On 3 February 1983 at a meeting in Brisbane , Hayden resigned on the advice of his closest supporters . Hawke was elected as interim leader unopposed . An election was n't due for seven more months , however Fraser , emboldened by the unexpected retention of Flinders , had caught wind of the impending change and attempted to immediately call an election ( for 5 March ) , which would have put Parliament into " caretaker mode " and essentially frozen Labor into contesting the election with Hayden as leader . However , Fraser was unable to have the Governor-General , Sir Ninian Stephen , officially accept his recommendation and dissolve Parliament before the announcement of the change in Labor leadership , and was now stuck opposing the more popular Hawke ( future Captain of Qantas flight 32 which was crippled on a flight from Singapore to Sydney , Richard de Crespigny , was serving as aide de camp to Governor-General Stephen at the time and details this event in his book ) . The actual dissolution of the parliament occurred the following day , 4 February . In response to his removal , Hayden claimed that a " drover 's dog " could lead the ALP to victory . Five days later , the ALP formally elected Hawke as party leader . Fraser also hoped to gain control of the Senate , where the Australian Democrats had held the balance of power since 1 July 1981
crippled on a flight from Singapore to Sydney
Qantas Flight 32
1983 Australian federal election