Community leaders and politicians from across federal parliament have paid tribute to Hazel Hawke, the ex wife of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
Mrs Hawke has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83.
Hazel Hawke was best known for her community work in areas such as healthcare, Indigenous affairs and the arts.
Michael Kenny reports.
Born in Perth in 1929, Hazel Masterton met the man who was to become Labor's longest serving Prime Minister at a church camp when they were both 18.
They were engaged for six years while Bob Hawke went to London to pursue a scholarship at Oxford University.
They married in 1956 when Hazel was 26.
But the couple divorced 38 years later after her husband had been forced from office by his long term rival Paul Keating.
Mrs Hawke provided critical support to her husband during his time as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in the 1970s and during his eight years as Prime Minister from 1983 to 1991.
She faced many personal obstacles along the way, including an unfaithful husband, the loss of a baby and a drug-addicted daughter.
During Bob Hawke's years in office, Hazel Hawke supported a number of non-government organisations and charities including the Childrens TV Foundation and the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
A talented pianist, she performed in the Sydney Opera House in 1990 accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
But her health declined dramatically over recent years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2003.
She wrote a book on the subject and did a moving interview with the ABC's Australian Story program about the illness.
"I wouldn't have chosen to have Alzheimer's. But I like my life. The only thing I would name that I miss is that I've lost my drivers' licence."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Mrs Hawke's sense of humour and easy-going manner endeared her to many Australians.
"Hazel Hawke has been held in high esteem by Australians. Hazel Hawke has been a figure of real affection and I believe everybody has admired her dignity and her courage as she has dealt with such a dreadful illness."
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has also praised Hazel Hawke's courage in raising public awareness of dementia.
Through her struggle with Alzheimer's disease, Mrs Hawke helped establish a research fund aimed at finding a cure for the illness.
The lobby group Alzheimers Australia says the Hazel Hawke Alzheimer's Research and Care Fund is a lasting legacy for sufferers of the illness and their families and carers.
The organisation's Chief Executive Officer Glen Rees believes Hazel Hawke effectively put Alzheimer's Disease onto the political agenda and led state and federal governments to take the illness a lot more seriously.
"I don't we could have got to where we have today in terms of changing government policy and getting additional funding for dementia and communicating the way we do without Hazel Hawke's example. In many ways, she showed us the way. She had the courage to speak out and I think the self advocacy by family carers and people with dementia since then and by our organisation has really been inspired by her. We owe her a tremendous amount."
Tributes have also been paid to Hazel Hawke from within the Indigenous community.
Mrs Hawke visited many remote communities in the Kimberley region of Western Australia where her son Stephen lived and worked as an author and playwright for over 15 years.
Indigenous Elder Lowitja O'Donoghue says Hazel Hawke was genuinely moved by the poverty and hardship she saw first-hand in Kimberley communities.
Bob Hawke appointed Ms O'Donoghue as the inaugural chairperson of the representative body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1990.
Ms O'Donoghue says Mrs Hawke was a personal friend who she greatly admired.
"She made contact with the Aboriginal people in the Kimberleys. So that was really what took her to the Kimberleys because of her son being so active in Aboriginal communities. I knew her as an individual, as a person and really I would say virtually as a sister."
Bob Hawke has issued a statement saying he remembers his ex-wife with deep affection and gratitude.
Mrs Hawke is survived by her three children, Stephen, Rosslyn and Susan and six grandchildren.
