The Australia's Future Tax System Review , informally known as the Henry Tax Review was commissioned by the Rudd Government in 2008 and published in 2010. The review was intended to guide tax system reforms over the next 10 to 20 years.
81-695: The review was commissioned as one of the specific outcomes from the Australia 2020 Summit held in April 2008. The review was a "root and branch" review, restricted only in that it could not consider increasing the rate or broadening the base of the Goods and Services Tax , imposing tax on superannuation payments to retirees over 60 years of age, or already-announced personal income tax changes. The review panel members were: The report made 138 recommendations, under nine themes. Rudd endorsed and implemented only 3 of
162-400: A barrister as a likely career. Howard attended Earlwood Primary School and Canterbury Boys' High School . He 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 union . Cricket remained a lifelong hobby. In his final year at school he took part in
243-461: A bill of rights . Some of the delegates themselves expressed criticism of how the summit was conducted. In particular, claims were made that the final paper, which purported to represent the resolutions of the sub-groups, did not reflect ideas that they had espoused or did include ideas which they had not discussed, possibly reflecting an agenda which had been determined before the summit. Others were concerned that hard issues, such as terrorism in
324-413: 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
405-584: A GST would "never ever" be part of the Liberal Party's policy. Howard, when making the promise, referred to the GST as being a losing policy for Hewson's election campaign in 1993. By the time the writs were issued 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
486-585: A Liberal if elected. Howard repudiated Hanson's views seven months after her maiden speech. Following the Wik Decision of the High Court in 1996, the Howard government moved swiftly to legislate limitations on its possible implications through the so-called Ten-Point Plan . From 1997, Howard spearheaded the Coalition push to introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) at the subsequent election; this
567-409: A bid to become prime minister himself—the " Joh for Canberra " campaign. Keating campaigned against Howard's proposed tax changes forcing Howard to admit a double-counting in the proposal, and emphasising to the electorate that the package would mean at that stage undisclosed cuts to government services. Howard was not helped when the federal Nationals broke off the Coalition agreement in support of
648-404: A boy. In 1955, when Howard was aged 16, his father died, leaving his mother to take care of him. Howard suffered a hearing impairment in his youth, leaving him with a slight speech impediment , 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
729-760: A broadly based indirect tax, and the rejection of counter-cyclical fiscal policy. Following the defeat of the Fraser government and Fraser's subsequent resignation from parliament, Howard contested the Liberal leadership against Andrew Peacock , losing 36–20 . However, he was re-elected as deputy leader. The Liberal Party were again defeated by Labor at the early 1984 election . In 1985, as Labor's position in opinion polls improved, Peacock's popularity sank and Howard's profile rose. Leadership speculation persisted, and Peacock said he would no longer accept Howard as deputy unless he offered assurances that he would not challenge for
810-666: A key role in selecting the other participants, and each member led one of the working groups together with a government co-chair. Since the initial announcement, Dr Kelvin Kong (Indigenous Australia) withdrew due to family health reasons, and Dr Jackie Huggins was appointed to replace him. On 14 April 2008, an additional co-chair, Dr Julianne Schultz , was announced for the Creative Australia stream. There were two additional late participants who had been granted special entry as winners of competitions and their names did not show in
891-431: A large lead over Latham as preferred prime minister. In the lead up to the election, Howard again did not commit to serving a full term. Howard attacked Latham's economic record as Mayor of Liverpool City Council and attacked Labor's economic history. The election resulted in a five-seat swing to the Coalition, netting it a majority almost as large as in 1996. It also resulted the first, albeit slim, government majority in
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#1732787036624972-579: A majority in their own right with 75 seats, the most that the party had ever won. It was only the third time (the others being 1975 and 1977) that the main non-Labor party has been even theoretically able to govern alone since the Coalition's formation. Nevertheless, Howard kept the Nationals in his government. Howard entered office with a 45-seat majority—the second-biggest majority in Australian history, only behind Fraser's 55-seat majority in 1975. At
1053-576: A man of steel, he's showed the world he's a man of heart." In April 2002, Howard was the first Australian prime minister to attend a royal funeral, that of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother . In October Howard responded to the 2002 Bali bombing with calls for solidarity. Howard re-dedicated his government to the " War on Terror ". In March 2003, Australia joined the US-led " Multinational force in Iraq " in sending 2,000 troops and naval units to support in
1134-434: A nationwide value-added tax , breaking a pre-election promise. The Howard government called a snap election for October 1998 , which they won, albeit with a greatly reduced majority. Going into the 2001 election , the Coalition trailed behind Labor in opinion polling . However, in a campaign dominated by national security, Howard introduced changes to Australia's immigration system to deter asylum seekers from entering
1215-572: A radio show hosted by Jack Davey , Give It a Go , broadcast on the commercial radio station, 2GB . After gaining his Leaving Certificate , he studied law at the University of Sydney , graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1962. Howard began working for the firm of Stephen Jaques and Stephen as a junior solicitor. In 1964, he took a trip around the world, visiting Britain, Europe, Israel, India, and Singapore. After returning to Sydney in 1965, he began working for Clayton Utz , but "lacked
1296-412: A referendum be held, Habibie made a snap decision to hold a vote on independence. This referendum on the territory's independence triggered 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
1377-524: A repeat of mistakes made at the 1993 election, Howard revised his earlier statements against Medicare and Asian immigration, describing Australia as "a unique intersection between Europe, North America and Asia". This allowed Howard to campaign on a "small-target" strategy. He focused 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. In May 1995, Howard promised that
1458-538: A result, the Hawke government was handily reelected, winning the most seats that Labor had ever won in an election. 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. The controversial immigration policy, One Australia , outlined a vision of "one nation and one future" and opposed multiculturalism. Howard publicly suggested that to support "social cohesion"
1539-469: 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." Howard is opposed to abortion and voted against the RU-486 abortion drug being legalised. As the country's economic position worsened in 1989, public opinion moved away from Labor, however there was no firm opinion poll lead for Howard or
1620-507: The 1987 federal election , but lost to Bob Hawke 's Labor government, and was removed from the leadership in 1989. Remaining a key figure in the party, Howard was re-elected leader in 1995, replacing Alexander Downer , and subsequently led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 1996 federal election . In his first term, Howard introduced reformed gun laws in response to the Port Arthur massacre , and controversially implemented
1701-535: The 2004 federal election . In his final term in office, his government introduced industrial relations reforms known as WorkChoices , which proved controversial and unpopular with the public. The Howard government was defeated at the 2007 federal election , with the Labor Party's Kevin Rudd succeeding him as prime minister. Howard also lost his own seat of Bennelong at the election to Maxine McKew , becoming only
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#17327870366241782-463: The Australian constitutional monarchy . Despite opinion polls suggesting Australians favoured a republic, a 1999 referendum rejected the model chosen by the convention. The new President of Indonesia , B.J. Habibie , had some months earlier agreed to grant special autonomy to Indonesian-occupied East Timor . However, following the receipt of a letter sent by Howard to Habibie suggesting that
1863-704: The War in Afghanistan despite widespread opposition. Howard developed a strong personal relationship with the President, 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
1944-540: The division of Bennelong . He was promoted to cabinet in 1977, and later in the year replaced Phillip Lynch as treasurer of Australia , remaining in that position until the defeat of Malcolm Fraser 's government at the 1983 election . In 1985, Howard was elected leader of the Liberal Party for the first time, thus replacing Andrew Peacock as Leader of the Opposition . He led the Liberal–National coalition to
2025-453: The invasion of Iraq . 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. While opinion polls showed that opposition to the war without UN backing was between 48 and 92 per cent, Howard remained preferred prime-minister over the Leader of
2106-485: The "Joh for Canberra" push, which led to a large number of three-cornered contests. Bjelke-Petersen abandoned his bid for prime minister a month before the election, however, the damage had already been done. Additionally, a number of swing voters outside Queensland were alarmed at the prospect of Bjelke-Petersen holding the balance of power, and voted for Labor to ensure that the Liberals and Nationals would be defeated. As
2187-608: The "most blemished chapter" in Australia's history; offered "deep and sincere regret " for past injustices. 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. 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
2268-411: 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 . Hewson had pledged to resign if defeated in 1993 but did not resign to block Howard from succeeding him. In January 1995, leaked internal Liberal Party polling showed that with gaffe-prone Downer as leader,
2349-691: The 138 recommendations. The major item from the Henry Review implemented by the Rudd Government was the move to create a resources Super Profit Tax. The proposal was highly controversial, and has been suggested as the main reason why Rudd lost power. Following his replacement by Julia Gillard as Prime Minister , the proposed tax was replaced by a Mineral Resource Rent Tax . Most of the remaining recommendations were not implemented. Former Liberal Leader John Hewson has been supportive. Australia 2020 Summit The Australia 2020 Summit
2430-537: The 20-year Labor incumbent, Les Haylen . In mid-1964, Howard travelled to London to work and travel for a period. He volunteered for the Conservative Party in the electorate of Holborn and St Pancras South at the 1964 UK general election . In 1967, with the support of party power brokers John Carrick and Eric Willis , Howard was endorsed as candidate for the marginal suburban state seat of Drummoyne , held by Labor's Reg Coady . Howard's mother sold
2511-418: The 2020 Youth Summit, running from 11 to 13 April 2008, to represent Australian youth at the Australia 2020 Summit. Several events were held in the lead up to the Australia 2020 Summit: Sources John Howard Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1996–2007) Ministries Elections John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as
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2592-491: The 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Bennelong from 1974 to 2007. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history , behind only Sir Robert Menzies . Howard has also been the oldest living Australian former prime minister since
2673-486: The Campbell report, but adopted an incremental approach with Cabinet, as there was wide opposition to deregulation within the government and the treasury. The process of reform began before the committee reported 2 1 ⁄ 2 years later, with the introduction of the tender system for the sale of Treasury notes in 1979, and Treasury bonds in 1982. Ian Macfarlane described these reforms as "second only in importance to
2754-435: 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. The Coalition subsequently opened a large lead over Labor in most opinion polls, and Howard overtook Paul Keating as preferred prime minister. Hoping to avoid
2835-473: The Coalition. 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, and 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 likened it to "Lazarus with a triple bypass" . The loss of
2916-519: The Government would lose office in the election later that year. 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. 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
2997-408: 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
3078-454: The Jewish community, plus senior Government representatives Kevin Rudd , Peter Garrett , Nicola Roxon and Jenny Macklin . The summit was also criticized for the near-absence of women on the 11-member committee who would pick the 1,000 delegates—only actress Cate Blanchett had been named. The Government responded by saying six of the co-chairs would be female politicians. By the time of
3159-409: The Liberal Party leadership to Peacock deeply affected Howard, who admitted he would occasionally drink too much. Declining Peacock's offer of Shadow Education, Howard went to the backbench and a new period of party disunity ensued which was highlighted by a Four Corners episode detailing the coup against Howard. Following the Coalition's 1990 election loss, Howard considered challenging Peacock for
3240-437: The Liberal Party. In December 1977, aged 38, Howard was appointed Treasurer , in place of Phillip Lynch . He was the youngest Treasurer since Chris Watson in 1904. Fraser said in his memoirs that he appointed him despite his limited experience because "he was bright and he got across a brief well, and he was a good manager". During his five years in the position, Howard became an adherent of free-market economics , which
3321-436: The Opposition, Simon Crean , although his approval ratings were lower compared to before the war. Throughout 2002 and 2003 Howard had increased his opinion poll lead over Labor Party leader, Simon Crean . In December 2003, Crean resigned after losing party support and Mark Latham was elected leader. Howard called an election for 9 October 2004 . While the government was behind Labor in the opinion polls, Howard himself had
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3402-428: The Opposition. Defunct Defunct 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. In his own words he was an "economic radical" and a social conservative . Referring to the pro-market liberalism of the 1980s, Howard said in July 1986 that "The times will suit me". That year
3483-471: The Senate since 1981. For the second time since becoming prime minister, Howard came up short of a majority in the first count for his own seat. He was assured of reelection on the third count, ultimately winning 53.3 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. On 21 December 2004, Howard overtook Bob Hawke to become the second longest-serving Australian prime minister after Sir Robert Menzies . In 2006, with
3564-503: The Treasury, but in May 2010 when Rudd eventually released the report, he rejected 135 of the 138 recommendations . Stuart wrote "The 2020 summit provided a paradigm for much of the activity in Rudd's term of office ... His rhetoric inspired and enthused voters. And yet ... and yet ... nothing happened." The summit was led by an 11-member steering committee, whose initial membership was announced on 26 February 2008. The committee played
3645-540: The age of 56, he was sworn in as prime minister on 11 March 1996, ending a record 13 years of Coalition opposition. Howard departed from tradition and made his primary residence Kirribilli House in Sydney rather than The Lodge in Canberra. 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
3726-465: The community and an official website was set up to accept submissions. The 10 critical policy areas were: The summit was criticized by Australia’s Jewish community for being scheduled over the first two nights of Passover , which prevented many Jews from applying or attending. The Government responded by convening a special half-day symposium in Sydney five days beforehand, attended by 56 leaders of
3807-587: The country, and pledged military assistance to the United States following the September 11 attacks . Due to this, Howard won widespread support, and his government would be narrowly re-elected. In Howard's third term in office, Australia contributed troops to the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War , and led the International Force for East Timor . The Coalition would be re-elected once more at
3888-489: The country—resulted in stagflation ; unemployment touched double-digits and inflation peaked at 12.5% (official interest rates peaked at 21%). 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. Policies included low protection, decentralisation of wage fixation, financial deregulation,
3969-463: The death of Bob Hawke in May 2019. Howard was born in Sydney and studied law at the University of Sydney . He was a commercial lawyer before entering parliament. A former federal president of the Young Liberals , he first stood for office at the 1968 New South Wales state election , but lost narrowly. At the 1974 federal election , Howard was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for
4050-508: 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. In response to the economic circumstances, Howard persistently attacked the Labor government and offered his free-market reform agenda. Support for the Labor Party and Hawke strengthened in 1985 and 1986 and Howard's approval ratings dropped in
4131-647: The face of immense opposition from within the Coalition and some State governments, was credited with significantly elevating Howard's stature as prime minister despite a backlash from core Coalition rural constituents. Howard's initial silence on the views of Pauline Hanson —a disendorsed Liberal Party candidate and later independent MP from the Brisbane area—was criticised in the press as an endorsement of her views. When Hanson had made derogatory statements about minorities, Howard not only cancelled her Liberal endorsement, but declared she would not be allowed to sit as
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#17327870366244212-480: The face of infighting between Howard and Peacock supporters, a "public manifestation of disunity" over policy positions, and questions over Howard's leadership. Hawke called the 1987 federal election six months early. In addition to the Howard–Peacock rivalry, Queensland National Party criticism of the federal Liberal and National leadership culminated in longtime Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen making
4293-582: 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. At the 1974 federal election , Howard successfully contested the Division of Bennelong , located in suburban Sydney. The election saw
4374-514: The float of the Australian dollar in 1983." In 1981, Howard proposed a broad-based indirect tax with compensatory cuts in personal rates; however, cabinet rejected it citing both inflationary and political reasons. 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
4455-405: The general public. Howard is the fourth son of Mona ( née Kell) and Lyall Howard , who married in 1925. Howard was also known as "Jack" in his youth. His older brothers were Walter (1926–2019), Stanley (1930–2014) and Robert (b. 1936). Lyall Howard was an admirer of Winston Churchill . Howard's ancestors were English, Scottish, and Irish. He is descended from convict William Tooley, who
4536-399: The government now controlling both houses of parliament for the first time since the Fraser era, industrial relations changes were enacted. Named " WorkChoices " and championed by Howard, they were intended to fundamentally change the employer-employee relationship. Opposed by a broad trade union campaign and antipathy within the electorate, WorkChoices was subsequently seen as a major factor in
4617-421: The group examining foreign affairs and security issues, were ignored. Journalist Nicholas Stuart was initially struck by the people who were not invited to Australia 2020, including two Australian National University professors Paul Dibb and Hugh White who had both advised Kim Beazley . Looking at the list of those invited, he found that "the holes kept expanding as I looked further and further, searching for
4698-584: The improving polls for the government, as did the 11 September 2001 attacks . Howard led the government to victory in the 2001 federal election with an increased majority. 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. In response to the attacks, Howard invoked the ANZUS Treaty . In October 2001, he committed Australian military personnel to
4779-401: The issue as instrumental in Howard subsequently losing the leadership in 1989. In a 1995 newspaper article (and in 2002 as prime minister), Howard recanted his 1988 remarks on curbing Asian immigration. 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" and commented "I don't think it
4860-463: The leadership, but didn't have enough support for a bid. Ultimately, Peacock resigned and was replaced with Howard's former staffer John Hewson who defeated Peter Reith ; Peacock supported Hewson as a symbol of generational change . Howard was a supporter of Hewson's economic program, with a Goods and Services Tax (GST) as its centrepiece. Howard was Shadow Minister for Industrial relations and oversaw Jobsback section of Fightback. After Hewson lost
4941-509: 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. The party room re-elected Howard as deputy on 5 September 38 votes to 31, which Peacock treated as a vote of no confidence in his leadership. He subsequently called a leadership ballot , which he chose not to contest. Howard defeated Jim Carlton by 57 votes to six, thus becoming Leader of
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#17327870366245022-617: The original lists of participants. They both attended the Productivity Stream Agenda. Their names were Susan Roberts, TAFE Head Teacher of Child & Family Services from Taree who had won a national competition by Channel Nine and Ernie Peralta, a university lecturer whose "Golden Guru" concept of business mentoring was later adopted in Queensland. The members of the steering committee were as follows: Eleven young people were also selected by their peers at
5103-431: The others who should have been there." He said "it began to appear as if one group of advisors ... under Howard had been replaced with another group of similarly hand-picked individuals," plus some media names. There was no continuing secretariat for any follow-up action for the recommendations from the conference or the ten subgroups or forums. Wayne Swan managed to get a review of the taxation system, to be prepared by
5184-503: The political spectrum, and commanded a diverse base of supporters, colloquially referred to as his " battlers ". Retrospectively, ratings of Howard's premiership have been polarised. His critics have admonished him for involving Australia in the Iraq War, his policies regarding asylum seekers, and his economic agenda. Nonetheless, he has been frequently ranked within the upper-tier of Australian prime ministers by political experts and
5265-409: The question of retirement when he turned 64. This was interpreted as boosting Costello's leadership aspirations, and the enmity over leadership and succession resurfaced publicly when Howard did not retire at the age of 64. In 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
5346-577: The rate of Asian immigration be "slowed down a little". 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. Three Liberal MPs crossed the floor and two abstained in response to a motion put forward by Prime Minister Hawke to affirm that race or ethnicity would not be used as immigrant selection criteria. Many Liberals later nominated
5427-579: The referendum's overwhelming vote in favour of independence. The successful mission was widely supported by Australian voters, but the government was criticised 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 . Throughout his prime-ministership, Howard
5508-497: The return of the Gough Whitlam -led Labor government. Howard supported Malcolm Fraser for the leadership of the Liberal Party against Billy Snedden following the 1974 election. When Fraser won office at the 1975 federal election , Howard was appointed Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs , a position in which he served until 1977. At this stage, he followed the protectionist and pro-regulation stance of Fraser and
5589-404: The second prime minister to do so, after Stanley Bruce at the 1929 election . Following this loss, Howard retired from politics, but has remained active in political discourse. Howard's government presided over a sustained period of economic growth and a large " mining boom ", and significantly reduced government debt by the time he left office. He was known for his broad appeal to voters across
5670-456: The summit, there were three women on a 12-member committee. Additionally, other commentators such as the Institute of Public Affairs , Australians for Constitutional Monarchy and Australian Monarchist League criticized what they saw as the unrepresentative nature of the delegates, which in their view biased the final report towards republicanism and ideas such as constitutional reform and
5751-555: 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. The Coalition picked up a five per cent swing, taking 13 seats away from Labor in New South Wales, and winning all but two seats in Queensland. The Liberals actually won
5832-549: 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. The popularity of Pauline Hanson, and the new restrictions on gun ownership drew many traditionally Coalition voters away from
5913-491: The university grades and the social connections to be on track for a partnership". He subsequently moved to a smaller firm, which became Truman, Nelson and Howard after he was made a partner. Howard married fellow Liberal Party member Janette Parker in 1971, with whom he had three children: Melanie (1974), Tim (1977) and Richard (1980). John and Janette are Christians . Howard joined the Liberal Party in 1957. He
5994-757: 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 party's champion of the growing free-market lobby. The economic crises of the early 1980s brought Howard into conflict with the Keynesian Fraser. As the economy headed towards the worst recession since the 1930s, 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 , he decided to "tough it out". The 1982 wages explosion—wages rose 16 per cent across
6075-588: Was transported to New South Wales in 1816 for stealing a watch. Howard was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood , in a Methodist family. His mother had been an office worker until her marriage, while his father and his paternal grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of the First Australian Imperial Force in the First World War . They also ran two Dulwich Hill petrol stations where Howard worked as
6156-608: Was a convention , referred to in Australian media as a summit , which was held over 18–19 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra , Australia, aiming to "help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future". Announced by the new prime minister Kevin Rudd , the summit drew limited bipartisan support from Brendan Nelson and the opposition Coalition parties and ran as 10 working groups of 100 participants. There were 1002 delegates in attendance to discuss ten "critical areas". Ideas and proposals were invited from all members of
6237-532: Was a member of the party's New South Wales state executive and was federal president of the Young Liberals (the party youth organisation) from 1962 to 1964. 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". At the 1963 federal election , Howard acted as campaign manager for Tom Hughes in his local seat of Parkes . Hughes went on to defeat
6318-563: Was challenging economic orthodoxies in place for most of the century. 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. In 1978, the Fraser government instigated the Campbell Committee to investigate financial system reforms. Howard supported
6399-399: Was despite saying, before winning the prime ministership, that it would "never ever" be part of Coalition policy. 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. The 1998 election was dubbed a "referendum on the GST", and
6480-450: Was only assured of reelection on the ninth count. He ultimately finished with a fairly comfortable 56 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. 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
6561-404: Was resolute in his refusal to provide a parliamentary "apology" to Indigenous Australians as recommended by the 1997 " Bringing Them Home " Report. Howard made a personal apology before the release of the report. 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
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