page_title: History of Australia
section_title: Hawke and Keating: 1983–1996
hierarchical_section_title: History of Australia / Modern Australia emerging 1960s / Hawke and Keating: 1983–1996
caption_attribution_description: English: Meeting between General Secretary Gorbachev and Prime Minister Hawke during the 1987 Prime Ministerial visit to the Soviet Union.Русский: Михаил Горбачев и премьер-министр Хоук, визит премьер-министра в СССР, 1987 г.
context_page_description: The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia. Aboriginal Australians first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago, and penetrated to all parts of the continent, from the rainforests in the north, the deserts of the centre, and the sub-Antarctic islands of Tasmania and Bass Strait. The artistic, musical and spiritual traditions they established are among the longest surviving such traditions in human history.
  The first Torres Strait Islanders - ethnically and culturally distinct from Aboriginal Australians - arrived from what is now Papua New Guinea around 2,500 years ago, and settled in the islands of the Torres Strait and the Cape York Peninsula forming the northern tip of the Australian landmass.
  The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was in 1606 by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, what is now called Torres Strait and associated islands. Twenty-nine other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century and named the continent New Holland.
context_section_description: Bob Hawke, a less polarising Labor leader than Whitlam, defeated Fraser at the 1983 Election. Hawke retained office until a 1991 Labor Party spill saw him replaced by Paul Keating.
  The new government stopped the Franklin Dam project via the High Court of Australia. Hawke, together with treasurer Paul Keating broke with the Keynesian economics that had traditionally been favoured by the Labor party. Instead they sought a more efficient economy and undertook micro-economic and industrial relations reform designed to increase efficiency and competitiveness. Kelly concludes that, "In the 1980s both Labor and non-Labor underwent internal philosophical revolutions to support a new set of ideas—faith in markets, deregulation, a reduced role for government, low protection and the creation of a new cooperative enterprise culture."
  The Australia Act 1986 eliminated the last vestiges of British legal authority at the Federal level. The last state to remove recourse to British courts, Queensland, did not do so until 1988.
  The Australian Bicentenary was celebrated in 1988 along with the opening of a new Parliament House in Canberra.
  Hawke and Keating stressed the positive role Australia could play as an activist and independent "middle power". A supporter of the US alliance, Hawke committed Australian naval forces to the Gulf War, following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. After four successful elections, but amid a deteriorating Australian economy and rising unemployment, the intense rivalry between Hawke and Keating led the Labor Party to replace Hawke as leader and Paul Keating became Prime Minister in 1991.
  During his time in office, Keating emphasised links to the Asia Pacific region, co-operating closely with the Indonesian President, Suharto, and campaigned to increase the role of APEC as a major forum for economic co-operation. Keating was active in indigenous affairs and the High Court of Australia's historic Mabo decision in 1992 required a legislative response to recognition of Indigenous title to land, culminating in the Native Title Act 1993 and the Land Fund Act 1994. In 1993, Keating established a Republic Advisory Committee, to examine options for Australia becoming a republic.
  The Monarchy in Australia survived the republic debate which was brought to a head at the close of the 20th century, with the successor Howard Government holding a 1998 Constitutional Convention to discuss the change. A subsequent referendum to establish a republic failed to achieve the required dual majorities, with the No case triumphant winning with 54.87 per cent of the popular vote and 6–0 in the state count.
  Hawke and Keating abandoned traditional Labor support for tariffs to protect industry and jobs. They moved to deregulate Australia's financial system and 'floated' the Australian dollar. After the initial failure of the Whitlam model and partial dismantling under Fraser, Hawke re-established a new, universal system of health insurance called Medicare.
  Unemployment reached 11.4 per cent in 1992—the highest since the Great Depression in Australia. The Liberal-National Opposition had proposed an ambitious plan of economic reform to take to the 1993 Election, including the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax. Keating shuffled treasurers, campaigned strongly against the tax, and won the 1993 Election.
  With foreign debt, interest rates and unemployment still high, and after a series of ministerial resignations, Keating lost the 1996 Election to the Liberals' John Howard.
caption: Bob Hawke with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987. Hawke went on to become the longest-serving Labor Prime Minister.
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