Robert Menzies - Australia's PMs - Australia's Prime Ministers AUSTRALIA'S PRIME MINISTERS Home > Australia's PMs > Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Robert Gordon Menzies was Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister. He held the office twice, from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. Altogether he was Prime Minister for over 18 years – still the record term for an Australian Prime Minister. Prime Minister Robert Menzies escorts Queen Elizabeth II at the State banquet at Parliament House, Canberra on 16 February 1954, with Pattie Menzies and the Duke of Edinburgh following. NAA: A1773, RV490 Born into humble circumstances, Menzies obtained a first-class secondary and university education by winning a series of scholarships. He established himself as one of Australia’s leading constitutional lawyers, then entered the Victorian parliament in 1928. He won a seat in the federal parliament in 1934 and served as Attorney-General and Minister for Industry in the United Australia Party government of Joseph Lyons.

Menzies was Prime Minister when World War II began in 1939. In 1941 he lost the confidence of members of Cabinet and his party and was forced to resign. As an Opposition backbencher during the war years, he helped create the Liberal Party and became Leader of the Opposition in 1946. At the 1949 federal election, he defeated Ben Chifley’s Labor Party and once again became Australia’s Prime Minister. Menzies’ second period as Prime Minister laid the foundations for 22 consecutive years in government for the Liberal–Country Party Coalition. Menzies was often characterised as an extreme monarchist and ‘British to his bootstraps’ (which he was), but as Prime Minister he upgraded Australia’s strong defence alliance with the United States. During his second period in office the ANZUS and SEATO treaties were signed, Australian troops were sent to support US-led forces in Korea, and Australia made its first commitment of combat forces to Vietnam. Menzies retired as Prime Minister and from parliament in 1966.

Knighted in 1963, he was further honoured in 1965 by being appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. Robert Gordon Menzies died on 15 May 1978. Prime Minister, HSIE, Federal government, State and federal government Year 6, NSW | Online Education Home Schooling Skwirk Australia 0 Exams What is a Prime Minister? In Australia, the Prime Minister is the leader of the federal government. As leader of the government the Prime Minister is Australia's national leader. The Prime Minister not only leads the government in making laws for the Australian public but also plays an important role in representing Australia at international conventions. Not all countries have prime ministers. Some countries, including the United States of America, are led by a President. While a President is similar to a Prime Minister, presidents are elected by the voting public of his or her country. A Prime Minister, on the other hand, is the leader of the party that has the most elected members in parliament. A President is both the head of State and the head of government. Countries such as France have both a President and a Prime Minister.

In this case, the President is the head of State and the Prime Minister is the head of government. How an Australian Prime Minister is appointed The Australian Prime Minister is the leader of the party or parties which form the government in the House of Representatives. The Constitution states that the political party with the majority in the House of Representatives will be invited by the Governor-General (representing Australia's head of State, the Queen) to form the government. The Prime Minister is chosen as leader, through a vote by members of his or her parliamentary party. The Prime Minister is then formally appointed (commissioned) by the Governor-General. See image 1 How long can Prime Ministers stay in office? Prime Ministers can stay in power as long as they have the support of their party and while their party has the majority of members in the House of Representatives. Australia's longest serving Prime Minister was Sir Robert Menzies, who in two different periods led the country for more than 18 years. The second longest serving Australian Prime Minister was John Howard. John Howard spent a total of eleven years in office. Australia's shortest serving Prime Minister was Frank Forde. He was commissioned by the Governor-General following the death of John Curtin.

Prime Minister Forde was in office for 8 days in 1945, losing the leadership to his successor Ben Chifley. A Prime Minister who loses party support is effectively forced to resign. If a Prime Minister loses an election, he or she will usually resign as leader of the party. Federal elections must occur, at the maximum, every three years. The roles of the Prime Minister Head Minister The Prime Minister chooses ministers from his or her political party, who are members of either the House of Representatives or the Senate, to form the government. The government is responsible for running the country. See image 2 The Prime Minister and senior ministers make up a group called the Cabinet. The Cabinet's main job is to plan how the country will be run. The Cabinet makes policy (plans for action) and approves new legislation (laws) for presentation to Parliament. The Prime Minister also recommends appointments to the office of Governor-General to the Queen. All ministers are answerable to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. When a minister is absent, the Prime Minister may take over the minister's responsibility, or appoint another minister to do so. The Prime Minister is assisted by a Deputy Prime Minister.

If the Prime Minister is absent, the Deputy Prime Minister may act as the Prime Minister. Head of Cabinet The Prime Minister decides the issues to be considered by Cabinet. The Prime Minister can refer matters to Cabinet. In a Liberal/National Party coalition government, the Governor-General appoints or dismisses ministers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. In a Labor Party government, the Prime Minister needs Caucus approval before recommendations can be made to the Governor-General to appoint or dismiss ministers. Caucus is made up of all Labor parliamentarians. Leader of the government The Prime Minister is the main spokesperson for the party in government. Views expressed by the Prime Minister are seen by the community as the views of the government. The Prime Minister is also the government's main spokesperson in the Parliament. The Prime Minister answers questions from members of parliament and makes statements about government policies. 7.30 Report - 21/12/2004: Howard becomes second-longest serving Prime Minister Howard becomes second-longest serving Prime Minister Reporter: Michael Brissenden MAXINE McKEW: Today, John Howard passed Bob Hawke's record as Prime Minister.

At 8 years, 9 months and 11 days, Mr Howard is now the second longest-serving Australian Prime Minister behind only Liberal icon Sir Robert Menzies. Treasurer Peter Costello put it well when he said that winning four elections puts you in pretty select company, and other colleagues sum up the Prime Minister's longevity by saying that John Howard is a man who always learns from his mistakes. But 2004 is a year for the history books in more ways than one. The October poll far exceeded John Howard's own expectations, with voters giving the coalition control of both Houses of Parliament. As triumphant a year as it was for Mr Howard, the same can't be said for his political opponent, Mark Latham, who limps into 2005 with only a tenuous hold on Labor's leadership. Tonight, political editor Michael Brissenden takes a last look at the year in politics - a year when the hopes of a briefly resurgent Labor Party were dashed against the reality of a strong economy and a very shrewd Prime Minister. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Welcome to the end of another political year, and aren't we all glad to be at this end of it!

Certainly the pollies are. There was an audible sigh of relief as they all staggered off home to their electorates this Christmas. By any accounts, it's been a big 12 months. In politics, almost every year is pretty eventful, but 2004 came at the pointy end of the electoral cycle, and for a number of reasons, 2004 was an even more intense election year than usual. For a start, the formal campaign came towards the end of it - a longer than usual six weeks on the road. But the campaigning was ferocious from the very beginning of the year. And the one moment, the one event that really set the tone for 2004 came in the last weeks of 2003. BOB SECOMBE (ALP RETURNING OFFICER): The result of the ballot was 47 votes for Mark Latham, 45 for Kim Beazley. KELVIN THOMPSON (ALP FRONTBENCHER): Get in, sit down, put on your seat belt and hang on, and I think there will certainly be an element of that with Mark.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And Kelvin Thompson certainly wasn't wrong about that. Mark Latham was a political gamble, and in a sense, this year was all about Mark Latham. (Bob Dylan sings): # Well it ain't no use to sit and wonder why # It will never do somehow # When your rooster crows at the break of dawn # Look out your window and I'll be gone # You're the reason I'm a-travellin' on # But don't think twice, it's alright # MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Mark Latham came to the leadership relatively unknown to the electorate. His task was to sell himself as much as his party's alternative policies, and to do both, he wrapped himself in his own story. His own background became a Labor fable - the boy from Green Valley with a ladder of opportunity, a plain-speaking man in tune with the aspirations of working and middle-class Australians. MARK LATHAM (OPPOSITION LEADER): The Howard Government campaigns on fear; we campaign on opportunity. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And for a while, it looked like it was working - new politics, new rhetoric, led by a new generation.

It had the government on the back foot and Labor even surprising itself and contemplating the possibility of winning for the first time in many years. The new Labor Leader had the other side spooked. Nick Minchin is one of the government's most experienced political operators. NICK MINCHIN (FINANCE MINISTER): At the start of the year, we were nervous. Mr Latham was certainly having a honeymoon. His first three months of this year were very good for him. People forget, we were behind in the polls, people were talking up Mr Latham in a remarkable fashion, and he was getting a very good run. So yeah, no, it's very easy to forget that the year started off with us having to come from behind. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: On the Labor side, even those like Stephen Smith, who initially backed Kim Beazley, had to admit they were surprised at how well things were going. STEPHEN SMITH (LABOR FRONTBENCHER): There was optimism, enthusiasm, there was good morale in the party, in the parliamentary party, and we thought - it was always a big ask to win an election with a new leader, but more importantly, win an election at a time of economic prosperity.

So it was always a big ask, but there were times when we thought we might snatch it. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Mark Latham appeared to be making it up on the run, but it certainly seemed to be working. One of the first of the year's highs - or lows, depending on your point of view - was Mark Latham's attack on parliamentary superannuation. MARK LATHAM: This is the beginning of the end for the parliamentary superannuation scheme. Eventually, under Labor's policy, the scheme will have no members at all. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: This was part of the crash-or-crash-through style of Latham politics, and John Howard was left with no option but to follow. JOHN HOWARD (PRIME MINISTER): I want to announce that the party room has approved Cabinet's decision to legislate immediately to close down the existing Commonwealth Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme to people elected at the next Parliament. NICK MINCHIN: He just made the big splash, and we had no option but to respond to that in the way we did, and I'm glad we did, but I don't think he handled it well.

It was like, you know, that will make him a hero for a week, but boy, he's now paying a big price for that. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Nick Minchin argues the super decision was unpopular in the Labor Party. Well perhaps, but John Howard's backflip to match it was even more unpopular inside the coalition ranks. The move worked well for Latham. His rise in the polls continued unabated. Populist, maybe. But gee, this is politics after all. What the super decision did highlight was Mark Latham's tendency to make decisions on his own without broad consultation within his party, and that more than anything else is what is causing him grief now. But back then, Latham used surprise as a political weapon. It was a tactic that worked for him at times, and it also worked against him. Moments like this - for Mark Latham, this was when it all started to come undone. RADIO HOST: You would hope they would be home by Christmas? MARK LATHAM: Yes, well, if that timetable of mid year is adhered to, then that would be the case.

If a federal election is held this year - say the election was in September, and there was a change of government - we'd be hoping to have them back by Christmas, certainly. ROSS CAMERON (FORMER LIBERAL FRONTBENCHER): Today in the mountains of west Pakistan, Osama bin Laden is stroking his beard and celebrating the advent of Mark Latham. NICK MINCHIN: It was the first time that people in his own ranks really started to worry about the bloke, you know, that he could just go and make a huge decision like that without discussing it with anybody, and it revealed his character. STEPHEN SMITH: What it actually did do was help crystallise the difference between our approach and their approach on Iraq, and throughout the campaign, one of the undercurrent vote-shifters was the government's position on Iraq. So it was one of the things which shifted votes our way. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: It did what? Politics is subjective, and hindsight's a wonderful thing, of course, but it's hard to see how the "troops home by Christmas" pledge actually swung votes to Labor. What it did do is draw a line in the sand in policy terms.

It also angered some Labor insiders and highlighted once again Mark Latham's tendency to go it alone. Clearly, this was not a consensus politician. The "troops home" pledge was a big moment, but it still took a while to bite, even though the war in Iraq was dominating the news and the government was on the defensive. Just the week before, a joint parliamentary committee concluded that it was possible intelligence agencies overstated the case for war and that the government was selective about how it used the intelligence to justify its position. And even the AFP Commissioner, Mick Keelty, seemed to be of the view that the outcome hadn't been all that good for us. MICK KEELTY (FEDERAL POLICE COMMISSIONER): The reality is, if this turns out to be Islamic extremists responsible for this bombing in Spain, it's more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq. ALEXANDER DOWNER (FOREIGN MINISTER): I think he is just expressing a view which reflects a lot of the propaganda we're getting from al Qa'ida. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: In the parliament, Latham pounced.

MARK LATHAM: Here is a man, Mick Keelty, dedicating his working life to stopping al Qa'ida, and he's being compared by the Foreign Minister to their propaganda. A man who's dedicating his working life to protecting the Australian people from al Qa'ida, and he's being compared by the Foreign Minister to their propaganda! You disgrace! You rotten lousy disgrace - to say that about a good man, Mick Keelty! MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The new Labor Leader still appeared to be riding high. The government looked rattled. But something funny was starting to happen out in voter land. Suddenly, the polls started turning. In April, Latham took a 14-point drop in the highly respected Newspoll. SOL LEBOVIC (NEWSPOLL): What it is suggesting to Mark Latham and Labor is that people are listening out there and they want to be impressed with what the new Labor Leader is going to offer, and perhaps in the last fortnight they haven't been as impressed as they were earlier in the piece. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: By June, the talk was all of a possible August election.

The date had yet to be announced, but the politics was getting dirty. The government was spending millions of taxpayers' dollars educating the public about how it was fixing Medicare, for instance. TV ADVERTISEMENT: There's no doubt that Medicare is a vitally important part of Australia's health-care system. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Health, of course, was always perceived as one of Labor's strong suits, and Labor wasn't happy. BOB McMULLAN (SHADOW FINANCE MINISTER): There's a massive abuse of proper process going on. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The government responded with a sustained attack on Labor's rent deal at Centenary House, and it went on for months. Whatever flavour, question time is always the government's stage. But this year, Tony Abbott's Centenary House one-liners were some of the best. TONY ABBOTT (HEALTH MINISTER): Well, Mr Speaker, I do thank the member for Patterson for his question and for reminding the House about the $36 million smash-and-grab raid on the Australian taxpayer mounted by the Australian Labor Party, which makes the Great Train Robbery look like a mere act of shoplifting.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Peter Costello had a few powerful moments, too, and not just in the Parliament. 2004 was the year religion became an important part of the political mix, and the Treasurer seemed to know it was coming. DR DAVID MILLIKEN (UNITING CHURCH MINISTER): What we see at Hillsong is the beginnings of a whole new shift in Australian Christianity. Churches like Hillsong have a lot of money and they have a lot of political power. PETER COSTELLO: We need a return to faith and the values which have made our country strong. The editorial writers may not understand it, but I want to say to you: more lives have been transformed by faith in Christ than have been transformed by the editorial writers. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But high-minded sectional appeals aside, the real policy wins still seemed to be coming from Labor. Mark Latham even managed to box John Howard in on his one really big policy achievement of the year, the free trade agreement with the US, with a complicated amendment about patent law designed to protect cheaper generic drugs. This was a significant victory that allowed Latham to paint himself as both pro FTA and the protector of cheap drugs.

Meanwhile, the government kept pounding away at the one big chink in Labor's resurgence. Mark Latham extolled the virtues of reading to kids and railed against childhood obesity. He challenged the government to follow the Labor lead. These were the tactics of new Labor, but the government was intent on ramming home the sins of old Labor. At the end of August, the Prime Minister fired the starter's gun for an October 9 election, and the message was a simple but devastating one. JOHN HOWARD: This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust. Who do you trust to keep the economy strong and protect family living standards? Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? Who do you trust to lead the fight on Australia's behalf against international terrorism? STEPHEN SMITH: Well, I mean, my analysis of the election is pretty straightforward. It was an old-fashioned, old-style Australian hip-pocket-nerve election, and we got skinned on the economy. One of Mark's great capacities is the capacity to cut through in a communications way, and that's not a skill that you lose.

The story that he was telling, in the end, was overridden by that old-fashioned hip-pocket nerve, and they skinned us on that. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: There has already been a lot said about the election. It's clear 2004 was the most important and the most significant of John Howard's victories. He is now the second-longest-serving Prime Minister in history. But this election delivered him some unexpected opportunities. NICK MINCHIN: I never expected, in my Senate career, to be sitting as a member of a majority in the Senate. I thought it was impossible. I think one of the challenges for us next year is to manage the sense of expectation - in a sense within the business community, on our side of politics - about the consequences of that. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: John Howard has already changed this nation; there is no doubt about that. But the Senate majority now gives him the opportunity to complete the reforms he has been talking about for his entire political life. He says he will proceed cautiously, but he is a politician, after all, and one with a keen eye on his own place in history.

After this election, it is now clear that John Howard will remain as Prime Minister through 2005 at least and that Peter Costello will deliver yet another Budget as Treasurer. But as we end 2004, the future for Mark Latham seems a lot less clear. (Bob Dylan sings): # I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind # You could have done better # But I don't mind # You just kind of wasted my precious time # Don't think twice, it's alright # MAXINE McKEW: What a year! Political editor Michael Brissenden compiled that report. John Howard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! John Howard For other uses, see John Howard (disambiguation) . John Winston Howard Anglican ( Christianity ) John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939 ), an Australian politician, is currently the Prime Minister of Australia . He is the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies . He previously served as Treasurer in Malcolm Fraser 's government from 1977–1983 and was Leader of the Liberal Party from 1985–1989.

Elected again as Leader in 1995, Howard became the 25th Prime Minister of Australia after defeating incumbent Paul Keating in the election of 2 March 1996 . His government has been subsequently re-elected in the elections of 1998 , 2001 and 2004 . After his victory in 2004, his government gained control of both houses of the Parliament from July 2005. Contents 8 External links Early life Howard grew up in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood . His father, Lyell Howard, and his paternal grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of the First AIF in World War I . They later ran a petrol station and mechanical workshop in Dulwich Hill , where John Howard worked as a boy. Lyell Howard died during John's teenage years, leaving his mother to take care of John (or "Jack" as he was known in the family) and his three brothers. Howard suffered from a hearing impairment in his youth, [1] and this has left him with a slight speech impediment, something that he shares with namesake Winston Churchill . Howard attended the publicly funded state schools Earlwood Public School and Canterbury Boys' High School .

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 [2] . After gaining his Leaving Certificate, he studied law at the University of Sydney . Howard joined the Liberal Party in 1957 . Rising politician John Howard as "boy Treasurer" in the Fraser government, 1977 Howard practised for some years as a solicitor and simultaneously held office in the New South Wales Liberal Party on the State Executive and as President of the Young Liberals (1962–64) [3] , the party youth organisation. During this period Howard was (and remains) a supporter of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War . [1] In 1967 he was endorsed as candidate for the suburban state seat of Drummoyne which at the time was held by the ALP . Howard's mother sold the family home in Earlwood and took up residence with him in a house within the electorate. At the election in February 1968, Howard was defeated by the ALP candidate although the incumbent state Liberal government was returned to office for a second term.

Howard continued living at home until 1971 when he married fellow Liberal Party member Janette Parker , with whom he has three children. Although Janette has maintained a low profile during her husband's prime ministership — possibly in part due to health problems [4] but also to her own expressed preference [5] —she is widely seen as having a major influence on his decision making. Howard's next attempt to enter parliament was at a Federal level and was successful. He was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member of Parliament for the Sydney suburban seat of Bennelong at the Federal election in May 1974 . When Malcolm Fraser 's government came to power in December 1975 , Howard was appointed Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs , and in December 1977 he was appointed Treasurer at the age of 38, for which appointment he became known as "the boy Treasurer". In April 1982 he was elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. During his period as Treasurer, Howard became a staunch adherent of Thatcherism (usually known as " economic rationalism " in Australia).

Like Thatcher, he embraced the fiscal policies of neoliberalism without the more " libertarian " perspectives of the Chicago school on social issues . He favoured cuts to personal income tax and business tax, lower government spending , the dismantling of the centralised wage-fixing system, the abolition of compulsory trade unionism and the privatization of government-owned enterprises , views that have dominated his subsequent career. He became frustrated with the more moderate and pragmatic Fraser, who would not embark on these steps. In 1982 Howard nearly resigned in protest at Fraser's big-spending pre-election budget. As Federal Treasurer, John Howard presided over a period of very high interest rates, peaking at 22% on 8 April 1982 [6] (see: RBA: Bulletin Statistical Tables ). After the 1983 defeat of the Fraser Government, Howard was attacked by the incoming Hawke government for supposedly lying to Parliament about the size of the budget deficit left by the outgoing Fraser government. Success, failure, success Following Fraser's resignation, Howard contested the Liberal leadership, but was defeated by Andrew Peacock . He remained Deputy Leader and became Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Peacock was defeated by Hawke at the 1984 election and although he had lost by less than most commentators expected, Peacock began to worry that Howard was planning to challenge for the leadership. In May 1985 he tried to remove Howard from the Deputy Leadership position, expecting him to challenge for the Leadership. The plan backfired when Howard stood again for the deputy's position, and won. This put Peacock in an untenable position and he resigned, leaving Howard to take the leadership unopposed. Howard said that "the times will suit me." In addition to his economic views, he became known as a strong social conservative , supporting the nuclear family against the so-called "permissive society", and was also sceptical of the promotion of multiculturalism at the expense of a shared national identity . Howard is strongly opposed to gay marriage , or recognising "watered down" same sex civil unions . [7] In 1985, in an interview he gave with The Age published on July 30, Howard stated that he (like many other conservatives at the time) was opposed to economic sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa .

During 1985 and 1986 , with unemployment rising and the economy stagnant, Howard appeared to be making ground on the government. However, Howard's chances of winning the 1987 election were destroyed when the arch-conservative Premier of Queensland , Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen , launched a populist " Joh for Canberra " campaign, temporarily splitting and discrediting the conservative forces. Hawke won the 1987 election comfortably. In 1988 , Howard's position was weakened by controversy following a speech in which he claimed that the rate of Asian immigration into Australia was too high. In May 1989 Peacock launched a surprise leadership coup against Howard. After a brief stint on the backbench , Howard returned to the Coalition front bench , but his leadership career seemed to be over, particularly when Peacock lost the 1990 election and the Liberals turned to a new, younger leader, Dr. John Hewson . Howard himself compared the possibility of a political comeback to " Lazarus with a triple bypass ". Howard was an enthusiastic supporter of Hewson's economic program, with a Goods and Services Tax (GST) as its centrepiece.

When Hewson lost the "unloseable" 1993 election to Paul Keating , Howard was again passed over for the leadership, which went to Alexander Downer . Downer failed to dent Keating's dominance and in January 1995 he resigned as leader. The party's Deputy Leader, Peter Costello was unwilling to step up to the leadership, and Howard became leader for the second time. As Opposition Leader, Howard adopted a more pragmatic position than he had done during his first term in the leadership. He repudiated his earlier statements against Medicare and in favour of a GST. In a "small target" strategy, he attacked the "arrogance" and the "elitist" nature of Keating's "big picture" politics—issues like foreign relations with Asia, Australian republicanism , multiculturalism and reconciliation with indigenous Australians —which, Howard believed, were irrelevant to ordinary voters. Howard's principal pollster in each of his successful election campaigns has been Mark Textor .

Prime Minister The 1996 election campaign Howard won over many traditional Labor voters, sometimes called the "Howard battlers" (roughly equivalent to the American Reagan Democrats ), and scored a sweeping victory at the 1996 elections over Keating to become Prime Minister of Australia at the age of 56. In the lead up to the 1996 election, Pauline Hanson , the Liberal candidate for Oxley in Queensland was disendorsed because of comments she made to The Queensland Times . Howard was slow to express views on Hanson; his initial public reaction was to comment that he thought it was good that the years of " political correctness " were finally over. Howard's lukewarm response was variously interpreted as either indicating tacit support for Hanson's sentiments, or as a disingenuous attempt to harness their popularity among certain segments of the electorate. Hanson was elected as an independent member and used her first speech to Parliament to attack multiculturalism and reconciliation, alleging that "we are in danger of being swamped by Asians" [8] . She later formed the One Nation political party.

First term: 1996–1998 John Howard in the USA in 1997 Howard and his cabinet immediately announced the previous government had left behind a "budget black hole" that necessitated considerable reduction in almost all areas of government expenditure. Training and education programs developed under the Keating government were scrapped, infrastructure investment was scaled down, funding for indigenous bodies was reduced, and a system of " work for the dole " requiring social security seekers to engage in work was introduced. Prudent economic management remained the government's strongest claim throughout its term, and a prolonged period of economic growth (which some observers have claimed was simply the payoff from Keating's earlier reforms [9] ), combined with strong budget surpluses, remain an essential element in its popularity. In 1996 , Australia was stunned when 35 people were killed by Martin Bryant in the Port Arthur massacre . Howard responded by coordinating action by the state governments to heavily restrict the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles , semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns . This action and an accompanying "gun buy-back scheme" were popular with the general population but not with predominantly Coalition-voting gun owners .

The Howard government did not have a majority in the Senate , instead facing a situation where legislation had to be negotiated past either the Australian Democrats or the Greens . The Senate blocked or delayed much of the Government's more controversial legislation, including the partial privatisation of the government-owned telecommunications company, Telstra ; the modification of industrial relations laws to promulgate individual contracts; increases in university fees; large funding cuts in the 1996 and 1997 budgets; a 30% private health insurance rebate; and the extinguishment of native title on pastoral leases (following the High Court 's Wik decision). Howard had come to office promising to improve standards of integrity among ministers and politicians, introducing a strict "Code of Ministerial Conduct" at the start of his term. The strictness of his code backfired when a succession of seven of his ministers ( Jim Short , Geoff Prosser , John Sharp , David Jull , Brian Gibson , Bob Woods , and Peter McGauran ) were required to resign following breaches of the code, concerning a variety of "travel rorts" (misuse of the ministerial travel allowance) and conflicts of interest between ministerial responsibilities and share ownership.

Prosser had attempted to use his ministerial office to further his own business interests. Another two ministers ( John Moore and Warwick Parer ) were discovered to have breached the code, but at that point Howard opted to ignore it, rather than lose more of his front bench. The 1998 election campaign The 1998 election campaign was dominated by two issues. One was reform of the tax system, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST; a broad-based value-added tax ), which Howard had several years earlier said he would "never, ever" introduce; the other was One Nation. At the October 1998 election, the Liberal-National Coalition, suffered a large swing, largely driven by a scare campaign against the Goods and Services Tax. Labor leader Kim Beazley won 51% of the national two-party preferred vote , but the Liberals ran an effective marginal electorate campaign and were returned with a comfortable majority in parliament. Although One Nation had previously surprised commentators with a resounding performance in the Queensland state election , its national campaign was poorly administered and One Nation failed to win any House of Representatives seats. An electoral redistribution had rendered Pauline Hanson's seat of Oxley unwinnable.

She stood in neighbouring electorate Blair but was defeated. Second term: 1998–2001 Despite Howard's essentially domestic focus, external issues intruded significantly into Howard's second term when the people of East Timor voted for independence in a United Nations sponsored referendum . Indonesian militia, covertly backed by Indonesian troops, began a brutal campaign of repression. After enormous public pressure, Howard broke with the previous bi-partisan policy of unquestioning support for Indonesia, and Australia contributed a significant peacekeeping/policing force to protect the inhabitants against pro-Indonesian militias, attracting praise domestically and in several countries, but angering some Indonesians and Islamists . The other major issue during Howard's second term was the implementation of the GST, replacing a range of taxes on specific goods with a flat rate on almost all goods and services. All GST revenue is distributed to the states. This was intended to give the States responsibility for their own finances and end the annual funding squabble between the States and the Federal Government. The Federal Government continues to determine the share of GST revenue received by each state.

Howard was only able to pass the GST legislation through the Senate after making a deal with Australian Democrats ' leader Senator Meg Lees to exclude a number of items from the GST, most notably fresh food such as fruit and vegetables. This increased the complexity of the GST, which had already increased the frequency and detail of reporting required by small businesses. As a partial offset for the GST, a $7,000 "first home buyers grant" was introduced in 2000 . [10] The grant was paid at settlement, and Australian banks chose to count it towards a buyer's deposit, increasing the borrowing limit of applicants by approximately $70,000 and feeding a housing boom already sparked by world-wide low interest rates. Most of the resentment for the GST fell on the Democrats, but the Howard government was trailing in the polls in 2001 . The government lost a by-election in the normally safe electorate of Ryan in Queensland , and Labor governments were elected in all the states and territories (except South Australia , which fell to Labor in 2002).

In response to the declining position at this time, a number of policy changes were made, including the abandonment of petrol excise indexation and increased government benefits to self-funded retirees. John Howard's government also considered the issue of a national apology to Aboriginal Australians for their treatment by previous generations following the European settlement of the country. Howard refrained from making a national apology (although all State and Territory Governments did so) and instead personally expressed "deep sorrow" while maintaining that "Australians of this generation should not be required to accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies." [11] The 2001 election campaign A major change in Howard's political fortunes occurred in August and September 2001 , when the government refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa , carrying a group of asylum seekers picked up in international waters, to enter Australian waters. Howard ordered the ship be boarded by Australian special forces and spoke strongly of the need for Australia to "decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come". This brought censure from the government of Norway [12] at the United Nations as failure to meet obligations to distressed mariners under international law.

The September 11 terrorist attacks further increased hostility towards asylum-seekers fleeing Islamic countries. The government introduced tough "border protection" legislation. Kim Beazley and the Labor opposition found themselves in a difficult political position. An electorally significant fraction of the ALP's working-class voters backed the Howard line on asylum-seekers, while the party's middle-class supporters were overwhelmingly opposed to it. Wedged between the two camps, Beazley offered half-hearted support to Howard's legislation, infuriating the middle class without winning back any of the anti-immigration vote from Howard. At the November 2001 elections the Coalition was re-elected, with a larger majority than in 1998. Third term: 2001–2004 In the two years after the 2001 election the Howard government continued its tough line on national security and "border protection" issues, while seeking to further its agenda of conservative social policies and pro-business economic reforms. Despite its victory in 2001 , the government did not have a Senate majority, and its ability to pass planned legislation was restricted.

Howard's reputation was damaged in what became known as the children overboard affair, when it was demonstrated that one of his claims during the asylum-seeker debate, that asylum-seekers had "thrown their children overboard" in order to force the government to allow them to land in Australia, was untrue and that he had most likely been aware of this during the election campaign.[ citation needed ] Howard also faced a difficult issue in the allegations that Howard's choice as Governor General , Dr. Peter Hollingworth , in his previous job as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane , had refused to investigate Anglican priests accused of paedophilia in various churches: eventually Hollingworth was forced to resign the governor-generalship amidst a storm of controversy that threatened to damage the credibility of his office. So long as the issue of national security was prominent in the minds of voters and the Australian economy remained strong, Howard retained a clear political advantage over his opponents. Throughout 2002 and 2003 he kept his lead in the opinion polls over the then Labor leader, Simon Crean . Following the October 2002 Bali bombing , Howard placed a renewed emphasis on his government's approach to national security.

In March 2003 , Howard joined the United Kingdom in sending troops and naval units to support the United States in the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. Howard spoke strongly about the need to rid Iraq of the weapons of mass destruction , which he said he had evidence that Saddam's regime possessed. [13] Australian opinion was deeply divided on the war and large public protests against the war occurred. [14] Several senior figures from the Liberal party, including John Valder , a former president of the Liberal Party, and Howard's former friend and colleague, [15] former Opposition Leader John Hewson [16] and former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser [17] publicly criticised Howard over Iraq. John Valder's criticism was particularly strong, claiming that Howard should be tried and punished as a war criminal . [18] Howard's credibility and due diligence was questioned when no weapons of mass destruction were discovered in Iraq. On Anzac Day 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 's promise to return Australian troops by Christmas .

Howard portrayed Latham as a threat to the U.S.-Australia alliance . After the 2004 federal election, it was revealed that Latham believed the ANZUS alliance was a legacy of the White Australia Policy . The 2004 – 05 budget increased family payments and tax cuts for middle income earners, and contributed to a recovery by the government in the opinion polls. In August 2004, Howard's proposed amendment to the Marriage Act—to ban foreign and domestic same-sex unions from being recognised as marriages within Australia—was passed with the support of the Australian Labor Party , although several Labor Left MPs had expressed their opposition to the amendment, including the Premier of Western Australia Dr. Geoff Gallop . The Greens and Democrats opposed the amendment. The 2004 election campaign On 29 August 2004 , Howard called an election for 9 October . The Labor opposition, after the resignation of Simon Crean and the election of Mark Latham as leader in December 2003 , had established a large lead in some opinion polls by March 2004 , and the government entered the election campaign behind Labor in all the published national opinion polls.

Howard himself still had a large lead over Latham as preferred Prime Minister in those same polls and most commentators regarded the result as being too close to call. During the campaign, Howard strongly attacked Latham's economic record as Mayor of Liverpool City Council , persuading the electorate that election of a Labor government could see a rise in interest rates. This was a significant threat, because total borrowing by home owners had risen when rates had dropped, meaning that even though rates were historically low, loan repayments as a proportion of household income were higher than at the peak of interest rates during the 1980s. A notable aspect of the campaign was the absence of retaliatory "mudslinging" from the Labor Party against the various attacks on Latham's credibility, due to his rather notorious past, possibly to help promote the image of Latham as a reformed and professional man. Due to this approach they severely lost credibility in the campaign, which was compounded by Latham's publicity stunt of signing a guarantee stating that interest rates would not rise under a Latham government, when it was common knowledge at the time that monetary policy was controlled by the Reserve Bank .

In the closing period of the election campaign, Howard promised a large spending program on health, education, small business and family payments with the aim of trumping Latham's policy strengths. Some economists criticised Howard for the scale of his election spending promises, saying the Thatcherite small government man of the 1980s and the 1996 budget had mutated into a pure political pragmatist, willing to spend big on "middle class welfare" to win votes, but failing to tackle long-term issues such as infrastructure constraints, climate change and a national skills shortage. The election resulted in an increased Coalition majority in the House of Representatives and also a government majority in the Senate, the first government majority in that chamber since the 1977 election. The strength of the Australian economy under Howard's leadership may have helped him to retain the "battler" vote which, combined with his strong conservative base, gave the Coalition a comfortable election victory of 52.74% of the vote on a two party preferred basis against Labor's result of 47.26%. [19] Howard's social conservatism also helped him to win vital preferences from the socially conservative party Family First .

Fourth term: 2004–present John Howard with U.S. President George W. Bush on 16 May 2006 , during Howard's seventh official visit to the White House as Prime Minister. From left to right: the Prime Minister's wife Janette Howard , U.S. First Lady Laura Bush , Howard, and Bush. On 21 December 2004 Howard became Australia's second-longest serving Prime Minister, having led the government against three Labor opposition leaders, Beazley, Crean and Latham. The Government response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was widely acclaimed in Australia and abroad, including the Opposition shadow foreign affairs spokesperson, Kevin Rudd , who said that an Australian Labor Party government could not have done more. On 1 July 2005 the new Senate came into effect, giving the Government control of both houses. This is the first Australian government since the days of the Fraser government that is able to pass any legislation it wishes, without having to first gain the approval of another party or hold a double dissolution election.

Legislation which had previously been blocked and has now been passed includes: Full privatisation of the 51.8% government-owned telecommunications company Telstra; Voluntary Student Unionism which removed compulsory union fees at universities. Overruled Legislation: ACT Civil Unions Act, on the grounds that the same-sex civil unions undermined the Marriage Act. Other legislation which had previously been blocked in the Senate includes: Revising media ownership laws so as to remove restrictions on media companies having control over multiple different media. In 2005, Howard announced fundamental and wide-ranging changes to industrial relations laws which have since been the subject of a national campaign by the union movement and state Labor governments. Despite the coalition's majority in the Senate, a number of the proposed laws were in doubt, due to the opposition that has been voiced by Queensland National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce who had threatened to vote against the sale of Telstra. Joyce raised concerns in relation to the industrial relations announcements but eventually supported the legislation. On 22 February 2005 Howard announced that Australia would increase its military commitment to Iraq [20] with an additional 450 troops, when he had anticipated that no such increases would occur.

[21] On 14 April another firm pre-election assurance was broken when it was announced that the Medicare safety net policy presented to the electorate prior to the election, and statements by the Health Minister Tony Abbott that the policy was "an absolutely rock solid, iron-clad commitment", would now be adjusted to provide fewer benefits. In October 2005, the Volcker Inquiry into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme revealed that Australian company AWB Ltd had paid the single largest illicit "kickback" to the Iraq regime. Howard, resisting calls for a Royal Commission , subsequently established a Commission of Inquiry under Terence Cole QC to determine if Australian companies had broken the law. [22] Howard rejected criticisms that the Inquiry Terms of Reference were too narrow (i.e. did not permit adequate investigation into the role played by Government Ministers and their delegates) [23] . As of 2 March 2006 , Howard has been in office 10 years. In this time his popularity has been seemingly undented. His approval rating, though showing slight ups and downs, remain steadily above 50%. Howard explains this through his frequently repeated quote, "My proof is in my record.

This has seen Australia with low inflation, low interest rates, low unemployment, higher wages and a total elimination of government debt". [24] As a testament to the Howard government's perceived economic credentials, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello was asked in June 2006 to be the special guest of the G8 Finance Minister's Summit in Saint Petersburg , Russia —though Australia is not part of the G8—to advise these nations on good governance and public finance. This article or section needs to be updated. Parts of this article or section have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished. Throughout the first half of 2005, the Howard government faced increasing pressure regarding the controversial mandatory detention program. It was revealed in February that a mentally ill German citizen and Australian resident, Cornelia Rau , 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 Alvarez , 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. [25] Also at this time Howard faced backbench revolt from small numbers of his own party demanding that reforms be made. [26] On 2 June it was revealed that Cornelia Rau had been identified by the department as an Australian citizen three months prior to her final release from detention. [27] On 9 June Australia's longest serving detainee, Peter Qasim , was moved to a psychiatric hospital. [28] In mid 2005, John Howard and his cabinet began private discussions of new anti-terror legislation which includes modification to the Crimes Act 1914 . In particular, sections relating to sedition are to be modified. On 14 October 2005 , Jon Stanhope (Chief Minister of the ACT) took the controversial step of publishing the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 on his website. [29] [30] This action was both praised and criticised.

[31] [32] Citing concerns about civil rights raised by the Australian National University [33] as well as concerns over the speed of the legislation's passage through parliament [34] , 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 (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 . These raids, according to Howard, demonstrated the need for his Anti-Terrorism Bill. According to the Greens and Democrats, the raids demonstrated that no further legislation was needed as even the current legislation was sufficient to allow ASIO and the Australian Federal Police to act in some cases.

Critics have also said that the press conference was held on the same day as the changes to industrial relations laws were introduced to Parliament, even though much of the intelligence was not new, suggesting it was an attempt to divert attention away from the IR law changes. On Tuesday 15 November protest rallies were held to protest against the work relations laws around the country, in opposition to the Howard government’s planned changes to industrial relations laws. Approximately 560,000 people turned out at the protests, largely organised by various unions and concerned community organisations with the help of Labor and the Greens. These laws were passed without substantial change. Unfinished business In late 2006, with a federal election on the horizon, some of the issues facing the Howard government are the AWB Iraq bribes scandal, Australia's response to global warming , a national skills shortage and his govenment's Work Choices industrial relations legislation. Retirement? In the leadup to the 2001 election, Howard did not commit to serving a full term if he won the election. Instead, he said he would consider the question of retirement when he turned 64, which would be in July 2003.

When July 2003 came, he announced that the party was strongly in favour of him continuing, so he stayed on. In the leadup to the 2004 election, Howard again did not commit to serving a full term. In 2006, there was mounting speculation that he would retire that year. In July 2006, as part of a redistribution of New South Wales electoral divisions, a proposal was made to change the boundaries of Howard's electorate of Bennelong on Sydney's Lower North Shore . It has been suggested that these changes may make Bennelong one of the most marginal seats in the state with only a 3% majority [35] , however these figures have been disputed by political commentators such as Malcolm Mackerras [36] , and also Shane Easson of the NSW Labor Party [37] , who argue that the impact of the changes will be minimal. In July 2006, it was alleged that a deal had been struck with Peter Costello in 1994 with Ian McLachlan present, that if the Liberal party were to win the next election, Howard would serve one and a half terms of office and then allow Costello to take over.

Mr. McLachlan's version of the conversation is that Mr Howard said something like, "I can't guarantee this to you Peter, but my intention is not to hang around forever. If I win, I'll serve two terms and hand over to you." [38] Howard denied that this constituted a deal, yet Costello and McLachlan insisted it did; [39] [40] [41] and there were calls for Costello to either challenge or quit. [42] [43] The impasse was resolved at the end of July when Howard, again citing strong party room support for him as leader, stated that he would remain to contest the 2007/2008 election, and that he and Costello would remain in their current roles. [44] Costello declared that he would not be seeking the top position in the Liberal Party while Howard was standing as its leader, saying on The 7.30 Report he would be handing down the 2007 Budget.

[45] Honours Centenary Medal In January 2001 The Star of the Solomon Islands together with Helen Clark as Prime Minister of New Zealand on 15th of June 2005 for their respective roles in restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands. [46] See also

Question: Who was the longest-serving Australian Prime Minister?
Answer: Sir Robert Menzies