Bob Hawke was irritated by Paul Keating's 'banana republic' line Prime Minister-elect Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating in 1983. FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke has declared he was "irritated" when his then treasurer Paul Keating described the economy as being at risk of becoming a "banana republic." And Mr Keating has revealed Hawke's supporters suspected Keating was trying to take over the country. In the latest battle of the history war between the former Labor PMs, Mr Keating has also admitted he had no idea about the 1987 US stockmarket crash when it happened, despite declaring publicly that day Australia would get through it OK. Bob Hawke and Paul Keating in 1989. Their interviews were broadcast last night to mark the release of secret federal cabinet papers from 1986 and 1987. In Tokyo at the time the "banana republic" comment was made on John Laws' radio show, Mr Hawke said he was not amused at the colourful phrase at the time but over time he came to believe it was a way of educating voters. "We were, I suppose, irritated a bit but, on reflection, I thought it was part of an education process ... one way of doing it," Mr Hawke told the ABC's 7.30. Mr Keating said: "The fact that Bob was out of the country looked like I was taking over the show and of course all of the (people) around him ... said, 'You can't let this happen, Bob, you've got to be in charge'." Paul Keating and Bob Hawke in 1987. After the 1987 election win, when the stockmarket plunged in the worst crash ever on Wall Street, Mr Keating said he didn't listen to morning radio and was clueless when asked about the issue by the media. "A journalist said, 'Well, Treasurer, what do you think about this stockmarket crash?'," Mr Keating recalled. I didn't know about that. I said, 'Aw, we'll get through this all right'. And it turns out we did. Mr Keating said it was he, not Mr Hawke, who gave the government its mojo from the late 1984 into the 1990s. He said Mr Hawke did his job but was not inspiring the cabinet. Mr Hawke said he did not want to get into Mr Keating's "rewriting" of history. "I'm quite happy to stand on the record, people know what happened," he said. Mr Hawke also told the show that he did not regret relaxing media laws in the late 1980s at the time.