid hippy communes in the 1970s.

"We in the conventional community tend to be condescending if not contemptuous of the alternative community," he said.

Rather than simply paying them the dole, Hawke said, society should provide land and facilities to them.

If it weren't for the stigma of unemployment, he said, many older people would be attracted to such a lifestyle — and that could, in turn, free up jobs for people who wanted them.

Dr Anitra Nelson, who researches eco-collaborative housing, said there had been a resurgence of interest in communal living.

"There's a lot of interest in people doing things collectively now because of economics of scale and because people see the benefits of community," she said, adding that the rationale of Hawke's proposal still stands.

"By not actually needing as much money you reduce the need to work fulltime."

She said Hawke's proposed land grants could promote the establishment of more contemporary urban cohousing projects such as Adelaide's Christie Walk and Murundaka Cohousing in Melbourne.

"The biggest problem in establishing communities in urban areas is the cost of land," she said.

Allow non-politicians to be ministers

Hawke said Australians were "foolish to ignore" an increasing cynicism about politics, which he blamed partly on the inadequacy of the Westminster system of government that Australia inherited from Britain.

"I find it inconceivable that a form of government that originated more than 700 years ago in an island off the coast of Europe is necessarily the best form of government for Australia as it moves towards the 21st century," he said.

He insisted he was not arguing for a move to a presidential system — although said he would prefer a republic with a head of state who had ceremonial powers only.

What are the Boyer Lectures? The Boyer Lectures is an annual series of talks by prominent Australians

The Boyer Lectures is an annual series of talks by prominent Australians Lecturers are chosen by the ABC board to present ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues.

Lecturers are chosen by the ABC board to present ideas on major social, scientific or cultural issues. They began in 1959 and are named for Sir Richard Boyer, who was chairman of the ABC.

They began in 1959 and are named for Sir Richard Boyer, who was chairman of the ABC. Former Boyer Lecturers include David Malouf, Marcia Langton, Eva Cox and Rupert Murdoch.

However, he advocated for one quarter of positions in the Federal Government's ministry to be opened to non-politicians.

Constitutionally, ministers of state cannot hold office for more than three months without also being in Parliament.

"There is a considerable range of relevant and proven talent within the community which, while not desiring to be immersed in the party-political electoral processes, would nevertheless be available and keen to serve the country in Government," he says.

Such ministers, he said, could still be responsible to parliament by being present at Question Time and any debates relevant to their portfolios.

These ministers would have the right to speak in Parliament, but not to vote.

Charles Sturt University's Bede Harris said Hawke's warning of public cynicism towards politics was prescient.

"We certainly see that even to a greater degree now than in 1979," Dr Harris said.

He said Hawke's rationale was sound, but the "obvious impediment" to such a proposal is that it would need to be passed by voters at a referendum.

"No matter how meritorious a proposal might be, it's very easy to frighten the Australian electorate into rejecting constitutional change," Dr Harris said.

Eliminate the states

Hawke described the states of Australia as a "dangerous anachronism", with the boundaries representing nothing more than "the meanderings of British explorers some 150 years ago ".

Hawke said Australia was probably the world's 'most over-governed country'. ( Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images )

Australia became an independent nation in 1901, with the various British colonies becoming states of the new Commonwealth — a process known as Federation.

At the time of Federation, Hawke said, such a deal made sense because each colony was its own independent economy.

By the 1970s, this was no longer the case — which meant people and businesses operating between states had to deal with a patchwork of different education, health and criminal justice systems.

"We are not, and have not been for a long time, six economies, but one," he said.

"The perpetuation of this anachronistic lunacy is hurting Australians every day of every week."

Hawke also took aim at what he said was Federation's needless duplication of resources.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 30 minutes 3 seconds 30 m Listen to the first in Bob Hawke's 1979 Boyer Lecture series 'The Resolution of Conflict' ( ABC RN ) Download 41.3 MB

Calculating that, in 1979, Australia had a house of parliament for every million Australians, he declared: "We must surely be the most over-governed country in the world."

He said a better system would be a national government, with strengthened local governments based on geographical boundaries.

Dr Harris said Hawke's observations were as relevant today as they were 40 years ago.

In fact, he said, Federation was a barrier to reforms necessary in the internet age.

"Defamation [for example] isn't something that can be legislated for by the Federal Government," Dr Harris said.

"Any reforms need to be agreed to by each state."

Dr Harris said the duplication of resources due to the division of responsibilities between the federal and state governments was "enormously expensive" and made no sense today.

"If the Commonwealth can run Defence, why can't it run Health?"

However, he said abolishing the states would be "almost impossible to achieve".

Not only would it need to pass a referendum, but each state parliament would have to then vote themselves out of existence.

"This is one of those very difficult, almost impossible situations set up in the Constitution which are a real roadblock to reform."