John Howard

]

National Security and Terrorism

In March 2003, Australia joined 40 countries including the United Kingdom and the United States, in what US President George Bush referred to as the Coalition of the Willing in sending troops and naval units to support in the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. Howard told parliament:

Full disclosure by Iraq of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and immediate and total cooperation by Iraq with the provisions of resolution 1441 of the Security Council will remove the need for military action.cite web| First=John|last=Howard | url=http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=2199337&TABLE=HANSARDR | title=Ministerial statements: Iraq | publisher=Hansard of the Parliament of Australia | date=2003-02-04 | accessdate=2007-08-29]

In response to the Australian participation in the invasion, there were large-scale protests in Australian cities during March 2003, and Prime Minister Howard was repeatedly heckled from the public gallery of Parliament House. [cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2880519.stm| title = Malaysian PM condemns Iraq war |date = 2003-03-24| publisher = BBC News|accessdate = 2008-08-19] Opinion polls showed that opposition to the war without UN backing was as high as 92 per cent in January 2003 (before the invasion) but this opposition dropped to 48 per cent in the week following the invasion.cite news|url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/31/1048962700480.html|title = Support for the fight growing |last = Riley|first = Mark|date = 2003-04-01|accessdate = 2008-08-22|publisher = Sydney Morning Herald] In September 2003, after it was discovered that the Iraqi government did not own weapons of mass destruction, 70% of Australians believed John Howard misled them on his case for war in Iraq, although two thirds of that 70% believed he did so unintentionally. Howard remained preferred prime-minister compared with the then leader of the opposition, Simon Crean, and Howard's approval rating had dropped only slightly since January and was at 59%.cite news|url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/23/1064082997799.html|title = Poll: majority of Australians 'feel misled' by Howard |last = Riley|first = Mark|date = 2003-09-24 |accessdate = 2008-08-22|publisher = Sydney Morning Herald]

Relationship with Indigenous Australia

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

As recommended in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report, John Howard's government also considered the issue of a national apology to Indigenous Australians, in recognition of the treatment by previous governments following the European settlement of the country. However, in the face of a growing movement in favour of a national apology, Howard was resolute in his refusal to do this, although all state and territory governments issued their own. Instead, on 26 August 1999 John Howard 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."cite web | url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/car/arc/speeches/opening/howard.htm | title=Opening Speech of Australian Reconciliation Convention | publisher=Australasian Legal Information Institute | date=26 May 2000 | accessdate=2006-08-23] In February 2008, after Howard failed to win a fifth term, incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made an apology on behalf of the federal parliament, which received bipartisan support. Howard was the only living former Prime Minister who declined to attend. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rudd-says-sorry/2008/02/13/1202760342960.html "Kevin Rudd says sorry" Sydney Morning Herald] ]

In 2005, the Howard Government abolished the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the only federal body charged with formally representing indigenous Australians. This was done in response to concerns that its organisational structure was conducive to corrupt behaviour by its officers [ [http://www.aph.gov.au/library/Pubs/RN/2003-04/04rn05.htm ATSIC Review: Complex Challenges, No Simple Solutions ] ] .

In August 2007, the Howard government announced the Northern Territory National Emergency Response. This package of revisions to welfare provisions, law enforcement and other measures was advanced as a plan for addressing child abuse in Aboriginal Northern Territory communities that had been highlighted in the June 2007 "Little Children are Sacred" report. The plan was criticized by the report's authors for not incorporating any of the report's numerous recommendations. cite news
last = Johnston
first = Tim
title = Far-Reaching Policy for Aborigines Draws Their Fury
publisher= "New York Times"
accessdate = 2007-08-28
date = 2007-08-24
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/24/world/asia/24outback.html?ex=1345608000&en=f812218dfd708cf3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss] Some aboriginal activists such as Noel Pearson provided qualified support for the intervention. CommentatorsWho|date=August 2008 noted the approaching November federal election, suggesting that the intervention was an attempt at "wedge politics" and an appeal to middle class non-Aboriginal voters concerned with child abuse and racial issues.Fact|date=August 2008

Leadership and retirement doubts

Despite being the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Australian history, John Howard's time in office was marked by speculation about when he would be succeeded as Prime Minister by Peter Costello. [cite news
work=The 7:30 Report
title =When I'm 64: Howard
publisher =Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date =5 October 2001
url =http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2001/s383820.htm
accessdate =2007-08-29 ]

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. Howard denied that this constituted a deal, yet Costello and McLachlan insisted it did; [cite news| url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19736460-2,00.html | title=Costello backers savage Howard | publisher=News Limited | author=Steve Lewis | date=2006-07-10 | accessdate=2006-07-10; cite news| url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19734797-2,00.html | title=No, Prime Minister, you cannot deny it | publisher=News Limited | author=Glenn Milne | date=2006-07-10 | accessdate=2006-07-10; cite news| url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1682824.htm | title=Howard promised me a handover: Costello / Howard rejects Costello's deal claim | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=2006-07-10 | accessdate=2006-07-10] and there were calls for Costello to either challenge or quit. [cite news| url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1683090.htm | title=Labor sees end to Howard-Costello duet | publisher=ABC | date=2006-07-10 | accessdate=2006-07-10; cite news| url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1683201.htm | title=Call for Costello to quit or challenge | publisher=ABC | date=2006-07-11 | accessdate=2006-07-11]

After losing government and his seat, John Howard anointed Costello as his successor. Costello however refused to accept the role of leader of the opposition [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/costello-wont-stand/2007/11/25/1195947541163.html Costello won't stand] , "The Sydney Morning Herald", 25 November 2007.] , and Brendan Nelson was elected as leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party.

The 2007 election campaign

On 14 October, Howard announced a 24 November election, saying the country "does not need new leadership, it does not need old leadership. It needs the right leadership". [ cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/14/2059084.htm
title=PM announces November 24 poll]
work=ABC News Online
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date=2007-10-14] By the time election writs were issued, the Coalition was running well behind Labor in all polls. Most pundits predicted a large Labor victory. ABC election analyst Antony Green noted the Coalition's numbers were similar to what Labor had polled before losing power in 1996.

Opposition leader Kevin Rudd called for a minimum of three debates between himself and John Howard over the campaign period. Howard, who had been rated poorly by studio audiences at past leadership debates, pressed for a single debate "whether [Rudd] was there or not". On 21 October, Howard and Rudd took part in a live nationally televised leaders' debate. Although Howard had pressed for the Nine Network to abandon its use of "the worm" — an on-screen graphic depicting studio audience sentiment — it was still featured in Nine's debate coverage. cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/22/2065647.htm
title=Nine angry over bid to silence 'worm'
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date=2007-10-22] Commentators widely reported Rudd as the victor in the debate. cite news
title = Experts say Rudd won debate
language = English
publisher = News Ltd
author=AAP
date=21 October 2007
url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22625219-29277,00.html
accessdate = 2007-10-21]

In the 24 November election, Howard and his Coalition government were soundly defeated, losing 23 seats — the fourth-worst defeat of an incumbent government since Federation. Late that night, Howard conceded that Labor had won government and the likelihood that he had lost Bennelong to former journalist Maxine McKew. Howard had been 206 votes ahead of McKew on the first count, and finished 2.8 percentage points behind McKew on the estimated two-party vote.cite news
title = Bennelong (Key Seat)
language = English
publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
date = 25 November 2007
url = http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/guide/benn.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-25] While the ABC and other media outlets projected on election night that Howard had been unseated, McKew declined to claim victory at first, saying that the seat was on "a knife edge."cite news
title = Bennelong too close to call, says McKew
language = English
publisher = news.com.au
date = 25 November 2007
url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22817877-29277,00.html
accessdate = 2007-11-25] On 1 December, McKew claimed victory. [ [http://au.news.yahoo.com/071130/2/154pb.html new.yahoo.com] ] Counting was incomplete at the time, with several postal and absentee ballots still outstanding. However, it was expected that Howard would not win enough of them to retain his seat. [ cite news
url=http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Labors-women-shine-tonight-99E85?OpenDocument
title=Labor's women shine
author=Barrie Cassidy
publisher=Business Spectator
date=2007-11-24; cite news
url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=328124
title=Winners and Losers
authors=Liz Hayes, Tara Brown & Peter Overton
publisher=Nine Network
work=60 Minutes
date=2007-11-25; cite news
url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23229905-662,00.html
title=Revealed: the moment John Howard accepted he was beaten
author=Gerard McManus
publisher=News Ltd
work=Herald Sun
date=2008-02-18; cite news
url=http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/howard-likely-to-lose-seat/1092485.html
title=Howard likely to lose seat
author=Jonathan Dart
publisher=Fairfax
work=The Canberra Times
date=2007-11-25] On 12 December, the Electoral Commission formally declared McKew the winner by 44,685 votes (51.4 percent) to Howard's 42,251 (48.6 percent). Howard formally conceded defeat later that day. The final tally showed that Howard lost on the 14th count due to a large flow of Green preferences to McKew. He had been ahead by thin margins for most of the night, never leading by more than 0.2 percentage points. [ [http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/website/HouseDivisionDop-13745-105.htm Distribution of Preferences in Bennelong] ] Four other members of Howard's Cabinet were defeated.

Howard confided in a former colleague that losing Bennelong was a "silver lining in the thunder cloud of defeat" as it spared him the ignominy of opposition. cite news
url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23484820-5013871,00.html
title=Dark tea-time of the soul
author=Kate Legge
publisher=News Ltd
work=The Australian
date=2008-04-05] He remained in office as caretaker Prime Minister until the formal swearing in of Rudd's government on 3 December. [ cite news
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/03/2107424.htm
title=Rudd feeling 'chipper' about swearing in
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
work=ABC News
date=2007-12-03] Howard is the second Australian Prime Minister, after Stanley Bruce, to lose his seat in an election. [ cite news
author = Paul Bibby
title = Finally, Howard admits McKew has it
publisher = The Sydney Morning Herald
date = 2007-12-12
url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/finally-howard-admits-mckew-has-it/2007/12/12/1197135541910.html
accessdate = 2007-12-12]

Federal Liberal Party director Brian Loughnane said "it was the failure of Kim Beazley's leadership that had masked voter concerns about Howard". cite news
url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22966945-7583,00.html
title=Roadrunner Rudd on track
author=Glenn Milne
work=The Australian
publisher=News Ltd
date=2007-12-24] Media analysis of The Australian Election Study, a postal survey of 1873 voters during the 2007 poll, found that although respondents respected Howard and thought he had won the 6-week election campaign, Howard was considered "at odds with public opinion on cut-through issues", his opponent had achieved the highest "likeability" rating in the survey's 20-year history, and a majority had decided their voting intention prior to the election campaign. cite news
url=http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/05/23/1211183103011.html
title=What made battlers turn the tide
author=Mark Davis
work=The Sydney Morning Herald
publisher=Fairfax
date=2008-05-24]

After politics

In January 2008, John Howard signed with a prominent speaking agency called the Washington Speakers Bureau, joining Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and others. He will be available for two speeches, "Leadership in the New Century" and "The Global Economic Future". [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23074758-5014046,00.html Howard signs up to talk the talk | The Australian ] ] In February 2008, John Howard gave a speech to the Nigerian parliament on how to achieve economic prosperity. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/howard-talks-the-talk-in-career-speech-therapy/2008/02/18/1203190740184.html Howard switches off to tell Nigerians how to switch onndash National ] ]

Honours

* Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours list "for distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as Prime Minister and through contributions to economic and social policy reform, fostering and promoting Australia's interests internationally, and the development of significant philanthropic links between the business sector, arts and charitable organisations." [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1138585&search_type=advanced&showInd=true It's an Honour: AC] ]
* Awarded the Centenary Medal in January 2001
* Awarded the Star of the Solomon Islands together with Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark on 15 June 2005 for their respective roles in restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands.cite web | url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=23419 | title=PM awarded the Star of the Solomon Islands | publisher=Beehive | date=2005-06-20 | accessdate=2006-07-08]
* "Irving Kristol Award", the highest award of the American Enterprise Institute, 3 January 2008 [http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.27308/pub_detail.asp Australia's John Howard Receives 2008 Irving Kristol Award] AEI press release 3 January 2008 ]
* Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service in Government, 6 April 2008 [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23498136-12377,00.html Howard wins $54,000 for good PM-ing | The Australian ] ]
* Howard also received the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award from the Woodrow Wilson Center of the U.S. Smithsonian Institution on 22 August 2005 in Sydney.

ee also

*First Howard Ministry
*Second Howard Ministry
*Third Howard Ministry
*Fourth Howard Ministry

Notes

Further reading

;Publications

*cite book | last = Barnett | first = David | authorlink = David Barnett (Australian journalist) | coauthors = Goward, Pru | year = 1997 | title = John Howard, Prime Minister | publisher = Viking | id = ISBN 0-670-87389-6

*cite book | last = Cater | first = Nick | authorlink = Nick Cater | year = 2006 | title = The Howard Factor | publisher = Melbourne University Publishing | id = ISBN 0-522-85284-X

*Errington, Wayne; Van Onselen, Peter (2007). "John Winston Howard: The Biography". Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522853346

*cite book | last = Kevin | first = Tony | authorlink = Tony Kevin | year = 2004 | title = A Certain Maritime Incident the sinking of SIEV X | publisher = Scribe Publications | id = ISBN 1-920769-21-8

*cite book | last = Kingston | first = Margo | authorlink = Margo Kingston | year = 2004 | month=June | title = Not Happy, John! defending Australia's democracy | publisher = Penguin | id = ISBN 0-14-300258-9

*cite book | last = Maddox | first = Marion | authorlink = Marion Maddox | year = 2005 | month=February | title = God Under Howard: The rise of the religious right in Australian politics | publisher = Allen & Unwin | location = St Leonards | id = ISBN 1-74114-568-6

*cite book | last = Marr | first = David | authorlink = David Marr (journalist) | coauthors = Wilkinson, Marian | year = 2005 | month=August | title = Dark Victory | publisher = Allen & Unwin | location = St Leonards | id = ISBN 1-74114-447-7

*cite book | last = Wilkie | first = Andrew | authorlink = Andrew Wilkie | year = 2004 | month=October | title = Axis of deceit (Black Inc. Agenda) | publisher = Schwarz Publishing | location = Melbourne | id = ISBN 0-9750769-2-2

;Websites
*

External links

* [http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=25 Australia's Prime Ministers: John Howard] National Archives of Australia
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060518/howard_canada_060518/ John Howard addresses a joint session of parliament in Canada] , the first Australian Prime Minister to do so since John Curtin in 1944.
* [http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/2007/national/john-howard-career/index.html John Howard: A political lifendash a slideshow of John Howard's life]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20080218/howard/default.htm ABC's Four Cornersndash Howard's End video]

Persondata
NAME=Howard, John Winston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Prime Minister of Australia
DATE OF BIRTH=26 July 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sydney, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=Living
PLACE OF DEATH=