Ex-Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke dies at age 89

Bob Hawke, one of Australia's longest-serving prime ministers, has died at age 89.

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke (L) gestures to the audience at the launch of the Labor Party's election campaign in Sydney, June 19, 2016. [Photo: AFP: William West]

His wife and biographer, Blanche d'Alpuget, says he died on Thursday in their Sydney home and that the nation had lost "a great Australian — many would say the greatest Australian of the post-war era."

Hawke was prime minister from 1983 until 1991. He is Australia's third-longest-serving prime minister and the longest for his center-left Labor Party.