John Howard is one of the most experienced members of Australia's parliament ([Phillip Ruddock]? being the most experienced), having been initially elected to the inner-suburban Sydney seat of Bennelong? in 1974. He served as a minister throughout the entire term of the Fraser government. After the Liberal Party's defeat in 1983, he became Deputy Leader of the Opposition, but in 1985 successfully challenged [Andrew Peacock]? for the leadership of the Liberal party (and thus the title of Opposition Leader). After leading the Liberals through two unsuccessful elections, he was replaced again by Peacock. Finally, Howard returned to the Liberal Party leadership in 1995 and won the subsequent 1996 and 1998, and 2001 elections.
Self-proclaimed as the "most conservative leader the Liberal Party has ever had", Howard's political vision combines a lassiez-faire economic policy, with highly conservative social views. The Howard government has emphasised a tight rein on government spending and tight restrictions on welfare (including "work for the dole" schemes that require the unemployed to participate in make-work projects).
Howard has expressed views that indicate he is opposed to an indepdendent Australian republic (Australia, although an independent nation, remains constitutionally subject to the British monarchy) He has been heavily criticised for his political positions with regard to Australia's indigenous people, and particularly for his refusals to formally apologise for the stolen generation or create a formal treaty with the indigenous population. (A landmark court case in 1992 entitled Mabo having ruled that Australia had been illegally occupied by the British in 1788).
He, and his supporters, portray him as standing up for Australia's "battlers" - the lower-middle class small-business people of the outer suburbs and provincial towns, with similarly conservative social values - against the left-leaning unionised employees, the tertiary-educated, inner-suburban elites, and welfare recipients. Howard has demonstrated considerable instincts for identifying hot-button issues with the Australian people and using them to his own political advantage, backing his instincts against sometimes heavy criticism from academia, the broadsheet media, and even from within his own party.
John Howard made highly controversial statements in August 1988, saying that Australia should limit the rate of Asian immigration. These comments lead to accusations of racism, and the resultant outcry was responsible in part for him losing the Liberal party leadership later that year. Once he became Prime Minister, a vocal minority suggested he was racist, for his failure to sufficently criticise [Pauline Hanson]?.
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Previous Australian Prime Minister: Paul Keating
Next Australian Prime Minister: not applicable (John Howard is the current office-holder)
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