The Honourable Bob Hawke AC GCL
23rd Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1990
In office 11 March 1983 – 20 December 1991
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir Ninian Stephen Bill Hayden
Deputy	Lionel Bowen Paul Keating Brian Howe
Preceded by	Malcolm Fraser
Succeeded by	Paul Keating
Leader of the Opposition
In office 3 February 1983 – 11 March 1983
Preceded by	Bill Hayden
Succeeded by	Andrew Peacock
Treasurer of Australia
In office 3 June 1991 – 4 June 1991
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	John Kerin
Member of the Australian Parliament for Wills
In office 18 October 1980 – 20 February 1992
Preceded by	Gordon Bryant
Succeeded by	Phil Cleary
Personal details
Born	Robert James Lee Hawke (1929-12-09) 9 December 1929 (age 82) Bordertown, South Australia, Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Hazel Masterson (1956–1995) Blanche d'Alpuget (1995–present)
Children	Three One died in infancy
Alma mater	University of Western Australia University College, Oxford Australian National University

Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL (born 9 December 1929) is a former Australian politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991.

After a decade as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, he entered parliament as a Labor MP at the 1980 federal election and became Prime Minister within three years, leading Labor to victory at four consecutive federal elections: 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990. Hawke was defeated as Labor leader in a 1991 spill against Paul Keating. He is Labor's longest-serving Prime Minister and Australia's third-longest-serving Prime Minister.

Early life and education[link]

Hawke's memorial at the Turf Tavern for downing a yard of ale (2.5 imperial pints or 1.4 litres) in just 11 seconds in 1963 [sic] while at Oxford University, a record at the time, and entered in the Guinness Book of Records. The record was actually set in 1953.

Hawke was born in Bordertown, a small town in South Australia near the Victorian border. His father Clem was a Congregationalist minister; his uncle, Albert Hawke, was Labor Premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959 and was a close friend of Labor Prime Minister John Curtin, who was in many ways Bob Hawke's role model. Hawke's mother, Ellie, had an almost messianic belief in her son's destiny^[1] and this contributed to his supreme self-confidence throughout his career. Both his parents were of Cornish origins^[2] and he himself has stated that his background is Cornish.^[3] This led the Cornish writer and historian A.L. Rowse to write "Bob Hawke's characteristics are as Cornish as Australian. I know them well: the aggressive individualism, the egoism, the touchiness, the liability to resentment, even a touch of vindictiveness."^[4] While attending the 1952 World Christian Youth Conference, held in Kottayam in southern India, Hawke was struck by "this enormous sense of irrelevance of religion to the needs of the people" and abandoned his Christian beliefs.^[5] By the time he entered politics he was a self-described agnostic.^[6] Hawke told Andrew Denton in 2008 that his father's Christian faith continued to influence his outlook however: "[My father] said if you believe in the fatherhood of God you must necessarily believe in the brotherhood of man, it follows necessarily and even though I left the church and was not religious, that truth remained with me."^[7]

Hawke was raised in Perth and attended Perth Modern School and completed undergraduate degrees in Law and Arts (Economics) at the University of Western Australia. At age 15, he boasted that he would one day become Prime Minister of Australia.^[8] He joined the Labor Party in 1947, and successfully applied for a Rhodes Scholarship at the end of 1952.^[9][10] In 1953, Hawke went to the University of Oxford to commence a Bachelor of Arts at University College.^[11] He soon found he was covering much the same ground as his Bachelor's degree from Perth, and switched to a Bachelor of Letters, with a thesis on wage-fixing in Australia.^[12] The thesis was successfully presented in January 1956.^[13]

His academic achievements were complemented by setting a new world speed record for beer drinking: he downed 2 1/2 pints - equivalent to a yard of ale - from a sconce pot in eleven seconds as part of a college penalty.^[14][15] In his memoirs, Hawke suggested that this single feat may have contributed to his political success more than any other, by endearing him to a voting population with a strong beer culture.^[13]

In March 1956, Hawke married Hazel Masterson, at Trinity Church, Perth, Western Australia.^[16] In the same year, Hawke accepted a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the area of arbitration law in the law department of the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra.^[13][16] Soon after arrival at ANU, Hawke became the students' representative on the University Council.^[16]

In 1957, Hawke was recommended to the ACTU president Albert Monk for the position of ACTU research officer to replace Harold Souter, who had become ACTU secretary. The recommendation was made by Hawke's mentor at ANU, H.P. Brown, who for a number of years had assisted the ACTU in national wage cases. Hawke decided to abandon his doctoral studies and accept the offer. The Hawke family moved to Melbourne.^[17]

Trade union leader[link]

Not long after Hawke began work at the ACTU, he became responsible for the presentation of its annual case for higher wages to the national wages tribunal, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He was first appointed as the ACTU advocate in 1959. The 1958 case, under advocate R.L Eggleston, had yielded only a five-shilling increase.^[18] The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke.^[19] He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as ACTU advocate, that in 1969 he was encouraged to run for ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union.

He was elected to the presidency of the ACTU in 1969 on a modernising platform, by a narrow margin (399 to 350)^[20] and with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the Communist Party.

Hawke declared publicly that "socialist is not a word I would use to describe myself" and his approach to government was pragmatic. He concerned himself with making improvements to workers' lives from within the traditional institutions of government, rather than to any ideological theory. He opposed the Vietnam war, but was a strong supporter of the US-Australian alliance, and also an emotional supporter of Israel. It was his commitment to the cause of Jewish Refuseniks that led to a planned assassination attempt by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and its Australian operative Munif Mohammed Abou Rish.^[21]

In industrial matters, Hawke continued to demonstrate a preference for and considerable skill at negotiation, and was generally liked and respected by employers as well as the unions he advocated for. As early as 1972 speculation began that he would soon enter Parliament and become Labor leader. But while his career continued successfully, his heavy use of alcohol and his notorious womanising^[22] placed considerable strains on his family life.

In 1973 Hawke became Federal President of the Labor Party. When the Gough Whitlam government was controversially dismissed by the Governor-General in 1975 and the government defeated at the ensuing election, Whitlam initially offered the Labor leadership to Hawke, although it was not within Whitlam's power to decide who would succeed him.^[23] Hawke decided not to enter Parliament at that time, a decision he soon regretted. He was, however, influential in averting national strike action.^[24] The strain of this period took its toll, and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse.

This shock led Hawke to make a sustained and ultimately successful effort to conquer his alcoholism – John Curtin was his inspiration in this as in other things. He was helped in this by his relationship with the writer Blanche d'Alpuget, who in 1982 published an admiring biography of Hawke. His popularity with the public was unaffected, and polling suggested that he was a far more popular politician than either Bill Hayden, the Labor leader since 1977, or the incumbent Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Parliamentarian[link]

Hawke addresses the Labour Day crowd in October 1980

Hawke initially attempted to enter parliament at the 1963 federal election in the seat of Corio and achieved a 3.1 percent swing against the national trend, but fell short.^[25] Later, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the Melbourne seat of Wills at the 1980 election held on 18 October. Immediately upon his entry into Parliament, Hawke was appointed to the Opposition front bench, taking his place as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Employment and Youth.^[26] With the opinion polls indicating that Hawke was 'a certain election winner',^[27] Hayden called a leadership ballot for 16 July 1982. Although Hayden defeated the ambitious Hawke, his five vote victory over the former President of the ACTU was not large enough to dispel doubts in caucus that he could lead the ALP to victory at the next election, due sometime in the forthcoming year.^[28]

Hayden's leadership was further questioned when Labor performed poorly in a December 1982 by-election for the Victorian seat of Flinders, following the resignation of the former Liberal minister, Sir Phillip Lynch. Labor needed a swing of 5.5% to win the seat, but only achieved 3%.^[29] This convinced many doubters within caucus that only Hawke could guarantee a Labor victory at the upcoming election. Labor party power-brokers such as Graham Richardson and Barrie Unsworth now lined up behind Hawke.^[29] More significantly, Hayden's staunch friend and political ally, Labor Senate Leader John Button, eventually became convinced that Hawke's chances of victory were greater than Hayden's. Button's influence was crucial in encouraging Hayden's decision to resign less than two months after Labor's lacklustre performance in Flinders.^[30] Hawke's leadership ambitions were realised when Hayden announced his resignation as Labor leader on the morning of 3 February 1983, at a meeting of the shadow ministry in Brisbane. Hawke was named interim leader.^[30] The same day, Fraser, hoping to capitalise on Labor's feuding, and unaware of events that had taken place in Brisbane, called a double dissolution election for 5 March.^[31] He believed he'd caught Labor before it could replace Hayden, and was surprised to find out Hayden had resigned mere hours before the writs were dropped. Hawke was formally elected Hayden's successor five days later. Twenty five days later, Labor won power on a 24-seat swing, ending seven years of conservative rule.

Prime Minister 1983–91[link]

The inaugural days of the Hawke government were distinctly different from those of the Whitlam era. Rather than immediately initiating extensive reform programmes, Hawke announced that Fraser's pre-election concealment of the budget deficit meant that many of Labor's election commitments would have to be deferred.^[32] Hawke managed to persuade the Labor caucus to divide the ministry into two tiers, with only the most important ministers attending regular cabinet meetings. Caucus still selected the full ministry, but allowed Hawke to select which ministers would comprise the 13-strong inner cabinet.^[33] This was to avoid what Hawke viewed as the unwieldy nature of the 27-member Whitlam cabinet. The caucus under Hawke also exhibited a much more formalised system of parliamentary factions, which significantly altered the dynamics of caucus operations.^[33]

A cheque for Ash Wednesday bushfire relief to South Australian Premier John Bannon is presented by Hawke in April 1983.

Hawke used his great authority to carry out a substantial set of policy changes. Accounts from ministers indicate that while Hawke was not usually the driving force for economic reform (that impetus coming from the Treasurer Paul Keating and Industry Minister John Button), he took the role of reaching consensus and providing political guidance on what was electorally feasible and how best to sell it to the public, at which he was highly successful. Hawke proved to be very popular with the Australian electorate and continues to hold the highest historical ACNielsen approval rating.^[34]

Keating and Hawke provided a study in contrasts. Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early.^[35] Hawke's enthusiasms were cigars, horse racing and all forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture, Mahler symphonies, and collecting English Regency and French Empire antiques.^[36] Hawke was consensus-driven; Keating revelled in aggressive debate. Hawke was a lapsed Protestant; Keating was a practising Catholic. Despite their differences, the two formed an effective political partnership.

According to political commentator Paul Kelly, 'the most influential economic decisions of the 1980s were the floating of the Australian Dollar and the deregulation of the financial system'.^[37] Although the Fraser government had played a part in the process of financial deregulation by commissioning the Campbell report^[38] – published in 1981 – opposition from Fraser himself, the National Party and Treasury Secretary John Stone stalled the deregulation process. When the Hawke-Keating Government implemented a comprehensive program of financial deregulation and reform, it 'transformed economics and politics in Australia'.^[37] The Australian economy became significantly more integrated with the global economy.^[37] Both Hawke and Keating have claimed the credit for being the driving force behind the Australian Dollar float.^[39]

Among other reforms, the Hawke Government dismantled the tariff system,^[40] privatised state sector industries, ended subsidisation of loss-making industries, and sold off the state-owned Commonwealth Bank of Australia.^[41] The tax system was reformed, with the introduction of fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax^[42] – a reform strongly opposed by the Liberal Party at the time, but not reversed when they returned to office. Partially offsetting these imposts upon the business community – the 'main loser' from the 1985 Tax Summit, according to Paul Kelly – was the introduction of full dividend imputation, a reform insisted upon by Keating.^[43] Funding for schools was considerably increased, while financial assistance was provided for students to enable them to stay at school longer. Considerable progress was also made in directing assistance “to the most disadvantaged recipients over the whole range of welfare benefits.”^[44]

Hawke benefited greatly from the disarray into which the Liberal opposition fell after the resignation of Fraser. The Liberals were divided between supporters of the dour socially conservative John Howard and the urbane Andrew Peacock. The arch-conservative Premier of Queensland, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, also helped Hawke with his "Joh for Canberra" campaign in 1987, which proved highly damaging for the conservatives. Exploiting these divisions, Hawke led the Labor Party to comfortable election victories in 1984 and 1987.

Hawke's Prime Ministership saw considerable friction between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, who were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke's iconoclasm and willingness to cooperate with business interests. All Labor Prime Ministers have at times engendered the hostility of the organisational wing of the party, but none more so than Hawke, who expressed his willingness to cull Labor's "sacred cows". The Socialist Left faction, as well as prominent Labor figure Barry Jones, offered severe criticism of a number of government decisions. He has also received criticism for his 'confrontationalist style' in siding with the airlines in the 1989 Australian pilots' strike.^[45]

In spite of the criticisms levelled against the Hawke Government, it succeeded in enacting a wide range of social reforms during its time in office.^[46][47] Deflecting arguments that the Hawke Government had failed as a reform government, Neville Wran, John Dawkins, Bill Hayden, and Paul Keating made a number of speeches during the Eighties arguing that the Hawke Government had been a recognisably reformist Labor government, drawing attention to Hawke’s achievements as prime minister during his first four or five years in office. Apart from the reintroduction of Medibank (under the name Medicare), these included a doubling of child care places, the introduction of occupational superannuation, a boost in school retention rates, a focus on young people’s job skills, a doubling of subsidised home care services, the elimination of poverty traps in the welfare system, a 50% increase in public housing funds, an increase in the real value of the old-age pension,^[48] the development of a new youth support program, the re-introduction of six-monthly indexation of single adult unemployment benefits, and significant improvements in social security provisions.^[49] As pointed out by John Dawkins, the proportion of total government outlays allocated to families, the sick, single parents, widows, the handicapped, and veterans had been higher under the Hawke Government than under the Whitlam Government.^[48]

A notable success for which the government's response is given considerable credit was Australia's public health campaign about AIDS.^[50] In the later years of the Hawke government, Aboriginal affairs saw considerable attention, with an investigation of the idea of a treaty between Aborigines and the government, though this idea was overtaken by events, notably including the Mabo court decision.

The Hawke government also made some notable environmental decisions. In its first months in office it stopped the construction of the Franklin Dam, on the Franklin River in Tasmania,^[51] responding to a groundswell of protest about the issue. In 1990, a looming tight election saw a tough political operator, Graham Richardson, appointed Environment Minister, whose task it was to attract second-preference votes from the Australian Democrats and other environmental parties. Richardson claimed this as a major factor in the government's narrow re-election in 1990,^[52] Hawke's last triumph.

Richardson felt that the importance of his contribution to Labor's victory would automatically entitle him to the ministerial portfolio of his choice – Transport and Communications.^[53] He was shocked, however, at what he perceived as Hawke's ingratitude in allocating him Social Security instead. He vowed – in a telephone conversation with Peter Barron,^[32] a former Hawke political staffer – to do 'whatever it takes' to 'get' Hawke.^[54] He immediately transferred his allegiance to Keating and subsequently claimed credit for playing a vital role in Keating's campaign for the leadership as a numbers man.^[55]

Decline and fall[link]

The late 1980s recession and high interest rates saw the government in considerable electoral trouble. Although Keating was the main architect of the government's economic policies, he took advantage of Hawke's declining popularity to plan a leadership challenge. In 1988 Hawke had responded to pressure from Keating to step down by making a secret agreement (the so-called "Kirribilli agreement" or "Kirribilli accord") to resign in favour of Keating some time after winning the 1990 election.^[56] After Keating made a speech to the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery that Hawke considered disloyal, Hawke indicated to Keating that he would renege on the agreement.^[57]

Bob Hawke with then Labor leader Mark Latham unveils a plaque in 2004 to commemorate the centenary of the Chris Watson Labor government in 1904.

Bob Hawke campaigning in support of Kevin Rudd and Labor for the 2007 federal election with Julie Owens MP for Parramatta at a local retail precinct.

In June 1991 Keating responded by resigning from Cabinet and challenging for the Labor Party leadership. Hawke defeated Keating's leadership challenge, but he was clearly a wounded leader.^[58] Hawke had himself sworn in as Treasurer for one day while he decided between the rival claims of Ralph Willis and John Kerin for the job, eventually choosing Kerin, who proved to be unequal to the job.^[59]

Hawke's leadership was further damaged as a consequence of the new Liberal leader, Dr John Hewson, releasing Fightback!, a detailed proposal for sweeping economic change, including a goods and services tax and deep cuts to government spending and personal income tax, in November 1991.^[60] Hawke's response to this challenge was judged to be ineffective,^[61] and a rattled Labor Party turned to Keating. At a second challenge, on 19 December 1991, Keating defeated Hawke in a party-room ballot, 56 votes to 51. Hawke resigned from Parliament on 20 February 1992,^[62] sparking the 1992 Wills by-election, which was won by independent Phil Cleary from a record field of 22 candidates.

Hawke apparently had few regrets, although his bitterness towards Keating surfaced in his memoirs. Hawke now claims to have buried his differences and considers Keating a friend.^[63]

In July 1990, Hawke had overtaken Malcolm Fraser to become Australia's second-longest serving Prime Minister. This record has since been overtaken by John Howard. Hawke remains the Australian Labor Party's longest-serving Prime Minister.

It is also said by a former Tony Blair staffer that UK Labour and Blair learnt from the Hawke government in the 1980s on how to govern when they took power in the UK.^[64]

Life after politics[link]

After politics, Hawke entered the business world with considerable success. Hazel Hawke, who for the sake of the Labor cause had put up with the open secret of his relationship with his biographer Blanche d'Alpuget while he was Prime Minister, divorced him, and shortly afterwards he married d'Alpuget. He had little to do with the Labor Party during Keating's leadership. In fact he often criticised the Keating Government publicly.^[65] After the election of the Howard Liberal government in 1996 he became a close supporter of Opposition Leader Kim Beazley.

Bob Hawke at Parliament House for the national apology to the Stolen Generations.

In the run up to the 2007 election, Hawke (at the age of 78) made a considerable personal effort to support the Australian Labor Party's campaign, making speeches at a large number of campaign office openings across Australia. As well as campaigning against WorkChoices, Hawke also attacked John Howard's record as Treasurer, stating "it was the judgement of every economist and international financial institution that it was the restructuring reforms undertaken by my government with the full cooperation of the trade union movement which created the strength of the Australian economy today".^[66]

In 2009, Hawke helped establish the Centre for Muslim and Non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia. Interfaith dialogue is an important issue for Hawke, who told the Adelaide Review that he is "convinced that one of the great potential dangers confronting the world is the lack of understanding in regard to the Muslim world. Fanatics have misrepresented what Islam is. They give a false impression of the essential nature of Islam."^[67]

In the 2010 election campaign, Hawke leant considerable support to Julia Gillard in the election against Tony Abbott.

In 2011 Hawke publicly supported NSW Premier Kristina Keneally in an election campaign, who was facing almost certain defeat to opposition leader Barry O'Farrell, describing her campaign as "gutsy".^[68]

Honours[link]

Bust of Bob Hawke by political cartoonist, caricaturist and sculptor Peter Nicholson located in the Prime Ministers Avenue in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

Hawke was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1979.^[69]

In late 2008, he was made Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, the highest Papua New Guinean honour available to non-Papua New Guinean citizens, entitling him to be referred to as "Chief". In a letter to Bob Hawke, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare informed him that he was being honoured for his "support for Papua New Guinea [...] from the time you assisted in the development of our trade union movement, and basic workplace conditions, to the strong support you gave us during your term as Prime Minister of Australia".^[70]

In August 2009 Bob Hawke became just the third person to be awarded life membership of the Australian Labor Party.^[71]

Bob Hawke has received the following honours from academic institutions:^[72][73]

• Honorary Fellow – University College, Oxford
• Honorary Doctor of Letters – University of Western Australia
• Honorary Doctor of Civil Law – Oxford University
• Honorary Doctor of Humanities – Rikkyo University
• other honorary doctoral degrees from Nanjing University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of New South Wales, and the University of South Australia
• The University of South Australia named the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library in his honour.

Television film[link]

A television film titled Hawke detailing his political career aired on the Ten Network in Australia on 18 July 2010, with Richard Roxburgh playing the title character. Rachael Blake and Felix Williamson portrayed Hazel Hawke and Paul Keating respectively. Patrick Brammall starred as then Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazley.^[74]

See also[link]

• First Hawke Ministry
• Second Hawke Ministry
• Third Hawke Ministry
• Fourth Hawke Ministry
• The Accord

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Anson, Stan (1991). Hawke: An Emotional Life. Macphee Gribble. ISBN 0-86914-279-8, 0869141961. 
• Blewett, Neal (2000), 'Robert James Lee Hawke,' in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales, pages 380-407. ISBN 1-86436-756-3
• Bramston, Troy and Ryan, Susan (2003). The Hawke Government : A Critical Retrospective. Pluto. ISBN 1-86403-264-2. 
• d'Alpuget, Blanche (1982). Robert J Hawke. Schwartz. ISBN 0-86753-001-4. 
• Davidson, Graham; Hirst, John; MacIntyre, Stuart (1998). The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553597-9. 
• Edwards, John (1996). Keating, The Inside Story. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-026601-1. 
• Hawke, Bob (1994). The Hawke Memoirs. Heinemann. ISBN 0-85561-502-8. 
• Hurst, John (1983). Hawke PM. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-14806-6. 
• Jaensch, Dean (1989). The Hawke-Keating Hijack. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-04-370192-2. 
• Kelly, Paul (1992). The End of Certainty: The story of the 1980s. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-227-6. 
• Mills, Stephen (1993). The Hawke Years. Viking. ISBN 0-670-84563-9. 
• Richardson, Graham (1994). Whatever It Takes. Bantam. ISBN 1-86359-332-2. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bob Hawke

• Hawke Swoops into Power – Time 14/3/1983
• Robert Hawke – Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
• Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
• Player profile: Bob Hawke from CricketArchive
• Video of Hawke campaigning for McKew in Bennellong in late 2007
• Video of Hawke campaigning for an Australian republic
• Video of Norman Gunston, Gough Whitlam, Bill Hayden and Bob Hawke at 'The Dismissal'

The Honourable John Howard OM AC SSI
25th Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007
In office 11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir William Deane Peter Hollingworth Michael Jeffery
Deputy	Tim Fischer John Anderson Mark Vaile
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Kevin Rudd
29th Treasurer of Australia
In office 19 November 1977 – 11 March 1983
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser
Preceded by	Phillip Lynch
Succeeded by	Paul Keating
22nd Leader of the Opposition
In office 5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989
Deputy	Neil Brown Andrew Peacock
Preceded by	Andrew Peacock
Succeeded by	Andrew Peacock
In office 30 January 1995 – 11 March 1996
Deputy	Peter Costello
Preceded by	Alexander Downer
Succeeded by	Kim Beazley
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bennelong
In office 18 May 1974 – 24 November 2007
Preceded by	John Cramer
Succeeded by	Maxine McKew
Personal details
Born	(1939-07-26) 26 July 1939 (age 72) Earlwood, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Liberal Party
Other political affiliations	Coalition
Spouse(s)	Janette Parker
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Signature

John Winston Howard, OM, AC, SSI, (born 26 July 1939) 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.

Howard was a member of the House of Representatives from 1974 to 2007, representing the Division of Bennelong, New South Wales. He served as Treasurer in the Fraser government of from 1977 to 1983. He was Leader of the Liberal Party and Coalition Opposition from 1985 to 1989, which included the 1987 federal election against Bob Hawke. He was re-elected as Leader of the Opposition in 1995.

Howard led the Liberal-National coalition to victory at the 1996 federal election, defeating Paul Keating's Labor government and ending a record 13 years of Coalition opposition. The Howard Government was re-elected at the 1998, 2001 and 2004 elections, presiding over a period of strong economic growth and prosperity.^[1] Major issues for the Howard Government included taxation, industrial relations, immigration, the Iraq war, and Aboriginal relations. Howard's coalition government was defeated at the 2007 election by the Labor Party led by Kevin Rudd. Howard also lost his own parliamentary seat at the election; he was the second Australian Prime Minister, after Stanley Bruce in 1929, to do so.

Early life[link]

John Howard as a boy

John Howard is the fourth son of Mona (née Kell) and Lyall Howard. His parents were married in 1925. His eldest brother Stanley was born in 1926, followed by Walter in 1929, and Robert (Bob) in 1936. Lyall Howard was an admirer of Winston Churchill,^[2] and a sympathiser with the New Guard.^[3]

Howard grew up in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood in a Methodist family.^[4] His mother had been an office worker until her marriage. His father and his paternal grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of the First AIF in World War I. They also ran two Dulwich Hill petrol stations where John Howard worked as a boy.^[5] Lyall Howard died in 1955 when John was sixteen, leaving his mother to take care of John^[6] (or "Jack" as he was also known).^[7]

Howard suffered a hearing impairment in his youth, leaving him with a slight speech impediment,^[8] and he continues to wear a hearing aid. It also influenced him in subtle ways, limiting his early academic performance; encouraging a reliance on an excellent memory; and in his mind ruling out becoming a barrister as a likely career.^[9]

Howard attended the publicly funded state schools Earlwood Primary School and Canterbury Boys' High School.^[7] Howard won a citizenship prize in his final year at Earlwood (presented by local politician Eric Willis), and subsequently represented his secondary school at debating as well as cricket and rugby.^[10] Cricket remained a life-long hobby.^[4] In his final year at school he took part in a radio show hosted by Jack Davey, Give It a Go broadcast on the commercial radio station, 2GB, and a recording of the show survives.^[11] After gaining his Leaving Certificate, he studied law at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1961,^[7] and subsequently practising as a solicitor for twelve years.^[12]

Howard married fellow Liberal Party member Janette Parker in 1971, with whom he had three children: Melanie (1974), Tim (1977) and Richard (1980).^[13]

Early political career[link]

Howard joined the Liberal Party in 1957. He held office in the New South Wales Liberal Party on the State Executive and served as President of the Young Liberals (1962–64), the party youth organisation.^[14] Howard supported Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, although has since said there were "aspects of it that could have been handled and explained differently".^[15]

At the 1963 federal election, Howard acted as campaign manager in his local seat of Parkes for the successful candidacy of Tom Hughes who defeated the 20 year Labor incumbent.

In 1967 with the support of party power brokers, John Carrick and Eric Willis, he was endorsed as candidate for the marginal suburban state seat of Drummoyne, held by ALP member Reg Coady. Howard's mother sold the family home in Earlwood and rented a house with him at Five Dock, a suburb within the electorate. At the election in February 1968, in which the incumbent state Liberal government was returned to office, Howard narrowly lost to Coady, despite campaigning vigorously.^[16] Howard and his mother subsequently returned to Earlwood, moving to a house on the same street where he grew up.

At the 1974 federal election, Howard successfully contested the Sydney suburban seat of Bennelong and became a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives during the Gough Whitlam-led Labor Government. Howard backed Malcolm Fraser for the leadership of the Liberal Party against Billy Snedden following the 1974 election.^[17] When Fraser won office in December 1975, Howard was appointed Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, a position in which he served until 1977.^[12] At this stage, he followed the protectionist and pro-regulation stance of Fraser and the Liberal Party.^[18]

Federal Treasurer (1977–1983)[link]

In December 1977, at the age of 38, Howard was appointed Treasurer.^[12] During his five years in the position, he became an adherent of free-market economics,^[19] which was challenging economic orthodoxies in place for most of the century.^[20] He came to favour tax reform including broad-based taxation (later the GST), a freer industrial system including the dismantling of the centralised wage-fixing system, the abolition of compulsory trade unionism, privatisation and deregulation.^[4]

In 1978, the Fraser government instigated a committee of inquiry, the Campbell Committee, to investigate financial system reforms. The impetus for the commission came, not from Howard, but from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.^[21] Howard supported the Campbell report, but adopted an incremental approach with Cabinet, as there was wide opposition to deregulation within the government and the treasury.^[21][22] The process of reform began before the committee reported 2½ years later, with the introduction of the tender system for the sale of Treasury notes in 1979, and Treasury bonds in 1982. Ian Macfarlane (Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, 1996–2006) described these reforms as "second only in importance to the float of the Australian dollar in 1983."^[23] In 1981 he proposed a broad-based indirect tax with compensatory cuts in personal rates; however, cabinet rejected it citing both inflationary and political reasons.^[24] After the free-marketeers or "drys" of the Liberals challenged the protectionist policies of Minister for Industry and Commerce Phillip Lynch, they shifted their loyalties to Howard. Following an unsuccessful leadership challenge by Andrew Peacock to unseat Fraser as prime minister, Howard was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in April 1982. His election depended largely on the support of the "drys", and he became the champion of the growing free-market lobby in the party.^[25]

Fraser's negotiations with the ACTU saw him lose control of a wages explosion in 1982 just as the mining boom had ended. The economic crises of the early 1980s brought Howard into conflict with the economically conservative Fraser. As the economy headed towards the worst recession since the 1930s, Keynesian Fraser pushed an expansionary fiscal position much to Howard's and Treasury's horror. With his authority as treasurer being flouted, Howard considered resigning in July 1982, but, after discussions with his wife and senior advisor John Hewson (Liberal Party leader himself from 1990 to 1994), he decided to "tough it out".^[20] The 1982 wages explosion—wages rose 16 per cent across the country—resulted in stagflation; unemployment touched double-digits and inflation peaked at 12.5% (official interest rates peaked at 21%).^[26]

The Fraser Government with Howard as Treasurer lost the 1983 election to the Labor Party led by Bob Hawke. Over the course of the 1980s, the Liberal party came to accept the free-market policies that Fraser had resisted and Howard had espoused; namely low protection, decentralisation of wage fixation, financial deregulation, a broadly-based indirect tax, and the rejection of counter-cyclical fiscal policy.^[27]

Opposition years (1983–1996)[link]

Following the 1983 defeat of the Fraser government and Fraser's subsequent resignation from parliament, Howard contested the Liberal leadership but was defeated by Andrew Peacock. Remaining Deputy Leader of the parliamentary party, Howard became Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party were defeated by Hawke and Labor at the 1984 election. In 1985, as Labor's position in opinion polls improved, Peacock's popularity sank, and Howard's profile rose, leadership speculation persisted. Peacock said he would no longer accept Howard as deputy unless he offered assurances that he would not challenge for the leadership. Following Howard's refusal to offer such an assurance, Peacock sought, in September 1985, to replace him with John Moore as Deputy Leader.^[28] The party room re-elected Howard as Deputy on 5 September (38 votes to 31), and, believing his position untenable, Peacock immediately resigned the leadership. With Peacock not contesting the ensuing Liberal Party leadership ballot, Howard defeated Jim Carlton 57 votes to 6, and became Leader of the Opposition.^[29][30]

Leader of the opposition and new economic policy

Howard was in effect the Liberal party's first pro-market leader in the conservative coalition and spent the next two years working to revise Liberal policy away from that of Fraser's.^[31] In his own words he was an "economic radical" and a social conservative.^[32] Referring to the pro-market liberalism of the 1980s, Howard, famously said in July 1986 that "The times will suit me".^[33] That year the economy was seen to be in crisis with a 40% devaluation of the Australian dollar, a marked increase in the current account deficit and the loss of the Federal Government's triple A rating.^[33] In response to the economic circumstances, Howard persistently attacked the Labor government and offered his free-market reform agenda.^[33] Despite the economic news, support for the Labor Party and Hawke strengthened in 1985 and 1986. Howard's approval ratings dropped in the face of infighting between Howard and Peacock supporters, a "public manifestation of disunity" over policy positions, and questions over Howard's leadership.^[34]

To capitalise on Coalition disunity, Hawke called the 1987 election six months early. In addition to the Howard–Peacock rivalry, Queensland National Party criticism of the federal Liberal and National leadership led to a split in the Coalition whereby Nationals ran against Liberals,^[35] and culminated in the "Joh for Canberra" campaign. Keating successfully campaigned against John Howard's proposed tax changes forcing Howard to admit a double-counting in the proposal,^[36] and emphasising to the electorate that the package would mean at that stage undisclosed cuts to government services. The Hawke Government was re-elected with an increased majority.

Howard's social agenda

In his social agenda, Howard promoted the traditional family and was antipathetic to the promotion of multiculturalism at the expense of a shared Australian identity.^[37] The immigration policy, One Australia, outlined a vision of "one nation and one future" and opposed multiculturalism.^[32] In a radio interview discussing multiculturalism Howard suggested that to support "social cohesion" the rate of Asian immigration be "slowed down a little".^[38] The comments divided opinion within the Coalition, and undermined Howard's standing amongst Liberal party figures including federal and state Ministers, intellectual opinion makers, business leaders, and within the Asia Pacific. Prime Minister Hawke moved a motion to affirm that race or ethnicity would not be used as immigrant selection criteria to which three Liberal MPs crossed the floor and two abstained. Many Liberals later nominated the issue as instrumental in Howard subsequently losing the leadership in 1989.^[39]

In line with "One Australia's" rejection of Aboriginal land rights, Howard said the idea of an Aboriginal treaty was "repugnant to the ideals of One Australia"^[32] and commented "I don't think it is wrong, racist, immoral or anything, for a country to say 'we will decide what the cultural identity and the cultural destiny of this country will be and nobody else."^[40]

Loss of the leadership

As the country's economic position worsened in 1989, public opinion moved away from Labor, but Howard was unable to translate this into a firm opinion poll lead for himself and the Coalition.^[41] In February, Liberal Party president and prominent businessman, John Elliott, said confidentially to Andrew Peacock that he would support him in a leadership challenge against Howard.^[36] Following months of plotting by Elliot, Peacock and supporters, in May a surprise leadership coup was launched, ousting Howard as Liberal leader. When asked that day whether he could become Liberal leader again, Howard famously likened it to "Lazarus with a triple bypass".^[42] The loss of the Liberal Party leadership to Peacock deeply affected Howard, who admitted he would occasionally drink too much.^[43] Declining Peacock's offer of Shadow Education, Howard went to the backbench and a new period of party disunity ensued. Howard served as Shadow Minister for Industry, Technology and Communications, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on the Public Service, Chairman of the Manpower and Labour Market Reform Group, Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Manager of Opposition Business in the House.

Following the Coalition's 1990 election loss, Peacock was replaced with former Howard staffer Dr. John Hewson. Howard was a supporter of Hewson's economic program, with a Goods and Services Tax (GST) as its centrepiece. After Hewson lost the "unloseable" 1993 election to Paul Keating, Howard unsuccessfully challenged Hewson for the leadership. In 1994, he was again passed over for the leadership, which went to Alexander Downer. In a 7 January 1995 newspaper article (and in 2002 as Prime Minister), Howard recanted his 1988 remarks on curbing Asian immigration.^[44][45]

Opposition leader again

In January 1995, leaked internal Liberal Party polling showed that with gaffe-prone Downer as leader, the Coalition had slim chance of holding its marginal seats in the next election, let alone of winning government. Media speculation of a leadership spill ended when, on 26 January 1995, Downer resigned as Liberal Leader and Howard was elected unopposed to replace him.^[45] The Coalition subsequently opened a large lead over Labor in most opinion polls, and Howard overtook his old nemesis Paul Keating as preferred Prime Minister.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of 1993, Howard revised his earlier statements against Medicare and Asian immigration, describing Australia as "a unique intersection between Europe, North America and Asia".^[15][44] This allowed Howard to focus on the economy and memory of the early 1990s recession, and on the longevity of the Labor government, which in 1996 had been in power for 13 years.

Prime minister[link]

John Howard in the United States in 1997

Election win and first term[link]

By the time the writs were dropped for the 1996 election, the Coalition had been well ahead of Labor in opinion polls for over a year. The consensus of most opinion polls was that Howard would be the next Prime Minister.

With the support of many traditionally Labor voters—dubbed "Howard battlers"—Howard and the Liberal-National Coalition swept to power on the back of a 29-seat swing. This was the second-worst defeat of an incumbent government since Federation. With a 45-seat majority—the second-biggest majority in Australian history (behind only Fraser's 55-seat majority in 1975)--Howard came into office in a strong position. By this time, as he put it, he had "very clear views on where I wanted to take the country".^[46] At the age of 56, he was sworn in as Prime Minister on 11 March 1996, ending a record 13 years of Coalition opposition.^[12] Howard departed from tradition and made his primary residence Kirribilli House in Sydney rather than The Lodge in Canberra.^[47]

Early in the term Howard had championed significant new restrictions on gun ownership following the Port Arthur massacre in which 35 people had been shot dead. Achieving agreement in the face of immense opposition from within the Coalition and some State governments, was credited with significantly elevating John Howard’s stature as Prime Minister despite a backlash from core Coalition rural constituents.^[48]

Howard's initial silence on the views of Pauline Hanson—a disendorsed Liberal Party candidate and later independent MP—was criticised in the press as an endorsement of her views.^[49] Howard said that she was entitled to express her opinion, that many others would share it, and that to denounce her would "elevate it".^[50] Howard repudiated her views seven months after Hanson's controversial maiden parliamentary speech.^[49]

Following the Wik Decision of the High Court in 1996, John Howard's government moved swiftly to legislate limitations on its possible implications through the so-called Ten-Point Plan.

John Howard and US Secretary of Defense William Cohen in 1997

From 1997, Howard spear-headed the Coalition push to introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) at the 1998 election. Before winning the Prime Ministership, Howard said that he considered the Coalition's defeat in 1993 to be a rejection of the GST, and as a result it would "never ever" be part of Coalition policy.^[51] A long held conviction of Howard’s, his tax reform package was credited with "breaking the circuit" of party morale—boosting his confidence and direction, which had appeared to wane early in the Government’s second term.^[52] The 1998 election was dubbed a "referendum on the GST", and the tax changes—including the GST—were implemented in the government's second term after amendments to the legislation were negotiated with the Australian Democrats to ensure its passage through the Senate.

Through much of its first term, opinion polling was disappointing for the government and its members at times feared being a "one-term wonder".^[53] The popularity of Pauline Hanson, and the new restrictions on gun ownership drew many traditionally Coalition voters away from the Howard government. Also unpopular with voters were large spending cuts aimed at eliminating the budget deficit (and Howard's distinction between "core" and "non-core" election promises when cutting spending commitments), industrial changes and the 1998 waterfront dispute, the partial sale of government telecommunications company Telstra, and the Government's commitment to a GST.

Howard called a snap election for October 1998, three months sooner than required. The Coalition actually lost the national two-party preferred vote to Labor, suffering a 14-seat swing. However, the uneven nature of the swing allowed Howard to win a second term in government, with a considerably reduced majority (from 45 seats to 12). Howard himself finished just short of a majority on the first count in his own seat, and was only assured of reelection on the ninth count. He ultimately finished with a fairly comfortable 56 percent of the two-party preferred vote.

Second term[link]

In 1998, Howard convened a Constitutional Convention which decided in principle that Australia should become a Republic. At the convention Howard confirmed himself as a monarchist, and said that of the Republican options, he preferred the minimalist model. Howard outlined his support for retaining the status quo on the basis that it had provided a long period of stability and whilst he said there was no question that Australia was a fully independent nation, he believed that the "separation of the ceremonial and executive functions of government" and the presence of a neutral "defender of constitutional integrity" was an advantage in government and that no republican model would be as effective in providing such an outcome as the Australian constitutional monarchy.^[54] Despite opinion polls suggesting Australians favoured a republic, a 1999 referendum rejected the model chosen by the convention.

Australian peacekeepers and East Timorese civilians in Dili during 2000

Although new Indonesian President B.J. Habibie had some months earlier agreed to grant special autonomy to Indonesian-occupied East Timor, his subsequent snap decision for a referendum on the territory's independence was triggered by a Howard and Downer orchestrated shift in Australian policy. In September 1999, Howard organised an Australian-led international peace-keeping force to East Timor (INTERFET), after pro-Indonesia militia launched a violent "scorched-earth" campaign in retaliation to the referendum's overwhelming vote in favour of independence. The successful mission was widely supported by Australian voters, but the government was criticised^[who?] for "foreign policy failure" following the violence and collapse of diplomatic relations with Indonesia. By Howard's fourth term, relations with Indonesia had recovered to include counter-terrorism cooperation and Australia's $1bn Boxing Day Tsunami relief efforts, and were assisted by good relations between Howard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.^[55][56]

Throughout his prime-ministership, Howard was resolute in his refusal to provide a parliamentary "apology" to Indigenous Australians as recommended by the 1997 “Bringing Them Home” Report. Howard argued this was inappropriate, because "Australians of this generation should not be required to accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies."^[57] Howard did offer this personal apology before the release of the Report: "I feel deep sorrow for those of my fellow Australians who suffered injustices under the practices of past generations towards indigenous people. Equally, I am sorry for the hurt and trauma many here today may continue to feel, as a consequence of these practices”.^[58]

In 1999 Howard negotiated a "Motion of Reconciliation" with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway. Eschewing use of the word "sorry", the motion recognised mistreatment of Aborigines as the "most blemished chapter" in Australia's history; offered "deep and sincere regret" for past injustices.^[59] Following his 2007 loss of the Prime Ministership, Howard was the only living former Prime Minister who declined to attend the February 2008 apology made by Kevin Rudd with bi-partisan support.^[60]

Howard did not commit to serving a full term if he won the next election; on his 61st birthday in July 2000 he said he would consider the question of retirement when he turned 64.^[61] 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.^[62] In the first half of 2001, rising petrol prices, voter enmity over the implementation of the GST, a spike in inflation and economic slowdown led to bad opinion polls and predictions the Government would lose office in the election later that year.^[63] With Howard telling Cabinet he would not be "sacrificed on the pyre of ideological purity", the government announced a series of policy reversals and softenings which boosted the government's fortunes, as did news that the economy had avoided recession. Following the Liberal Party win at the Aston by-election, Howard said that the Coalition was "back in the game".^[63] The government's position on "border protection", in particular the Tampa affair where Howard refused the landing of asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian freighter, consolidated the improving polls for the government, as did the 11 September 2001 attacks.^[64] Howard led the government to victory in the 2001 federal election with an increased majority.^[65]

Third term[link]

Howard with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2007 APEC Summit

Howard had first met US President George W. Bush in the days before the 11 September terrorist attacks and was in Washington the morning of the attacks.^[66] In response to the attacks, Howard invoked the ANZUS Treaty and said that the invocation of the treaty "demonstrates Australia's steadfast commitment to work with the United States.” In October, he committed Australian military personnel to the war in Afghanistan. Howard developed a strong personal relationship with the president,^[67] and they shared often similar ideological positions – including on the role of the United States in world affairs and their approach to the "War on Terror". In May 2003, Howard made an overnight stay at Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch in Texas, after which Bush said that Howard "...is not only a man of steel, he's showed the world he's a man of heart."^[68]

Howard responded to the 2002 Bali bombing, in which 88 Australian citizens were killed, by calling on Australians to "wrap their arms around the people of Indonesia" and said that, while affected, Australia remained "strong and free and open and tolerant".^[69] Howard re-dedicated his government to the "War on Terror", saying the Bali bombing was proof that no country was "immune" to the effects of terrorism.

In March 2003, Australia joined the US-led "Multinational force in Iraq" in sending 2,000 troops and naval units to support in the invasion of Iraq. Howard said that the invasion to "disarm Iraq...is right, it is lawful, and it is in Australia’s national interest." He later said that the decision to go into Iraq was the most difficult he made as Prime Minister.^[70] In response to the Australian participation in the invasion, there were large protests in Australian cities during March 2003, and Prime Minister Howard was heckled from the public gallery of Parliament House.^[71] While opinion polls showed that opposition to the war without UN backing was between 48 and 92 per cent,^[72] Howard remained preferred prime-minister over opposition leader, Simon Crean, and his approval dropped compared to before the war.^[73][74]