Canberra Raiders chairman and respected public servant Dr Allan Hawke dies

Dr Hawke held senior roles in the public service, leading the departments of Veterans' Affairs, Transport and Regional Services, and Defence before he was appointed High Commissioner to New Zealand, a role he held from 2003 to 2006.

He was also chief of staff to prime minister Paul Keating, was chancellor of the Australian National University from 2006 to 2008, and was made a companion of the Order of Australia in 2010.

Dr Hawke died on Wednesday night after a long battle with cancer.

Friends and colleagues on Thursday described Dr Hawke as a community-minded "people person" who placed a strong emphasis on workplace culture and the training of staff, and as someone who believed strongly in the public service as a profession.

Former senior public servant Andrew Podger said Dr Hawke was a superb manager of people, whose legacies included nurturing the institutions of the public service and enhancing the capability of staff. Dr Hawke was a frequent public speaker and mentored many public servants.

"He always saw organisational capability in terms of the people involved and how they work together," Professor Podger said.

Among Dr Hawke's major contributions to the public service were to the management improvement advisory board in the 1990s, the management advisory board in the 2000s, and in policy, particularly in the defence portfolio.

Ric Smith, who succeeded Dr Hawke in the role of Defence Department secretary, said his friend was an instinctive public servant who believed in the professional service.

"He was a people person, he placed very strong emphasis on the culture of the workplace in the organisations he was running," Mr Smith said.

"While he was in the job, and in his retirement, he spoke and wrote about the public service and its management in a way that reflected that instinctive touch that he had for it."

Dr Hawke was a local man to his roots, born in Canberra on February 18, 1948 and educated at Queanbeyan High School. He achieved first class honours in his undergraduate degree at the ANU before a Doctorate of Philosophy.

Mr Smith and Professor Podger said the public servant was attached to and identified closely with the Canberra-Queanbeyan community, a quality reflected in his commitment to the Canberra Raiders, where he served as chairman.

ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said Australia and the university had lost a true leader.

"Dr Hawke made significant contributions in areas vital to our national interest, including defence and our regions, as well as in our relations across the globe," Professor Schmidt said.

"He will be missed."

Raiders chief executive Don Furner described Dr Hawke as "much loved".

"He led an extraordinary public and private life and was on many boards, but I can say that the board he loved being on the most was the Canberra Raiders," Mr Furner said.

"He was still watching us win against Manly on the weekend and was wearing his Raiders jersey in his hospital bed."

John McIntyre, who preceded Dr Hawke as chairman of the Raiders and who nominated him for the role, said he was a wonderful man. The two grew up on Bruce Street in Queanbeyan.

"We were in Number 10 and he was Number 13," Mr McIntyre said.

"He was very, very bright."

They owned race-horses together. Mr McIntyre said that Dr Hawke was a humble man despite his great achievements.

As he underwent sessions of treatment in 2019, Dr Hawke thanked people for the support they had given him.

"I couldn't have more support, not only from the Raiders, but from people I know in all walks of life," he said.

"It's actually a bit of a revelation - about how many people have gone out of their way to contact me and offer me support.

"It's pretty heart-warming. It's a bit of a lesson to you that people out there do care."