They lived in Melbourne from 1958 to 1983, including during his term as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (1969-1980).

[2][3] D'Alpuget was initially so upset at Hawke's decision not to leave Hazel that she considered either assassinating him or taking her own life, but they reconciled and remained friends; so much so that she became his official biographer.

In 1988 Hawke and d'Alpuget resumed their affair[2][3] but he remained ostensibly committed to his wife during his prime ministership.

[2][3] Bob Hawke formally apologised for the toll the divorce and subsequent remarriage took on the family.

[12] On 3 November 2003, the ABC aired an episode of Australian Story in which Hawke publicly revealed that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

At the book launch on 1 November 2004, Pieters-Hawke revealed that her mother had reached the mid-stages of the disease and was now suffering from quite severe short-term memory loss.

[13] Hawke's granddaughter Sophie Pieters-Hawke launched an education kit for schoolchildren about Alzheimers in 2007.

Public tributes were paid to her by the prime minister, Julia Gillard[16] and the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce.