John Howard

John Howard
Howard in 2001
25th Prime Minister of Australia
In office
11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007
MonarchElizabeth II
Governors‑GeneralSir William Deane
Peter Hollingworth
Michael Jeffery
DeputyTim Fischer
John Anderson
Mark Vaile
Preceded byPaul Keating
Succeeded byKevin Rudd
Leader of the Opposition
In office
30 January 1995 – 11 March 1996
DeputyPeter Costello
Preceded byAlexander Downer
Succeeded byKim Beazley
In office
5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989
DeputyNeil Brown
Andrew Peacock
Preceded byAndrew Peacock
Succeeded byAndrew Peacock
Party Leadership
Leader of the Liberal Party
In office
30 January 1995 – 29 November 2007
DeputyPeter Costello
Preceded byAlexander Downer
Succeeded byBrendan Nelson
In office
5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989
DeputyNeil Brown
Andrew Peacock
Preceded byAndrew Peacock
Succeeded byAndrew Peacock
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office
8 April 1982 – 5 September 1985
LeaderMalcolm Fraser
Andrew Peacock
Preceded byPhillip Lynch
Succeeded byNeil Brown
Ministerial Offices
Manager of Opposition Business
In office
7 April 1993 – 31 January 1995
LeaderJohn Hewson
Preceded byWarwick Smith
Succeeded byPeter Reith
Treasurer of Australia
In office
19 November 1977 – 11 March 1983
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byPhillip Lynch
Succeeded byPaul Keating
Minister for Special Trade Negotiations
In office
17 July 1977 – 20 December 1977
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byVictor Garland
Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs
In office
22 December 1975 – 17 July 1977
Prime MinisterMalcolm Fraser
Preceded bySir Bob Cotton
Succeeded byWal Fife
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bennelong
In office
18 May 1974 – 24 November 2007
Preceded byJohn Cramer
Succeeded byMaxine McKew
Chair of the International Democrat Union
In office
10 June 2002 – 21 November 2014
Preceded byWilliam Hague
Succeeded byJohn Key
Personal details
Born
John Winston Howard

(1939-07-26) 26 July 1939 (age 85)
Earlwood, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLiberal
Other political
affiliations
Coalition
Spouse
(m. 1971)
Children3
Parents
RelativesBob Howard (brother)
Residence(s)Wollstonecraft, New South Wales[1]
EducationCanterbury Boys' High School
Alma materUniversity of Sydney (LLB)
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • Politician
  • Author
Signature

John Winston Howard OM AC SSI (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 the political spectrum, and commanded a diverse base of supporters, colloquially referred to as his "battlers".[2][3] 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.[4][5][6] Nonetheless, he has been frequently ranked within the upper-tier of Australian prime ministers by political experts and the general public.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Howard 2010, p. 35-36.
  2. ^ "Howard's battlers a broad church". The Age. 19 May 2004. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Labor, the Greens or still Howard's battlers: Explore Australia's politics of disadvantage". ABC News. 6 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Australia still plagued by destructive policies of John Howard, our worst prime minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 March 2017. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  5. ^ "John Howard's legacy is one of rising inequality". The Age. 17 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  6. ^ Seccombe, Mike (23 December 2017). "It's all John Howard's fault". The Saturday Paper. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  7. ^ Strangio, Paul (2 August 2021). "Who was Australia's best prime minister? Experts rank the winners and dunces | Australian politics | the Guardian". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  8. ^ "John Howard: The greatest PM of our time". ABC News. March 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Howard voted best PM in Newspoll". 28 February 2006. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.