6th Labor Government: 1985 - 1995

T

he **6th Labor Government** was formed on the 23rd of March 1985 in the Kingdom of Dissau with Astryd Rigby as Prime Minister. Although Labor was not expected to win an outright majority in the 1985 Dissauian General Election, they did so anyway, achieving a slim majority. Previous Prime Minister, Astryd Rigby (1961 - 68, 1970 - 77), regained her place as Prime Minister for a third time, becoming the first and only Prime Minister to serve three times. Her 3rd premiership, much like her previous premierships, was welcomed by the public and her party. Rigby set out her plan to modernise her party and ditch socialism, instead change her party into a social democratic party. Rigby won the 1986 Dissauian General Election with an increased majority and passed the Electoral System Act 1987 that changed the electoral system in the party from First Past the Post to Mixed-Member Proportional Representation. This change led to a massive difference s the third parties went from 20 seats in the 1987 Dissauian General Election to 55 seats in the 1988 Dissauian General Election. National Moderate criticized the change and said that it would threaten both the Labor Party and the National Moderate Party. Labor formed a coalition with Free Liberal after the results of the election and continued this coalition after the results of the 1989 Dissauian General Election too. In the 1991 Dissauian General Election, Rigby almost led her party to an outright majority but barely missed it. Rigby decided to form a majority with the Greens and once again the 1992 Dissauian General Election. Rigby started to lose popularity in the early and mostly mid 90s. Her unpopularity led to a rise cabinet rebellions and soon ministers were resining in 1994 and 1995 at an alarming rate. This event became know as the 1994 - 1995 Dissauian Government Crisis. Rigby decided to call and early election 1995 to get public support and properly reshuffle her cabeint but Rigby's government failed to win the 1995 Dissauian General Election and suffered a devastating defeat. The 6th Labor Government officially dissolved on the 17th of September 1995.

## Significant Policies

### Domestic Policies

#### Immigration & Citizenship

Rigby's government passed the **Immigration & Nationality Act 1988** that reallowed taking in 50% of all illegal immigrants, revamped citizenship by allowing you to become a citizen if you've lived in the country for four years, are 18 or over, and complete the citizenship test with 60% accuracy. A later part of the act included increasing the government's taking of more immigrants and prioritizing high-skilled workers, refugees, and asylum seekers.

#### Economy

The **Payment of Goods Tax 1987** introduced a tax for buying regular goods that are considered non-essential such as sweets, a sofa, coffee beans, etc. The act was generally supported by most of parliament to the surprise of Labor. The **Import and Export Tariffs Act 1990** increased and retaxed many tariffs in the country. The government generally decreased income and corporation tax in the country

#### Social Policy

Rigby wanted to continue her progressive agenda during her 3rd premiership as Prime Minister, coming up with a proposal to introduce several laws an initiatives to tackle the issue of social policy in the country.

Rigby started her premiership off with passing the **Workplace & Employment Equality Act 1985** that set a quota for the number of minorities or women that should be working at that company/business. The quota usually revolved around 15% - 25% but for many jobs it could be as high as 40%. Other parts of the act included allowing people to complain about sexual assaults or indecent behaviour in the workplace to the government. The act was unpopular among National Moderate and Christian Conservative MPs but divided Free Liberal. The **Abortions Act 1986** reallowed abortions in the country under any circumstance up to the 16th week. Rigby pushed for the passing of the **Sexual Consent Equality Act 1986** that would equalise the age of consent for gay people. The bill eventually passed with a slim majority and was opposed by National Moderate and Christian Conservative for about a decade. The **Public Displays Act 1987** allowed gay people to show their support of the LGBTQ+ community and engage in romantic activities in public. The **Trains Reformation Act 1988** reformed the train system by giving the government control of certain parts of the railway sector. The act barred companies from shutting down railways in rural areas and gave the control of ticket prices to the government. The act divided Labor over the issue of renationalizing the railways and led to a major debate revolving around the issue. It was eventually decided in the 1988 Labor Party Conference that Labor would no longer support the nationalization of the railways. The **Marriages Act 1989** lowered the age of marriage to allow 16 and 17 year-olds to get married if they wish to.

The **Alcohol Act 1990** lowered the age of purchasing and consuming alcohol down from 18 to 17 and allowed 16-year-olds to purchase and consume alcohol inside a public venue such as a bar, restaurant, club, etc. The **Buses & Coaches Act 1991** allowed for private bus companies to be created and operate but continued the National Bus Service as a corporation under the new name of the National Buses & Coaches Corporation. The government passed the **Civil Unions Act 1991** in late 1991 that introduced civil unions for gay couples in the country. The act was heavily opposed by the right and concessions with Free Liberal allowed Labor to pass the act. The **Housing Act 1992** revamped state housing be reprioritizing low-income housing, ending Cut-Corner Building, and increasing council control of house building that included giving councils the right to deny private housing building. The Age of Consent Act lowered the age consent for everyone in the country to 16.The **Adoption Act 1995** allowed two gay people to adopt but the second person must register as the stepfather to the child they have adopted. Rigby initially wanted to allow joint adoption for gay people in the country but due to the 1994 - 1995 Government Crisis the rest of Rigby's party were upset with her and unwilling to compromise on giving joint adoption for gay people.

##### Education

The **Tuitions Act 1989** introduced half-paid student tuition fees for all students and full-paid student tuition fees for low-income individuals. Education saw one of the biggest rises of spending ever for the country and the large spending waves led to a massive increase in performance for students. The **Nurseries Act 1990** revamped public nurseries in the country by requiring that future nurseries are attached to or are in the same premise as a primary school. The **Sexual Education Act 1993** outlined the new sex education teaching in both public and private schools. The act created a multitude of new video recordings of sexual education in school. The act changed the stage of education you learned sexual education to 8th Grade, included a more comprehensive view of the subject, and most controversially, required that boys and girls learn sexual education together and that they all learn the opposite sex's sexual education. The **National Curriculum Act 1993** established a national curriculum in the country that focused around being non-biased and inclusive and supportive education. The curriculum was opposed by National Moderate who claimed that "It would prevent free teaching" in private schools. The **Educational Equality Act 1994** required that people with disabilities and less serious mental conditions should receive the same opportunity to become a student at any school as well as better educational needs for those with mental disabilities.

Teaching received a wave of support from the government who oversaw a large incentive for people to become primary and secondary school teachers. The number of fully staffed schools in the country went from 81% in 1985 to 94% in 1995. The Ministry of Education reported that the overall quality of public schools in the country changed from a grading of C- in 1985 to a grading of B in 1995. Private schools generally saw a drop in enrolment and the national grading of private schools finally went under the grading for public schools. Private schools initially had a rating of B+ in 1985 but soon dropped to B- in 1995, showing the government's success in public education.

#### Healthcare

The **National Health Service Act 1991** revamped the National Health Service and reorganised the structure of the it. The act introduced the Health Council that was made up of all members of the newly created Health Districts (at the time there was 12) and gave the council a small amount of power to control their sector of the National Health Service. It also allowed them to directly speak to the Minister of Healthcare about issues that concern them about health in the country. Rigby's government increased spending for the National Health Service and as a result waiting times and effectiveness in the National Health Service dramatically rose.

## History, Elections, & Formation

### 1985 General Election & Formation

Rigby intended to win the 1985 Election by showing off her moderate economic policy and progressive social policy, hoping that this would attract moderates, moderate conservatives, and economically liberal conservatives. With the government beginning to become quite unpopular, this election became obvious of its victor, but many moderate conservatives believed that they could reform the party and attract attention. Rigby's campaign proved successful and her party won 125 out of the 247 seats in Parliament, giving her party a slim majority of +1. Rigby formed the 6th Labor Government on the 23rd of March 1985 and became Prime Minister the same day, making it her third premiership as Prime Minister of Dissau.

### 1986 General Election

Rigby lost her majority quickly after the 1985 Election and was determined to govern with a decently sized majority government. She called the 1986 over a year after the election in 1985 and quickly gained support from the public. Rigby won the election with a small majority of +9 and continued her government with a much needed majority.

### 1988 General Election

The introduction of the Mixed-Member Proportional Representation system in the country changed the outlook for the 1988 Election as for the first time smaller parties showcased that they could possible lead the country. Polling showed that neither Labor or National Moderate would be able to form a government but with a slight favour to Labor. Campaigning among all parties was very high and the actual results of the election were hard to predict. The results of the election gave no party and outright majority but was generally favoured for Labor who received 107 seats over National Moderate's 96 seats. Labor went on to form a majority government with Free Liberal, giving the two parties a majority of 2.

### 1989 General Election

Both Labor and Free Liberal struggled to come to an agreement over the laws that they were legislating so they both agreed to call an election but made agreed that they might still reform their coalition. Labor ended up winning close to a majority and after not being able form a majority with any other party, Free Liberal and Labor reformed their coalition with a much better agreement on policy and legislation.

### 1991 General Election

Although Labor and Free Liberal were very cooperative together in 1989 and the start of 1990, they began to break down in mid 1990 and on the 7th of August 1990, Free Liberal left the coalition and left Labor with a minority government. This led to Rigby and her government failing to pass the legislation that they wanted to pass and it soon became difficult to govern even after support from the Greens. Rigby decided to call an election on the 17th of February 1991 in an attempt to form a majority government with the Greens. The election was expected to be a defeat for left due to the public being annoyed by the constant elections and failure to be stable as a government. This began changing around a couple weeks before the election and support for Labor began growing again. The results of the election led to Labor winning 125 seats and allowing Labor and the Greens, who had won 9 seats, to form a government. The Greens joined the government not long after the results of the election and gave the government a majority of 4 seats.

### 1992 General Election

Labor did not expect to win the 1992 Election and could not control the election from happening due to it being a fixed election. Labor managed to pick themselves up by making large promises and organising her party in an attempt to showcase her government's strength. Labor ended up winning the election once again and continued their coalition with the Greens.

### 1994 - 1995 Dissauian Government Crisis

Rigby's government began breaking down in mid 1994 when Rigby initially attempted to pass a bill that would give gay people the right of joint adoption. Along with a minor scandal involving a Labor MP sexually assaulting another MP and how long the government had been in power, the Labor Government began crippling. Cabinet and resignations and MPs leaving Labor to join other parties begun, leading to the Rigby losing power and support from her own party. The crisis led to a small portion of Labor MPs voting to call an early election in 1995 and with support from the opposition, an early election was called.

### 1995 General Election & Demise

After the 1995 Election was called, campaigning begun in a race to win the election. Because of the current government crisis and the unpopularity of Astryd Rigby, Labor fell very far behind the polls and National Moderate soared in the polls. Rigby ended up losing the election by a large majority and announced her resignation as Prime Minister after the results of the election, unwilling to even attempt to negotiate her way back into government. Rigby admitted defeat and after National Moderate formed a coalition with Christian Conservative, Rigby resigned as Prime Minister and allowed for Amelie Eden to become Prime Minister.