Howard Government
Encyclopedia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
. It was made up of members of the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
–National
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
at four successive elections. The Howard Government commenced following victory over the Keating Government
Keating Government
The Hawke-Keating Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 1983 to 1996. The government was led initially by Bob Hawke as Prime Minister, who was succeeded by Paul Keating in 1991....
at the 1996 federal election. It concluded with its defeat at the 2007 federal election by the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, whose leader Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
formed the Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
. It was the second-longest government under a single Prime Minister, with the longest having been the second Menzies Government (1949–1966).
Two senior ministers served in single roles for the duration of the Government—Peter Costello
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...
as Treasurer
Treasurer of Australia
The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. He is the head of the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government...
, and Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
as Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)
In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister...
. The leader of the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
served as Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The Deputy Prime Ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1968, and the Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime...
. Three men served in this capacity during the Howard government: Tim Fischer
Tim Fischer
Timothy Andrew Fischer, AC , is a former Australian politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 before retiring from Cabinet in 1999...
until July 1999, followed by John Anderson
John Anderson (Australian politician)
John Duncan Anderson AO is a former Australian politician. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the rural-based National Party of Australia from July 1999 to July 2005.-Early years:...
until July 2005 and then Mark Vaile
Mark Vaile
Mark Anthony James Vaile , Australian politician, is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and former leader of the National Party of Australia.-Early life:...
. Decisions of the Executive were made either by the Cabinet
Cabinet of Australia
The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers of the Crown, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister the Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private...
or by the appropriate Minister.
For the first three terms of government, and part of the fourth term, the Howard Government did not have control of the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
. Legislation needed the support of the Opposition or minor parties for that legislation to be passed and become law. In the 2004 election, the Coalition won control of the Senate for all but the first nine months of its fourth term, and was able to pass legislation without the support of minor parties. The government also faced internal problems and tension, with the loss of numerous ministers during its first term due to the introduction of a ministerial code of conduct and ongoing leadership rivalry between John Howard and Peter Costello.
Significant issues for the Howard government included implementation of substantial spending cuts in its first term of office and completely paying off government debt, gun control, the popularity of Pauline Hanson
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician and former leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, a political party with a populist and anti-multiculturalism platform...
and her One Nation
One Nation
One Nation may refer to:In politics:* One Nation , a nationalist party in Australia** One Nation NSW, a defunct splinter group of the above, operating exclusively in New South Wales* One Nation , a defunct party in Israel...
party, industrial relations reforms including the 1988 waterfront dispute
1998 Australian waterfront dispute
The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was a watershed event in Australian Industrial Relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of increasing the productivity of their workforce...
and the introduction of WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
, the 1999 Australian republic referendum, reconciliation and native title, the introduction of a goods and services tax
Goods and Services Tax (Australia)
The GST is a broad sales tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions in Australia. It is a value added tax, not a sales tax, in that it is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer....
, the 1999 Australian-led intervention in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, managing asylum seekers, the “War on Terror”, the intervention in Northern Territory Indigenous communities
Northern Territory National Emergency Response
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern...
, and an economy that experienced sustained growth throughout the government's term of office.
Election win
The Liberal-National Coalition won the federal election on 2 March 1996 against the incumbent Keating Labor government. The coalition had a 45-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Howard announced his proposed ministry team on 8 March 1996, with the Governor-General swearing them into office on 11 March. The size of the Coalition victory gave John Howard great power within the Liberal party and he said he came to the office "with very clear views on where I wanted to take the country". In the first week of the new government, Howard sacked six department heads and chose new department heads himself and changes were made across the public service.
Port Arthur massacre and gun control
On 28 April 1996, eight weeks into the new government's term, 35 people were shot dead by a lone gunman in Port ArthurPort Arthur, Tasmania
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and the open air museum is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. It is located approximately 60 km south east of...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. John Howard led a push to significantly increase restrictions on gun ownership, which divided the cabinet and inflamed rural voters who were an important part of the Coalition's core constituency. The new National Firearms Program Implementation Act 1996 restricted the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles
Semi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
, semi-automatic shotgun
Semi-automatic shotgun
A semi-automatic shotgun is a form of shotgun that is able to fire a cartridge after every trigger squeeze, without any manual chambering of another round being required...
s, pump-action shotguns, and introduced uniform firearms licensing. It was implemented with bipartisan support by the Commonwealth, States and Territories.
Government spending cuts
The Government soon found that the previous Keating GovernmentKeating Government
The Hawke-Keating Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 1983 to 1996. The government was led initially by Bob Hawke as Prime Minister, who was succeeded by Paul Keating in 1991....
had left them with an unexpected $7.6 billion "black hole" budget deficit. The new treasurer, Peter Costello
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...
, and Finance Minister, John Fahey
John Fahey (politician)
John Joseph Fahey, AC is a former Premier of New South Wales and Federal Minister for Finance in Australia. John Fahey is currently the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1996 and the federal House of Representatives...
worked at reducing Commonwealth expenditure. This involved reneging on a number of election commitments, which Howard defended as "non-core promises". At the first Coalition government budget, the public service was "down-sized", the Commonwealth Employment Service
Commonwealth Employment Service
The Commonwealth Employment Service was an Australian Government employment agency established in 1946 with the introduction of the Re-establishment and Employment Act 1945 and continued to exist under the provisions of the Commonwealth Employment Service Act 1978.-History in the last 1990...
(CES) was privatised, and cuts were made to all departments including with the exception of defence. $8 billion in spending cuts were made over the government's first two budgets.
Industrial relations and waterfront dispute
The Howard Government made waterfront reform a key feature of the 'first wave' of its industrial relations agenda. Their goal was to lift exports and hence improve the economy, but also sought to use it as a symbolic issue to decrease trade union influence. Initially, new workplace legislationWorkplace Relations Act 1996
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 is an Australian law passed by the Howard Government after coming into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's Industrial Relations Act 1988. It started operation on 1 January 1997 and provided for the continuation of the federal award system...
was introduced in December 1996—following a deal with Democrats Leader Cheryl Kernot
Cheryl Kernot
Cheryl Kernot is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist. She was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 1997, and the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats from 1993 to 1997...
—to include a no-disadvantage test, increase employer's power to deal directly with workers, limit strike action, ban secondary boycotts, ban compulsory unionism, and introduce Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). Large fines were imposed on unions involved in illegal strike activity.
Peter Reith
Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...
, Transport Minister John Sharp
John Sharp (Australian politician)
John Randall Sharp , Australian politician, is a former National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Divisions of Gilmore and Hume in New South Wales....
, and Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation
Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...
managing director Chris Corrigan
Chris Corrigan
Chris Corrigan is an Australian businessman. He was the Managing Director of the Patrick Corporation until it was taken over in 2006....
whereby Patrick’s would replace the existing current unionised labour with non-unionised labour using the government’s new industrial relations legislation
Workplace Relations Act 1996
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 is an Australian law passed by the Howard Government after coming into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's Industrial Relations Act 1988. It started operation on 1 January 1997 and provided for the continuation of the federal award system...
. The government agreed to the company’s request to fund redundancy payments later announced to be $250 million. The company secretly trained an alternate workforce in Dubai. In December 1997, the plan became public (Peter Reith denied knowledge of the plan) and the union movement was able to stop the Dubai training; the training was finished in Australia with the assistance of the National Farmers' Federation
National Farmers' Federation
The National Farmers' Federation is an Australian industry association that represents Australian farmers at a national level, including through lobbying the Australian Government...
. At 11 pm 7 April 1998, Corrigan, with the assistance of security guards with dogs, sacked the union workforce of 1,400 across the country, and replaced it with the alternate non-union labour. John Howard described the action as "a fightback by the people of Australia against the inefficiency of the wharves."
Over the following months, a bitter and sometime violent dispute took place at port locations. The Maritime Union of Australia
Maritime Union of Australia
The Maritime Union of Australia covers waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. As of 2011 the union has about 13,000 members. It is an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation and represents the...
(MUA) took the case to the Federal Court and after an appeals process, and an interim injunction instructing the company to reinstate the 1,400 workers, the High Court ultimately found in favour of the MUA. The MUA and Patricks reached a new workplace and productivity agreement, which was adopted in June 1998, that included halving the permanent workforce, casualisation and contracting, the MUA retaining the right to represent maritime workers, and changing work practices to what the company originally sought.
Legislation
The government did not have a majority in the SenateAustralian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
, and thus had to negotiate legislation through the Senate with either the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
or the independents. The Senate modified Government legislation, including the partial privatisation of the government-owned telecommunications company, Telstra
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
; increases in university fees; large funding cuts in the 1996 and 1997 budgets; a 30% private health insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
rebate; and the Wik 10 Point Plan
Native Title Amendment Act 1998
The Native Title Amendment Act 1998 , also commonly referred to as the "10 Point Plan" is an Australian law created by the John Howard led Liberal government in response to the 1996 Wik Decision by the High Court of Australia...
, giving extinguishment
Extinguishment
Extinguishment is the destruction of a right or contract. If the subject of the contract is destroyed , then the contract may be made void. Extinguishment occurs in a variety of contracts, such as land contracts , debts, rents, and right of ways...
of native title
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
on pastoral lease
Pastoral lease
A pastoral lease is Crown land that government allows to be leased, generally for the purposes of farming.-Australia:Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions....
s.
During this first term, only two pieces of legislation were rejected outright by the Senate, being the Workplace Relationships Amendment Bill 1997 and the Telstra (Transition to Full Private Ownership) Bill 1998. A "work for the dole
Work for the dole
Work for the Dole is an Australian federal government program that is a form of workfare, work-based welfare. It was first permanently enacted in 1998, having been trialed in 1997....
" system was introduced that required able-bodied social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
recipients to participate in activities aimed at improving their social and work skills.
Ministerial code of conduct
The coalition campaigned on a policy of "clean government" as a contrast to the previous government. A "Code of Ministerial Conduct" was introduced in fulfilment of this pledge. The code required ministers to divest shares in portfolios that they oversaw and to be truthful in parliament. The code eventually led to seven cabinet ministers resigning following breach of the code. Jim ShortJim Short (Australian politician)
James Robert "Jim" Short is an Australian politician and diplomat.Born in Shepparton, Victoria, he attended the University of Melbourne before becoming a public servant with the Treasury Department...
and Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson (Australian politician)
Brian Francis Gibson is an Australian politician and businessman who has held senior appointments in Australian companies and industry bodies.Gibson was born in Ascot Vale Victoria in 1936....
both resigned in October 1996 as both held shares in companies that were within their ministerial portfolios. Bob Woods
Bob Woods
Robert Leslie "Bob" Woods is an Australian former politician. He was a Liberal Senator for the state of New South Wales in Australia between 1993 and 1997. Woods was previously a Member of the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Lowe between 1987 and 1993...
resigned in February 1997 over questionable ministerial expense claims. Geoff Prosser
Geoff Prosser
Geoffrey Daniel Prosser , Australianpolitician, was a Liberal member of theAustralian House of Representatives from July 1987 until the 2007 election, representing the Division of Forrest, Western Australia....
resigned in July 1997 following the disclosure that he was a shopping centre landlord whilst he was responsible for commercial tenancy provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1975. John Sharp
John Sharp (Australian politician)
John Randall Sharp , Australian politician, is a former National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Divisions of Gilmore and Hume in New South Wales....
, David Jull
David Jull
David Francis Jull was an Australian politician. He was a long-serving Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, from 1975–83 and Fadden, Queensland, from 1984–2007.Jull was born in Kingaroy, Queensland, and was educated at the...
and Peter McGauran resigned in September 1997 over irregularities in the use of ministerial travel allowances in what became known in the media as the "Travel Rorts Affair". John Moore
John Moore (Australian politician)
John Colinton Moore AO is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives for over 25 years, and a minister from 1980 to 1982 and 1996 to 2001....
and Warwick Parer
Warwick Parer
Warwick Raymond Parer , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate, representing the state of Queensland. He is the nephew of Australian war photographer Damien Parer.Born in Wau, Papua New Guinea, he attended St...
survived revelations about his shareholdings. Parer however was not reappointed to the Second Howard Ministry. In early 1999, the government announced that ministers would no longer be required to divest themselves of shareholdings.
Wik & Native Title
On 23 December 1996, the High CourtHigh Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
recognised the Wik people's native titles rights, and that pastoral and mining leases would not extinguish native title
Native title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
as had been assumed after the 1992 Mabo decision and subsequent Native Title Act 1993
Native Title Act 1993
The Native Title Act of 1993 provides for determinations of native title in Australia. The Act was passed by the Keating Labor Government in response to the High Court's decision in Mabo v Queensland...
. Rather, the High Court decision determined that Native Title could co-exist with pastoral leases, which caused farmers to fear they would lose their land. The government announced a "Ten Point Plan" to deal with the uncertainty that had the effect of weakening the Native Title Act. The legislation termed the "Native Title Amendment Act 1998
Native Title Amendment Act 1998
The Native Title Amendment Act 1998 , also commonly referred to as the "10 Point Plan" is an Australian law created by the John Howard led Liberal government in response to the 1996 Wik Decision by the High Court of Australia...
" was introduced into Parliament in September 1997, but was opposed by the Labor party in the Senate. A deal announced on 3 July 1998 between Independent Senator Brian Harradine and the prime minister saw the legislation pass the Senate. The legislation meant that 120 agreements and permits in doubt due to the "Wik decision" were now valid.
Constitutional Convention
A Constitutional Convention was called by the Howard Government in February 1998Australian Constitutional Convention 1998
The Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2–13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a republic...
to consider the question of Australia becoming a republic and consider other alterations to the Australian Constitution which might be appropriate for the coming centenary of the Federation of Australia
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 2001. The Convention had been promised in Opposition by Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
in response to the republican proposals of the Keating Government
Keating Government
The Hawke-Keating Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 1983 to 1996. The government was led initially by Bob Hawke as Prime Minister, who was succeeded by Paul Keating in 1991....
. Consisting of 152 delegates, the Convention comprised both appointed and elected delegates. Appointees included 40 national parliamentarians and elected delegates included representatives of the Australian Republican Movement
Australian Republican Movement
The Australian Republican Movement is a non-partisan lobby group advocating constitutional change in Australia to a republican form of government, from a constitutional monarchy.-Foundation:...
and Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy is a group that aims to preserve Australia's current constitutional monarchy, with Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia...
.
At the convention, Liberal-National delegates were permitted to advocate freely whether for or against change. Prime Minister Howard spoke in favour of the status quo in relation to the republic, while Treasurer Peter Costello
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...
supported change. The Labor opposition also advocated for change to a republic.
The Convention reached "in principle" support for an Australian republic and examined three models for change. After a voting process, the Convention proposed that a Bi-partisan appointment republican model
Bi-partisan appointment republican model
The Bi-partisan appointment republican model is a proposal for Australian constitutional reform. If approved at referendum, the model would have established Australia as a republic with a Head of State appointed by the Australian Federal Parliament...
to be put to a referendum of the Australian nation in 1999.
The Convention also recommended the drafting of a new constitutional preamble which would, inter alia, have recognised Aboriginal custodianship of Australia.
Taxation and the GST
Goods and Services Tax (Australia)
The GST is a broad sales tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions in Australia. It is a value added tax, not a sales tax, in that it is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer....
(GST) had previously been proposed by both the Labor Party and the Coalition as a means of reducing the reliance of the Commonwealth on income tax, by increasing the tax on consumption. The existing wholesale sales tax only applied to certain products, while the mooted GST would apply to all products and services equally. In 1981 Treasurer John Howard proposed an indirect consumption tax to Cabinet, a mid-1980s proposal advocated by then treasurer Paul Keating was stopped within the Labor Party, and the Coalition’s loss of the “unlosable” 1993 Federal Election was widely attributed to their GST proposal. In reference to his long-held support for a GST, John Howard said in the lead up to the 1996 election that a GST would “never ever” be Coalition policy, which was repeated in August 1996 once in government.
In May 1997, the Prime Minister shocked his party and created headlines when he unilaterally indicated a GST might be proposed as part of broader changes to the tax system. In August of that year, the Prime Minister announced that the Government would contest the next election offering a GST with extensive compensatory cuts in income and sales taxes. A long held conviction of Howard’s, the tax reform proposal was credited with boosting his confidence and direction, which had appeared to wane early in the Government’s second year. The Treasurer was charged with forming and running a special confidential working group to devise the details of the plan over the following 12 months.
The Coalition Tax Reform Package was launched on 13 August 1998 and included a 10 percent GST with the proceeds to be distributed to the states. Income tax would be lowered and the wholesale sales tax abolished, along with certain taxes on financial transactions. Over that fortnight, the proposal received a generally positive response and on 30 August the Prime Minister announced an early election for 3 October 1998. The GST, however, proved to be a difficult sell during the election campaign which was considered a “referendum on the GST”.
1998 election
Through much of its first term, opinion polling had been disappointing for the government; at times many in the government feared being a “one-term wonder”. The popularity of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party and the new restrictions on gun ownership drew many traditionally Coalition voters away from the Howard government. Also unpopular with many voters were the large spending cuts, the waterfront dispute and industrial changes, and the Government's commitment to a GST.On 3 October 1998, the Howard Government won a second term with its March 1996 majority of 45 seats reduced to 12. Exit polls had predicted a government loss. A 4.6 percent swing away from the Government translated into a two-party preferred vote of 49.02 per cent for the Government to Labor’s 50.98 per cent. Despite One Nation winning almost 1 million votes and its 8.4 percent first preference vote being larger than the National Party’s, Pauline Hanson did not win her run for the House of Representatives seat of Blair. On election night, John Howard claimed the win as a mandate for the GST, and in surprising and apparently impromptu remarks, he committed the government to reconciliation with Australia’s indigenous peoples.
Second term: 1998–2001
The 1999 Republican referendum
The 1999 Australian republic referendum was a two question referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
held in 1999. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic with a President appointed by Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, a model that had previously been decided at a Constitutional Convention in February 1998
Australian Constitutional Convention 1998
The Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2–13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a republic...
. The second question, generally deemed to be far less important politically, asked whether Australia should alter the constitution
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
to insert a new preamble. The preamble was notable for its reference to Aboriginal custodianship of Australia. Neither of the amendments passed, with 55% of all electors and all states voting 'no' to the proposed amendment.
The referendum was held on 6 November 1999, after a national advertising campaign and the distribution of 12.9 million Yes/No case pamphlets. The question on a republic was defeated. It was not carried in any state and attracted 45 per cent of the total national vote. The preamble referendum question was also defeated, with a Yes vote of only 39 per cent.
Many opinions were put forward for the defeat, some relating to perceived difficulties with the Parliamentary Appointment model, others relating to the lack of public engagement. Many republicans voted no because they did not agree with provisions such as the President being instantly dismissable by the Prime Minister.
Implementing the GST
In the month following the election, the Government moved to implement its tax changes, and sought the support of Tasmanian independent senator, Brian HarradineBrian Harradine
Richard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...
. The Senator, however, announced on 14 May 1999, that he had an in-principle objection to the GST and would not support the bill. The sole remaining opportunity for the Government to pass the legislation through the Senate was to obtain the support of the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
. Following intense negotiations which had at one stage almost broken down, a deal was reached on 28 May whereby the concessions given to the Democrats included an exemption on basic food, more generous compensation to pensioners, and a reduction in tax cuts to higher income earners. The GST came into effect on 1 July 2000, the lead up to which was marked by public concerns and confusion, interest group lobbying for exemptions, and the Opposition campaigning against it. The GST lead to a single quarter of negative economic growth and a spike in the consumer price index, however, these effects were transient. The implementation of the new tax system was not without its problems and voter dissatisfaction with the GST increased; Labor stepped up a campaign against it, promising a partial rollback should it win office.
East Timor
Indonesian occupation of East Timor
Indonesia occupied East Timor from December 1975 to October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, a 1974 coup in Portugal led to decolonization among its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain...
by President
President of Indonesia
The President of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.- Sukarno era :...
Suharto's "New Order" government. The 1998 resignation of Suharto and replacement by his reformist protégé, B.J. Habibie, created an opportunity in both countries for policy reform. Habibie was suggesting East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
receive special autonomy status within the Indonesian republic
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, which he offered as part of United Nations (UN)-mediated negotiation process between Indonesia and the territory's former colonial ruler, Portugal. Australian policy also changed. From a position of not supporting any act of East Timorese self-determination, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Downer formulated a shift in policy to suggesting not just autonomy but a political solution that included a referendum on independence be provided in about a decade. This was developed confidentially without the knowledge of Cabinet, and outlined in a December 1998 letter to Habibie suggesting the Indonesian government prepare for such a referendum.
Reacting to the Howard-Downer letter, in January 1999 Habibie announced a snap decision for East Timor to have a UN-supervised referendum within 6 months rather than the 10 years suggested by Howard. The Habibie announcement provoked violence from East Timorese pro-integration militia groups
Pro-Indonesia militia
Pro-Indonesia militias were East Timorese paramilitary militia groups that formed to show loyalty to the Indonesian government during the movement for East Timorese independence in the late 1990s...
, violence that the Indonesian military (TNI) could not or would not control. The Prime Minister’s request for President Habibie to permit a UN peace-keeping force to take control was rejected by President Habibie as unacceptable and inflammatory to the Indonesian domestic political environment.
On 30 August 1999, the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence. Within a few days, the pro-integration militia—along with their TNI supporters—undertook a retaliatory scorched earth campaign that left over 1,000 people dead and destroyed much of the territory’s infrastructure. In the face of Australian public and international outrage, the Prime Minister led discussions for a UN peacekeeping force, a position supported by US President Bill Clinton and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Following international pressure, President Habibie allowed the peacekeeping force (INTERFET
INTERFET
The International Force for East Timor was a multinational peacekeeping taskforce, mandated by the United Nations to address the humanitarian and security crisis which took place in East Timor from 1999–2000 until the arrival of United Nations peacekeepers...
) to enter Indonesia, with Australia providing the largest contingent of 4,500 troops. Landing in Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
on 20 September 1999, the mission was popular within Australia and maintained bipartisan political support. In early October, the UN Secretary-General announced that INTERFET had largely restored order to East Timor.
"Howard Doctrine" and "Deputy Sherriff"
In The Bulletin magazineThe Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
it was suggested that the Prime Minister viewed Australia as a "deputy peacekeeping capacity to the global policing role of the US" in the Asia-Pacific region, and that he had embraced the term "Howard Doctrine". Both notions were criticised by foreign leaders, diplomats, and academics in Australia and the region. Howard rejected these notions later that week. In 2003, US President, George W Bush, described Howard has the US' "deputy sheriff" in the region, comments which Howard played down.
Reconciliation
As recommended in the 1997 Bringing Them HomeBringing Them Home
Bringing Them Home is the title of the Australian "Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families"...
report, the Government considered the issue of a national apology to Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, in recognition of the treatment by previous governments since the European settlement of the country. However, in the face of a growing movement in favour of a formal national apology, Howard remained strongly against it, saying he didn’t believe that the current generation should accept responsibility for the actions of previous generations. Instead, on 26 August 1999 John Howard introduced a “Motion of Reconciliation
Motion of Reconciliation
The Motion of Reconciliation was a motion to the Australian Parliament introduced on 26 August 1999. Drafted by Prime Minister John Howard in consulation with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway , it dedicated the Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" and recognised historic maltreatment of...
” and repeated his personal expression of "deep and sincere regret" for past injustices.
At Corroboree 2000, a Reconciliation convention in May 2000 in preparation for a reconciliation ceremony to be held at the centenary of Australian Federation, the Government opposed the wording of a proposed “Australian Declaration towards Reconciliation”. Consequently agreement is not reached with the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, with the Government preferring reference be made to “practical reconciliation” that focuses on health, education, housing and employment, rather than the more symbolic proposal for an apology, to expressed as part of ‘’“walk[ing] the journey of healing”’’. Only two members of the Cabinet, Philip Ruddock and John Herron, ministers for reconciliation and Aboriginal affairs respectively, reportedly at the instruction of John Howard, joined the 250,000 people who walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the Peoples Walk for Reconciliation.
Leadership tensions and slump in popularity
Howard’s reported instruction to his Cabinet to not join the Reconciliation Walk highlighted tensions between him and Treasurer Costello, who was amongst those Cabinet Ministers who had wanted to walk. In a 2000 radio interview on his 61st birthday, Howard suggested that if the Party still wanted him to contest the next election he would consider retirement when he was 64. This was interpreted as boosting Costello’s leadership aspirations, and the enmity over leadership and succession resurfaced publicly when Howard did not retire at the age of 64. In May 2001, an internal Liberal Party memo written by Shane Stone, the Federal President of the Liberal Party, was leaked to the media. The memo, particularly critical of Peter Costello and warning that the government was perceived as “ a mean government”, “not listening” and “out of touch”, was highly embarrassing for the government’s top leadership group and flared tensions between Howard and Costello.In the first half of 2001, the government suffered a number of setbacks including rising petrol prices, voter enmity over the implementation of the GST and its new administrative obligations on business, a spike in inflation and a sharp slow down in the economy. The Coalition lost office in both the West Australian and Queensland state elections in February, while defeat in the Ryan by-election and bad opinion polls led to predictions of the Howard Government losing office in the election expected late that year.
In response, the government announced a serious of reversals and softening of policy: fuel excise was decreased by 1.5c/litre and indexation of excise was removed with John Howard saying the government was "not going to be sacrificed on the pyre of ideological purity". Contrary to their previous record on encouraging foreign investment, the government announced intention to block Royal Dutch Shell’s $10 billion takeover of Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Petroleum Limited is an Australian petroleum exploration and production company. It is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and has its headquarters in Perth, Western Australia.-History:...
. It was generally a popular decision within the electorate but one that critics said was pandering to "Hansonite"
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician and former leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, a political party with a populist and anti-multiculturalism platform...
economic nationalism. By June, government spending on media promotion and advertising of government programs was $20 million a month. The subsequent federal budget had a lower than expected surplus of $1.5 billion, and contained significant benefits and tax cuts for older Australians, a demographic whose support the government keenly sought. News that the economy had avoided recession also boosted the government. In July, the Liberal Party held onto the seat of Aston in a by-election prompting John Howard to say that the Coalition was "back in the game".
In 2001, Finance Minister John Fahey, announced he would retire at the next election, as did Defence Minister Peter Reith. Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer
Tim Fischer
Timothy Andrew Fischer, AC , is a former Australian politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 before retiring from Cabinet in 1999...
resigned from the Ministry in 1999 and from Parliament in 2001.
Asylum seekers
From 1999 to mid 2001, approximately 8,000 asylum seekers had landed on Australian shores. The government instructed the Australian Navy to turn boats back, which it said would stop more asylum seekers making the journey. The program dubbed "Operation Relex" begins on 3 September. In August 2001, the government refused permission for the NorwegianNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
freighter MV Tampa
MV Tampa
MV Tampa is a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning.-Tampa affair:...
, carrying a group of asylum seekers picked up in international waters
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
, to enter Australian waters (see Tampa affair
Tampa affair
In August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 438 rescued Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters, to enter Australian waters...
). When the Tampa entered Australian waters, the Prime Minister ordered the ship be boarded by Australian special forces
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
. This brought censure from the government of Norway
Politics of Norway
Politics in Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the King's council, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Storting, elected...
who said the Australian Government failed to meet obligations to distressed mariners under international law at the United Nations. Within a few days the government introduces the Border Protection Bill into the House of Representatives saying it will confirm Australian sovereignty to "determine who will enter and reside in Australia". The Opposition opposed the bill defeating it in the Senate, and John Howard accused Labor leader Kim Beazley of standing for nothing and said "He has no ticker". Two weeks later, the opposition supported an amended version of the Bill. The Government brokered a deal, dubbed "The Pacific Solution", with the Government of Nauru whereby the asylum seekers were taken to Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
where their refugee status was considered, rather than in Australia.
On 7 October 2001, a Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel (SIEV) containing 223 refugees was intercepted by an Australian warship as part of "Operation Relex". The Department of Defence informed the government that children had been thrown overboard. The Government said that the refugees threw their children in the water and sank the boat in an attempt to force the Australian sailors to grant them asylum. John Howard said "we're not a nation that‟s going to be intimidated by this kind of behaviour.” Three days later doubt was cast over whether photos offered as evidence by Defence Minister Peter Reith actually proved that children had been thrown overboard. Evidence later presented suggested that the Government had exaggerated or fabricated these claims.
These asylum restriction incidents resounded with the Australian electorate; many commentators cite the August 2001 Tampa controversy
MV Tampa
MV Tampa is a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning.-Tampa affair:...
as the decisive issue in Howard's 2001 election victory. The government pointed out that by that November the boat arrivals had stopped. The Government's position on asylum seekers was criticised by Liberal members Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria.-Early life:...
and Bruce Baird
Bruce Baird
Bruce George Baird, AM , is a former Australian politician.-Early life:Baird was born in Sydney, and was educated at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter...
, questioning the extent of the problem and the ethics of the Government's response.
On 5 October 2001, John Howard announced a federal election to be held on 10 November. From the poor opinion polling in early 2001 that suggested electoral defeat, the government recovered to win the 2001 election, recording one of the biggest electoral swings to an incumbent government.
Third term: 2001–2004
The Governor General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
, Dr. Peter Hollingworth
Peter Hollingworth
Peter John Hollingworth AC, OBE is an Australian Anglican bishop. He served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years before becoming the 23rd Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until 2003....
, faced allegations of not investigating Anglican ministers accused of paedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane
Anglican Diocese of Brisbane
The Anglican Diocese of Brisbane is based in Brisbane, Australia. The diocesan bishop's seat is St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. The current Archbishop of Brisbane is the Most Reverend Phillip Aspinall, who is also the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia.The diocese stretches from the inner...
. Hollingworth subsequently resigned the governor-generalship.
In April 2002 changes were made to Australian nationality law
Australian nationality law
Australian nationality law determines who is and who is not an Australian, and is based primarily on the principle of Jus soli. The status of Australian citizenship was created by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 which received Royal Assent on 21 December 1948 and came into force on...
that allowed Australian citizens who had acquired another country's citizenship to keep their Australian citizenship concurrently.
Despite its victory in 2001, the government did not have a Senate majority, and its ability to pass planned legislation was restricted.
"War on Terror"
Following the 2002 Bali bombing2002 Bali bombing
The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was claimed as the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according to the current police general, killing 202 people,...
, in which 202 people were killed including 88 Australian citizens, Howard pledged that Australia would fight in worldwide "war on terrorism", saying; "I can't understand how anybody could argue that you can respond adequately, in the name of the scores of Australians who were killed in Bali, without being part of the worldwide war against terror." Two days before the attack, the US issued a worldwide warning notice urging tourists to Bali to avoid "clubs, bars and restaurants" where Westerners congregate. The Australian government had received US intelligence identifying Bali as a possible target of a terrorist attack on Western tourists but did not change its advice to Australian holidaymakers. The Howard government did not issue a similar warning, though following the attack it issued a travel advisory warning against any travel to Indonesia.
In March 2003, Australia joined the so-called Coalition of the Willing
Coalition of the willing
The term coalition of the willing is a post-1990 political phrase used to collectively describe participants in military or military-humanitarian interventions for which the United Nations Security Council cannot agree to mount a full UN peacekeeping operation...
and sent troops and naval units
Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
The Howard Government supported the disarmament of Iraq during the Iraq disarmament crisis. Australia later provided one of the four most substantial combat force contingents during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, under the operational codename Operation Falconer. Part of its contingent were among the...
to support the invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. Australian opinion was divided on the war and large public protests against the war occurred. Several senior figures from the Liberal party, including John Valder
John Valder
John Valder is a former president of the federal Liberal Party of Australia and also a previous chairman of the Australian Stock Exchange. Valder was a founding member of the 'Not happy John!' campaign.-External links:*...
, a former president of the Liberal Party, and Howard's former friend and colleague, former Opposition Leader John Hewson
John Hewson
John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian economist, company director and a former politician. He was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1990 to 1994 and led the party to defeat at the 1993 federal election.-Early life:...
and former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
publicly criticised Howard over Iraq.
On 5 February 2003, the Australian Senate presented its first vote of no-confidence against a serving leader for deploying troops to the Persian Gulf. The unprecedented vote carried no legislative power as the motion was defeated in the House of Representatives. Senior Australian intelligence officer Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Damien Wilkie is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Denison...
resigned from his job, citing ethical reasons. Wilkie later went on to challenge Howard in his electorate
Division of Bennelong
The Division of Bennelong is an Australian electorate in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Bennelong, an Aboriginal man befriended by the first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip...
. On Anzac Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
2004, Howard made a surprise visit to Australian defence personnel in Iraq. This came amid a bitter debate in Australia over the war following opposition leader Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
's promise to return Australian troops by Christmas. Howard successfully portrayed Latham as a threat to the U.S.-Australia alliance, which led to a fall in Latham's popularity.
Same-sex relationships
In May 2004, and with the help of the Australian DemocratsAustralian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
, the Howard Government amended Australia's superannuation law to allow same-sex couples to inherit their partners' private sector superannuation.
Announcing the May 2004 proposal, Howard said:
The changes we are announcing today will provide greater certainty for the payment of super death benefits for those involved in interdependency relationships including, of course, members of same sex relationships.
The changes did not extend to members in Commonwealth superannuation schemes.
On 13 August 2004, the Senate passed the Howard Government's Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill that incorporated the common law definition of marriage—"the union of a man and a woman to exclusion of all others"—into the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act.
International affairs
By 2003, trade with China had tripled since the government came to office and Chinese President Hu JintaoHu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
selected Australia as his first international port of call after taking office. Howard invited Hu to become the first Chinese leader to address the Australian Parliament. Presidents Bush and Hu addressed the Parliament over two days in 2003 and Howard has claimed management of China relations as his major foreign policy achievement.
Tsunami and Changing Opposition Leaders
On 26 December 2004, a massive Tsunami devastated large areas of Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Howard moved quickly to offer a $A1 Billion aid package and won praise from Indonesia's President for being first on the phone and first on the ground aiding Indonesia. After nose-diving at the time of the INTERFETINTERFET
The International Force for East Timor was a multinational peacekeeping taskforce, mandated by the United Nations to address the humanitarian and security crisis which took place in East Timor from 1999–2000 until the arrival of United Nations peacekeepers...
intervention in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
in 1999, government-to-government ties with Indonesia had been strengthening in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali Bombing
2002 Bali bombing
The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was claimed as the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according to the current police general, killing 202 people,...
, notably through counter-terrorism co-operation and inter-faith dialogue. The Australian response to the Tsunami further consolidated improving relations and a personal rapport between Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
and John Howard.
Opposition Leader Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
came under criticism for failing to take time out from Christmas leave to comment on the Tsunami disaster adding to growing speculation about his leadership. Citing ill-health, Latham resigned as Leader soon after and was replaced by veteran Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
. Unable to dent Howard's popularity as preferred Prime Minister, Beazley's was replaced in December 2006 by Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
.
Industrial relations
In 2005, Howard announced significant changes
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
to industrial relations laws. Government ministers, including Howard, felt the Coalition's new Senate majority should be used to implement the potentially unpopular legislation. From the time they were first hinted at, the changes became the subject of a national publicity campaign by the government and pronounced opposition from community groups, the union movement and state Labor governments. On 15 November 2005, public rallies
Australian industrial relations legislation national day of protest, 2005
A national day of protest was held in Australia on 15 November 2005, to protest against the industrial relations legislation being introduced by the government of Prime Minister John Howard...
were held to protest against the industrial relations reforms. An estimated 100,000–175,000 people attended rallies in Melbourne and around 300 other meetings and rallies, held concurrently around the country, were also well attended. These meetings were organised by unions and community organisations with the help of Labor and the Greens. Due to the Coalition's slim majority in the Senate, the passage of the proposed laws was put in doubt following criticisms from Queensland National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerald Joyce , Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate representing the state of Queensland since July 2005...
, although he later voted in support of the legislation. The industrial relations laws were passed without substantial change.
WorkChoices continued to be unpopular after they came into effect on 27 March 2006. Opinion polls found that 63 percent of voters opposed WorkChoices in 2006 and 65 percent in 2007, and that the policy was reducing support for the Coalition. The Government responded to the continuing union campaign against the reforms by conducting a large scale information campaign of its own. On 4 May 2007 Howard announced reforms to WorkChoices which included a new 'fairness test' to protect workers paid less than $75,000 a year. Despite these responses, the Labor Party's polling in 2007 found that opposition to WorkChoices was one of the three biggest vote drivers at the election.
Anti-terrorism measures
Crimes Act 1914
The Crimes Act 1914 is a piece of Federal legislation in Australia. Pursuant to the Australian Constitution it prevails in any conflict with State laws dealing with the subject of crime....
. In particular, sections relating to sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
are to be modified. On 14 October 2005, Jon Stanhope
Jon Stanhope
Jonathan Ronald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May 2011 and as...
(Chief Minister of the ACT) took the controversial step of publishing the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on his website. This action was both praised and criticised. Citing concerns about civil rights raised by the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
as well as concerns over the speed of the legislation's passage through parliament, he later refused to sign off on a revised version of the legislation, becoming the only State and Territorial leader not to sign. The House of Representatives passed the anti-terrorism legislation which was debated in the Senate before its final implementation in December 2005.
On 2 November 2005 Howard held a press conference to announce that he had received information from police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
(ASIO) that indicated an imminent terrorist attack in Australia. Within a week, on 8 November, anti-terrorist raids were held across Melbourne and Sydney, with 17 suspected terrorists arrested, including Abdul Nacer Benbrika
Abdul Nacer Benbrika
Abdul Nacer Benbrika , also known as Abu Bakr , was one of 17 men arrested in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005, charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and of planning terrorist attacks on targets within the country. Benbrika is alleged to be the...
. These raids, according to Howard, demonstrated the need for his Anti-Terrorism Bill.
After Mohamed Haneef
Mohamed Haneef
Muhamed Haneef is an Indian doctor who was wrongly accused of aiding terrorists, and left Australia upon cancellation of his visa amid great political controversy....
spent 12 days in jail without charges (he was incorrectly suspected to have supported the perpetrators of the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow in July 2007), the anti-terrorism bill and its impact on the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
became more publicly discussed. When a judge found insufficient evidence for the charges against Haneef, Minister of Immigration Kevin Andrews
Kevin Andrews (Australian politician)
Kevin James Andrews is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He is a member of the House of Representatives and was Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Howard Government, having previously been Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations from 7...
withdrew Haneef's working visa. While the Howard government unequivocally backed Kevin Andrew's decision, members of the judicial community in Australia expressed concern about the interference of the government in judicial proceedings.
Mandatory detention policy
Throughout the first half of 2005, the Howard government faced pressure regarding the controversial mandatory detentionMandatory detention in Australia
Mandatory detention in Australia concerns the Australian federal government's policy and system of mandatory immigration detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and sometimes subject to deportation.In the...
program, introduced in 1992 by the Keating Labor government.
It was revealed in February that a mentally ill German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
citizen and Australian resident, Cornelia Rau
Cornelia Rau
Cornelia Rau is a German citizen and Australian permanent resident who was unlawfully detained for a period of ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.- Overview :...
, had been held in detention for nine months. The government then established the closed non-judicial Palmer Inquiry promising that the findings would be made public. In May, it was revealed that another Australian, subsequently identified as Vivian Solon
Vivian Solon
Vivian Alvarez Solon is an Australian who was unlawfully removed to the Philippines by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in July 2001. In May 2005, it became public knowledge that she had been deported, although DIMIA knew of its mistake in 2003...
, had been deported from Australia and that the department responsible was unable to locate her. By late May, it was revealed that an additional 200 cases of possible wrongful detention had been referred to the Palmer Inquiry. Also at this time Howard faced backbench revolt from small numbers of his own party demanding that reforms be made. On 9 June Australia's longest serving detainee, Peter Qasim
Peter Qasim
Peter Qasim was the longest-serving detainee within the Australian immigration detention system, having resided there for over seven years . He had not been deported because he was stateless. He had applied to over 80 countries for asylum, but had not been accepted.His case has been publicised by...
, was moved to a psychiatric hospital.
In June 2005, several backbenchers including Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria.-Early life:...
challenged the Howard government's holding of asylum-seeker children in immigration detention centres. Over 2000 asylum-seeker children were held in detention centres during previous years. The longest period a child was detained was 5 years.
Under the agreement between Howard and the MPs, legislation was introduced to "soften" the detention system enacted in 1992. Detained families with children were moved out of detention centres and placed in "community detention", and people detained over two years received an ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
review. Questioned as to why the government had not acted sooner, Howard was quoted as saying: "We have to confess that was one of the many failings of this Government."
Energy
The Howard Government initially negotiated favourable Kyoto ProtocolKyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
targets for Australia (8% growth on 1990 levels) and Australia was estimated to have matched that target in 2007 at the close of the Howard Government's term. Nevertheless, it elected not to sign the Treaty following the withdrawal of United States support for the process. Howard argued that without the involvement of the United States and without binding emission reduction targets for the other large emitters in the developing world, in particular China and India, the Treaty would not be viable and could harm Australia's coal industry without effectively reducing global emissions.
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...
in September 2007, which had "nothing to do with trade deals announced [in the previous two] weeks" for the government. Howard expected that American investors would finally begin to trust Asian political leaders on climate issues; it was believed they had to, in order to follow the global energy markets, come to share relatively level business expectations and time horizons. He made much of the fact that China and the United States signed a declaration committing them to "aspirational targets" for reducing emissions.
On 6 June 2006, Howard announced a task force to conduct the "Uranium Mining, Processing, and Nuclear Energy Review", the terms of reference of which include "the extent to which nuclear energy will make a contribution to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions". Howard announced on 10 December 2006 the formation of a Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading
Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading
On 10 December 2006, the Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced the establishment of the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading...
. On 3 February 2007, the Australian government announced that it could not by itself have a significant effect on mitigation of global warming
Mitigation of global warming
Climate change mitigation is action to decrease the intensity of radiative forcing in order to reduce the potential effects of global warming. Mitigation is distinguished from adaptation to global warming, which involves acting to tolerate the effects of global warming...
, though it would continue to make efforts to cut greenhouse gases; it would be necessary for Australia to find means of adaptation
Adaptation to global warming
Adaptation to global warming and climate change is a response to climate change that seeks to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems to climate change effects. Even if emissions are stabilized relatively soon, climate change and its effects will last many years, and adaptation will...
. On 4 June 2007, Howard reversed the decision and announced a new Carbon Trading Scheme to be in place in Australia by 2012. The lengthy timeline was welcomed by investors, who were only asking for three years to plan for the scheme's introduction.
Northern Territory intervention
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...
announced the $1.6 billion Northern Territory National Emergency Response
Northern Territory National Emergency Response
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern...
(NTER). This package of revisions to welfare provisions, law enforcement and other measures was advanced as a plan for addressing child abuse in Aboriginal Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
communities that had been highlighted by the "Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, was publicly released on 15 June 2007...
" report in mid-June.
While the scheme received bi-partisan support from the Opposition led by Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, and the commitments to health and policing improvements were generally well received, other aspects of the plan were criticised. A key component of the intervention included compulsory acquisition by the Federal Government of local community land leases for a five year period; and removal of the permit system that had been designed to allow aboriginal communities to control access to their land, but which Mal Brough had been arguing was in fact contributing to Aboriginal disadvantage by preventing aboriginal camps from becoming normal suburbs and towns.
Another controversial aspect of the plan was the introduction of welfare income management among prescribed communities. These provisions forced 50% of government welfare payments to be reserved by recipients strictly for purchasing essential goods such as food. Alcohol and pornography were also banned in these communities. Critics of the scheme labelled these measures discriminatory.
The plan drew criticism from the Little Children Are Sacred Report's authors for incorporating few of the report's recommendations, and was broadly criticised by Lowitja O'Donoghue
Lowitja O'Donoghue
Ms Lowitja "Lois" O'Donoghue, AC, CBE, DSG is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator.She was named Australian of the Year in 1984 and 1990, and was inaugural chairperson of the now dissolved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission .-Personal life:Lowitja O'Donoghue was the...
and the Dodson brothers; however it received support from activists including Marcia Langton
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton is one of Australia's leading Aboriginal scholars. She holds the Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia...
, Sue Gordon
Sue Gordon
Dr. Sue Gordon, AM, is a retired indigenous Australian magistrate from Western Australia.Born at Belele Station, near Meekatharra, Western Australia in 1944, she was separated from her mother and family at the age of four and raised at Sister Kate's home in Queens Park, Western Australia...
and Noel Pearson. Pearson outlined qualified support: "I'm in agreement with the emphasis on grog and policing. I'm in agreement with attaching conditions to welfare payments. But the difference between the proposals that we've put forward to the Government... there is a difference in that we would be concerned that those people who are acting responsibly in relation to the payments they receive, should continue to exercise their freedoms and their decisions, we should only target cases of responsibility failure. Some critics, like Northern Territory Labor Parliamentarian Marion Scrymgour
Marion Scrymgour
Marion Rose Scrymgour is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2001, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was the Labor Party Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from November 2007 until February 2009, and was the...
questioned the government's motives implying that the intervention was an attempt at pre-election "wedge politics".
Economy
The Howard Government's fourth term took place during a period of exceptional economic growth and prosperity. During the term over 855,000 new jobs were created, unemployment declined to just over four percent and inflation generally remained within the Reserve Bank of Australia'sReserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it....
(RBA's) target range of 2–3 percent. The Government also completed repaying the Commonwealth's debt and recorded surpluses in each of its budgets during the term. Australia's strong economic performance was largely attributed to the reforms made by both the Hawke-Keating Government and Howard Government and the growth in the world economy over the same period. Growth in Australia's productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
did slow during the Howard Government's fourth term, however, and many areas of Australia's infrastructure reached capacity and required reform. The Howard Government's ability to drive these reforms was limited by the lack of a working relationship with many of the state and territory governments.
The RBA's use of monetary policy
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
was a significant issue during the Government's fourth term. A key element of the Government's campaign in the 2004 election was the argument that only a Coalition government could keep interest rates low. As a result, the ALP was able to use the RBA's six interest rate increases over the term to criticise the Government. The interest rate increases and strong growth in house prices during this period contributed to housing affordability reaching an all-time low.
Changes to fiscal policy introduced in the 2004–05 budget included a 'baby bonus', increased tax benefits for families with children, and lower income tax rates for all Australians. The family benefits introduced by the Howard Government led to middle-income households becoming the largest single group of social welfare recipients. The superannuation system was also changed in 2007 to allow most people to withdraw their superannuation tax-free after they reached the age of 60 and to increase incentives for semi-retired people to work part-time. Once the Commonwealth debt was repaid, the Government used its financial surplus to establish a 'Future Fund'
Australian Government Future Fund
The Australian Government Future Fund is an independently managed investment fund into which the Australian Government deposits its budget surplus. The purpose of the fund is to meet the government's future liabilities for the payment of superannuation to retired civil servants of the Australian...
to pay its superannuation liabilities and a Higher Education Endowment Fund was established in the 2006–07 Budget. The Government also negotiated and signed several free trade agreement
Free trade area
A free trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement , which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most goods and services traded between them. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to FTA, it would also be...
s between 2004 and 2007, including one with the United States
Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
The Australia – United States Free Trade Agreement is a preferential trade agreement between Australia and the United States modelled on the North American Free Trade Agreement . The free trade agreement was signed on 18 May 2004, ratified by the U.S. House of Representatives on 14 July 2004 by a...
which had been mostly negotiated during the third term.
Other activities
Other previously blocked legislation secured by the Government in this term included abolition of compulsory university student union feesVoluntary student unionism
Voluntary student unionism is a policy, notable in Australia, under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations is voluntary....
and the liberalisation of media ownership laws (by lowering restrictions on media companies owning multiple different media). The government instructed the Governor-General to disallow the Civil Unions Act. In April 2006, the government announced it had completely paid off the last of $96 billion of Commonwealth net debt inherited when it came to power in 1996. Economists generally welcomed the news, while cautioning that some level of debt was not necessarily bad, and that some of the debt had been transferred to the private sector.
In 2005, the Howard Government abolished the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting their lives...
(ATSIC), the only federal body charged with formally representing indigenous Australians. This was done in response to concerns that its organisational structure was conducive to corrupt behaviour by its officers.
Following the 2004 Asian tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, the government pledged US$820 million worth of assistance to affected countries, including US$761 million for Indonesia. In 2005, with the support of Indonesia, the Howard Government secured a seat for Australia at the East Asian Summit.
2007 election loss
For most of 2007, polling by various companies including Newspoll indicated that the Howard government was likely to be defeated if it went to an election. The election, held on 24 November, represented a 5.44 percent swing against the government nationwide, with a much stronger swing in Queensland of 7.53%. Howard lost his seat, as did three of his ministers (Gary NairnGary Nairn
Gary Roy Nairn is a former Australian politician.Nairn was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated at the University of New South Wales. He was a surveyor in private practice and managing director of a surveying and mapping consultancy before entering politics. He moved to the Northern...
, Mal Brough
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...
and Jim Lloyd
Jim Lloyd
James Eric Lloyd JP , Australian politician, was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from the March 1996 election until the November 2007 election, representing the Division of Robertson in New South Wales.Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Lloyd was...
) and 17 other Coalition MPs, although the Liberals gained two marginal Labor seats in Western Australia. The Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
was sworn into office on 3 December 2007.
See also
- First Howard MinistryFirst Howard MinistryThe First Howard Ministry was the sixty-first Australian Commonwealth ministry....
- Second Howard MinistrySecond Howard MinistryThe Second Howard Ministry was the sixty-second Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 21 October 1998 to 26 November 2001....
- Third Howard MinistryThird Howard MinistryThe Third Howard Ministry was the sixty-third Australian Commonwealth ministry....
- Fourth Howard MinistryFourth Howard MinistryThe Fourth Howard Ministry was the 64th Australian ministry.It was sworn in by the Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffery on 22 October 2004, and it ended on 3 December 2007 when the Prime Minister resigned his commission after losing the 2007 election to the Australian Labor Party led by...