John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939)[2] is an Australian former politician who served as the 25thprime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of theLiberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history, after that ofRobert Menzies.
In Howard's third term in office, Australia contributed troops to theWar in Afghanistan and theIraq War, and led theInternational Force for East Timor. The Coalition was re-elected once more at the2004 federal election. In his final term in office, his government introduced industrial relations reforms known asWorkChoices, which proved controversial and unpopular with the public. The Howard government was defeated at the2007 federal election, with the Labor Party'sKevin Rudd succeeding him as prime minister. Howard also lost his own seat of Bennelong at the election toMaxine McKew, becoming only the second prime minister to do so, afterStanley Bruce at the1929 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".[3][4] 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.[5][6][7] Nonetheless, he has been frequentlyranked within the upper-tier of Australian prime ministers by political experts and the general public.[8][9][10]
Early life and education
Young Howard, 1940s
Howard is the fourth son of Monanée Kell andLyall Howard, who married in 1925. Howard was also known as "Jack" in his youth.[11] His older brothers were Walter (1926–2019), Stanley (1930–2014) andRobert (b. 1936). Lyall Howard was an admirer ofWinston Churchill.[12] Howard's ancestors were English, Scottish, and Irish.[13] He is descended fromconvict William Tooley, who wastransported to New South Wales in 1816 for stealing a watch.[14]
Howard was born and raised in theSydney suburb ofEarlwood, in aMethodist family.[15][16] His mother had been an office worker until her marriage, while his father and his paternal grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of theFirst Australian Imperial Force in theFirst World War. They also ran twoDulwich Hill petrol stations where Howard worked as a boy.[17] In 1955, when Howard was aged 16, his father died, leaving his mother to take care of him.[18]
Howard suffered a hearing impairment in his youth, leaving him with a slightspeech impediment,[19][failed verification] 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 abarrister as a likely career.[20]
Howard attended Earlwood Primary School andCanterbury Boys' High School.[11] He won a citizenship prize in his final year at Earlwood (presented by local politicianEric Willis), and subsequently represented his secondary school at debating as well ascricket andrugby union.[21] Cricket remained a lifelong hobby.[15] In his final year at school he took part in a radio show hosted byJack Davey,Give It a Go, broadcast on the commercial radio station,2GB.[22] After gaining hisLeaving Certificate, he studied law at theUniversity of Sydney, graduating with aBachelor of Laws degree in 1962.[11] Howard began working for the firm of Stephen Jaques and Stephen as a junior solicitor.[23] In 1964, he took a trip around the world, visiting Britain, Europe, Israel, India, and Singapore.[24] After returning to Sydney in 1965, he began working forClayton Utz, but"lacked the university grades and the social connections to be on track for a partnership".[attribution needed] He subsequently moved to a smaller firm, which became Truman, Nelson and Howard after he was made a partner.[25]
Early political career
Howard joined theLiberal Party in 1957. He was a member of the party's New South Wales state executive and was federal president of theYoung Liberals (the party youth organisation) from 1962 to 1964.[26] Howard supportedAustralia's involvement in theVietnam War, although has since said there were "aspects of it that could have been handled and explained differently".[27]
Howard in 1974, the year of his first election to parliament
In December 1977, aged 38, Howard was appointedTreasurer,[30] in place ofPhillip Lynch.[32] He was the youngest Treasurer sinceChris 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".[34]During his five years in the position, Howard became an adherent offree-market economics,[35] which was challenging economic orthodoxies in place for most of the century.[36] He came to favour tax reform including broad-based taxation (later theGST), a freer industrial system including the dismantling of the centralised wage-fixing system, the abolition of compulsorytrade unionism, privatisation and deregulation.[15]
In 1978, the Fraser government instigated the Campbell Committee to investigate financial system reforms.[37] Howard supported the Campbell report, but adopted an incremental approach with Cabinet, as there was wide opposition to deregulation within the government and the treasury.[37][38] The process of reform began before the committee reported 21⁄2 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 the float of the Australian dollar in 1983."[39] 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.[40] After the free-marketeers or "drys" of the Liberals challenged the protectionist policies ofMinister for Industry and CommercePhillip Lynch, they shifted their loyalties to Howard. Following an unsuccessful leadership challenge byAndrew Peacock to unseat Fraser as prime minister, Howard waselected 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.[41]
The economic crises of the early 1980s brought Howard into conflict with theKeynesian 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 advisorJohn Hewson, he decided to"tough it out".[attribution needed][36] The 1982 wages explosion—wages rose 16 per cent across the country—resulted instagflation; unemployment touched double-digits and inflation peaked at 12.5% (official interest rates peaked at 21%).[42]
The Fraser government with Howard as Treasurer lost the1983 election to the Labor Party led byBob 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, a broadly based indirect tax, and the rejection of counter-cyclical fiscal policy.[43]
Opposition
Following the defeat of the Fraser government and Fraser's subsequent resignation from parliament, Howard contested the Liberal leadership againstAndrew Peacock,losing 36–20. However, he was re-elected as deputy leader. The Liberal Party were again defeated by Labor at the early1984 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 the leadership. Following Howard's refusal to offer such an assurance, Peacock sought, in September 1985, to replace him withJohn Moore as deputy leader.[44] The party room re-elected Howard as deputy on 5 September 38 votes to 31, which Peacock treated as avote of no confidence in his leadership. He subsequently calleda leadership ballot, which he chose not to contest. Howard defeatedJim Carlton by 57 votes to six, thus becoming Leader of the Opposition.[45][46][47]
Howard was in effect the Liberal party's first pro-market leader in the conservativeCoalition and spent the next two years working to revise Liberal policy away from that of Fraser's.[48] In his own words he was an "economic radical" and asocial conservative.[49] Referring to the pro-market liberalism of the 1980s, Howard said in July 1986 that "The times will suit me".[50] That year 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.[50] In response to the economic circumstances, Howard persistently attacked the Labor government and offered his free-market reform agenda.[50] Support for the Labor Party and Hawke strengthened in 1985 and 1986 and Howard's approval ratings dropped in the face of infighting between Howard and Peacock supporters, a"public manifestation of disunity"[attribution needed] over policy positions, and questions over Howard's leadership.[44]
Hawke called the1987 federal election six months early. In addition to the Howard–Peacock rivalry, Queensland National Party criticism of the federal Liberal and National leadership[48] culminated in longtimeQueensland PremierJoh Bjelke-Petersen making a bid to become prime minister himself—the "Joh for Canberra" campaign. Keating campaigned against Howard's proposed tax changes forcing Howard to admit adouble-counting in the proposal,[51] 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 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 a result, the Hawke government was handily reelected, winning the most seats that Labor had ever won in an election.[52]
Social agenda
In his social agenda, Howard promoted the traditional family and was antipathetic to the promotion ofmulticulturalism at the expense of a shared Australian identity.[53] The controversial immigration policy,One Australia, outlined a vision of "one nation and one future" and opposed multiculturalism.[49] Howard publicly suggested that to support "social cohesion" the rate of Asian immigration be "slowed down a little".[54] 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 MPscrossed 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. Multiple Liberals later nominated the issue as instrumental in Howard subsequently losing the leadership in 1989.[55] In a 1995 newspaper article (and in 2002 as prime minister), Howard recanted his 1988 remarks on curbing Asian immigration.[56][57]
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"[49] and commented "I don't think it 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."[58] Howard is opposed to abortion and voted against theRU-486 abortion drug being legalised.[59][60]
Loss of the leadership
As thecountry's economic position worsened in 1989, public opinion moved away from Labor, however there was no firm opinion poll lead for Howard or the Coalition.[61] 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,[51] and in May asurprise 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".[62] The loss of the Liberal Party leadership to Peacock deeply affected Howard, who admitted he would occasionally drink too much.[63] 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.[64]
Following the Coalition's1990 election loss, Howard considered challenging Peacock for the leadership, but didn't have enough support for a bid. Ultimately, Peacock resigned and was replaced with Howard's former stafferJohn Hewson who defeatedPeter Reith; Peacock supported Hewson as a symbol ofgenerational change.[65] Howard was a supporter of Hewson's economic program, with aGoods and Services Tax (GST) as its centrepiece. Howard was Shadow Minister for Industrial relations and oversaw Jobsback section of Fightback. After Hewson lost the "unloseable"1993 election toPaul Keating, Howard unsuccessfullychallenged Hewson for the leadership. In 1994, he was again passed over for the leadership, which went toAlexander Downer. Hewson had pledged to resign if defeated in 1993 but did not resign to block Howard from succeeding him.[66]
Leader of the Opposition (1995–1996)
In January 1995, leaked internal Liberal Party polling showed that with gaffe-prone Downer as leader, 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 waselected unopposed to replace him.[57] TheCoalition subsequently opened a large lead over Labor in most opinion polls, and Howard overtookPaul Keating as preferred prime minister. Hoping to avoid a repeat of mistakes made at the 1993 election, Howard revised his earlier statements againstMedicare and Asian immigration, describing Australia as "a unique intersection between Europe, North America and Asia".[27][56] 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 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.[67][68]
Prime minister
Howard in June 1997, just over a year after becoming prime minister
By the time the writs were issued for the1996 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.[69]
With the support of some 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 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.[70]
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 the age of 56, he was sworn in as prime minister on 11 March 1996, ending a record 13 years of Coalition opposition.[32] Howard departed from tradition and made his primary residenceKirribilli House in Sydney rather thanThe Lodge in Canberra.[71] Early in the term Howard had championed significant new restrictions on gun ownership following thePort Arthur massacre in which 35 people had been shot dead. Achieving agreement in 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.[72][73][74][75]
Howard's initial silence on the views ofPauline 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.[76] 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 a Liberal if elected.[77] Howard repudiated Hanson's views seven months after her maiden speech.[76]
Following theWik Decision of the High Court in 1996, the Howard government moved swiftly to legislate limitations on its possible implications through the so-calledTen-Point Plan.[citation needed]
Howard and US Secretary of DefenseWilliam Cohen in 1997
From 1997, Howard spearheaded the Coalition push to introduce aGoods and Services Tax (GST) at the subsequent election; this was despite saying, before winning the prime ministership, that it would "never ever" be part of Coalition policy.[78] 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.[79] The1998 election was dubbed a "referendum on the GST", and the tax changes—including the GST—were implemented in the government's second term after amendments to the legislation were negotiated with theAustralian Democrats to ensure its passage through the Senate.[80]
Through much of its first term, opinion polling was disappointing for the government.[81][82][83] The popularity of Pauline Hanson, and the new restrictions on gun ownership drew multiple traditionally Coalition voters away from 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 the1998 waterfront dispute, the partial sale of government telecommunications companyTelstra, and the Government's commitment to a GST.[84]
Howard called asnap 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 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.[80]
Second term
In 1998, Howard convened aconstitutional convention which decided in principle that Australia shouldbecome 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 theAustralian constitutional monarchy.[85] Despite opinion polls suggesting Australians favoured a republic, a1999 referendum rejected the model chosen by the convention.[86] The newPresident of Indonesia,B.J. Habibie, had some months earlier agreed to grant special autonomy toIndonesian-occupiedEast Timor. However, following the receipt of a letter sent by Howard to Habibie suggesting that a referendum be held, Habibie made a snap decision to hold a vote on independence.[87][88] 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), afterpro-Indonesia militia launched a violent "scorched-earth" campaign in retaliation to the referendum's overwhelming vote in favour of independence. The successful mission was widely supported by Australian voters, but the government was criticised[who?] 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 $1bnBoxing Day Tsunami relief efforts, and were assisted by good relations between Howard and Indonesian presidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono.[89]
Throughout his prime-ministership, Howard was resolute in his refusal to provide a parliamentary "apology" toIndigenous Australians as recommended by the 1997 "Bringing Them Home" Report. Howard made a personal apology before the release of the report.[90]
In 1999, Howard negotiated a "Motion of Reconciliation" with Aboriginal SenatorAden Ridgeway. Eschewing use of the word "sorry", the motion recognised mistreatment of Aborigines as the "most blemished chapter" in Australia's history; offered "deep and sincereregret" for past injustices.[91] Following his 2007 loss of the prime ministership, Howard was the only living former prime minister who declined to attend theFebruary 2008 apology made byKevin Rudd with bi-partisan support.[92]
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 the question of retirement when he turned 64.[93] 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.[94][95] 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 the Government would lose office in the election later that year.[96] 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 theTampa affair where Howard refused the landing of asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian freighter, and theChildren Overboard affair where Howard misguided the public by falsy claiming children were being thrown from boats in a presumed ploy to secure rescue, consolidated the improving polls for the government, as did the11 September 2001 attacks.[97] Howard led the government to victory in the2001 federal election with an increased majority.[98][99][100]
Third term
Howard had first metUS PresidentGeorge W. Bush in the days before the 11 September terrorist attacks and was in Washington the morning of the attacks.[101] In response to the attacks, Howard invoked theANZUS Treaty. In October 2001, he committed Australian military personnel to theWar in Afghanistan despite widespread opposition. Howard developed a strong personal relationship with the President,[102] 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'sPrairie Chapel Ranch in Texas, after which Bush said that Howard "...is not only a man of steel, he's showed the world he's a man of heart."[103]
Howard maintained a strong friendship with US PresidentGeorge W. Bush
In April 2002, Howard was the first Australian prime minister to attend a royal funeral, that ofQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In October, Howard responded to the2002 Bali bombing with calls for solidarity.[104] Howard re-dedicated his government to the "war on terror".
In March 2003, Australia joined the US-led "Multinational force in Iraq" insending 2,000 troops and naval units to support in theinvasion 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.[105] While opinion polls showed that opposition to the war without UN backing was between 48 and 92 per cent,[106] Howard remained preferred prime-minister over the Leader of the Opposition,Simon Crean, although his approval ratings were lower compared to before the war.[107][108]
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 andMark Latham was elected leader. Howard calledan election for 9 October 2004. While the government was behind Labor in the opinion polls, Howard himself had 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.[109] Howard attacked Latham's economic record as Mayor ofLiverpool City Council and attacked Labor's economic history.[110] 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 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.[111] On 21 December 2004, Howard overtookBob Hawke to become the second longest-serving Australian prime minister afterSir Robert Menzies.[112]
Fourth term
Howard with Russian presidentVladimir Putin at the 2007 APEC Summit
In 2006, with 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 the government's 2007 election loss.[72][113][114]
In April 2006, the government announced it had completely paid off the last of $96 billion of Commonwealth net debt inherited when it came to power in 1996.[115] By 2007, Howard had been in office for 11 of the 15 years of consecutive annual growth for the Australian economy. Unemployment had fallen from 8.1% at the start of his term to 4.1% in 2007,[116][117] and average weekly earnings grew 24.4% in real terms.[118][119] During his prime ministership, opinion polling consistently showed that a majority of the electorate thought his government were better to handle the economy than the Opposition.[120]
Howard in 2006
In 2006,Ian McLachlan andPeter Costello said that under a 1994 deal between Howard and Costello, Howard would serve one and a half terms as prime minister if the Coalition won the next election before stepping aside to allow Costello to take over. Howard denied that this constituted a deal;[121][122][123] Citing strong party room support for him as leader, Howard stated later that month that he would remain to contest the 2007 election.[124] Six weeks before the election, Howard indicated he would stand down during the next term, and anointed Costello as his successor.[125] The Coalition trailed Labor in opinion polls from mid-2006 onward, but Howard still consistently led Labor leaderKim Beazley on the question of preferred prime minister.[126] In December 2006, afterKevin Rudd became Labor leader, the two-party preferred deficit widened even further and Rudd swiftly overtook Howard as preferred prime minister. Howard chairedAPEC Australia 2007, culminating in theAPEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Sydney during September.[127] The meeting was at times overshadowed by further leadership speculation following continued poor poll results.[128]
In May 2006, the degradation of Aboriginal communities, and the frequentchild sexual abuses that occurred within these, was brought to the forefront of the public's mind. In response to this,a report into child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory was commissioned. Following this, there was anintervention into these Northern Territory communities. This received widespread criticism, with some holding that it was no more than another attempt to control these communities. Howard was not exempt from this criticism on the grounds of racism.[129]
Howard supported the Bush administration's2007 surge strategy in Iraq, and criticised Democrat US presidential candidateBarack Obama for calling for a complete withdrawal of Coalition troops by March 2008.[130]
Leading up to the24 November election, the Coalition had been behind Labor in the polls for almost two years, a margin that grew even larger after Rudd became opposition leader. In the election, Howard and his government were defeated, suffering a 23-seat swing to Labor, which was almost as large as the 29-seat swing that propelled him to power in 1996. During the election campaign he was targeted by protesters including the John Howard Ladies Auxiliary Fanclub.[131] Howard lost his seat of Bennelong to former journalistMaxine McKew with 44,685 votes (51.4 per cent) to Howard's 42,251 (48.6 per cent). The latest redistribution placed Bennelong right on the edge of seats Labor needed to win to make Rudd prime minister. The ABC actually listed Bennelong as a Labor gain on election night.[132][133] However, the result remained in doubt for a few days after the election. The final tally indicated that McKew defeated Howard on the 14th count due to a large flow ofGreen preferences to her; 3,793 (78.84 per cent) of Green voters listed McKew as their second preference.[134] Howard was only the second Australian prime minister to lose his seat in an election sinceStanley Bruce in 1929.[135] He remained in office as caretaker prime minister until the formal swearing in of Rudd's government on 3 December.[136]
Media analysis of The Australian Election Study, a postal survey of 1,873 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 before the election campaign.[137]
In January 2008, Howard signed with the speaking agency called the Washington Speakers Bureau, joiningTony Blair,Colin Powell,Madeleine Albright, and others. He was available for two speeches,Leadership in the New Century andThe Global Economic Future.[138]
The Australian and New Zealand cricket boards unsuccessfully nominated Howard as their candidate for president of theInternational Cricket Council (ICC).[139] Howard was the chairman of theInternational Democrat Union (IDU), a body of international conservative political parties, between 2002 and 2014,[140][141] when he was succeeded byJohn Key ofNew Zealand.[142] In 2008, he was appointed a director of the foundation established to preserve the legacy ofDonald Bradman.[143]
In February 2019, Howard provided a character reference forCardinalGeorge Pell, a senior leader of theCatholic Church in Australia and formerVatican Treasurer, whoseconviction on five counts of child sexual abuse while Archbishop of Melbourne was later overturned by the High Court.[148][149][150] Howard's character reference followed Pell's convictions, and was provided along with nine others[151] to support Pell's barrister's submissions in the pre-sentencing hearing.[152]
In July 2023, ahead of theAustralian Indigenous Voice referendum, Howard said that "the luckiest thing that happened to this country was being colonised by the British. Not that they were perfect by any means, but they were infinitely more successful and beneficent colonisers than other European countries".[154]
26 January 2008:Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) "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".[158]
Israel 30 November 2008 – present:Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Honorary Doctorate for "outstanding statesmanship and leading role on the world stage in promoting democracy and combating international terrorism" and his "remarkable understanding of, and exceptional support for, the State of Israel and his deep friendship with the Australian Jewish community".[171]
^ab"Australian Political Chronicle January-June, 1987".Australian Journal of Politics & History.33 (3):279–310. 7 April 2008.doi:10.1111/j.1467-8497.1987.tb00153.x.
^Welch, Dylan (13 February 2008),"Kevin Rudd says sorry"(online briefing),The Sydney Morning Herald,archived from the original on 27 February 2010, retrieved22 February 2008
^"When I'm 64: Howard",The 7:30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5 October 2001,archived from the original on 14 October 2007, retrieved29 August 2007
^Wear, Rae (December 2001). "Commonwealth of Australia January to June 2001".Australian Journal of Politics and History.47 (4):531–593.doi:10.1111/1467-8497.00244.
^When it was reported that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, 70% of Australians believed Howard misled them with most believing he did so unintentionally.
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Gulmanelli, Stefano. "John Howard and the ‘Anglospherist’ reshaping of Australia."Australian Journal of Political Science 49#4 (2014): 581–595.
Septiana, Sena, et al. "Public Policy Analysis in the Field of National Security: A Study on the Securitization of Illegal Asylum Seekers During the John Howard Administration in Australia."Jurnal Public Policy 8.4 (2022): 255-263.online
Briggs, Jamie (January 2011). "Howard's way [Book Review]".The Institute of Public Affairs Review: A Quarterly Review of Politics and Public Affairs.63 (1):64–68.ISSN1329-8100.
Blainey, Geoffrey (2010). "Quiet lessons for the political beginner - and a clip round the ear for senior players: [Howard, John. Lazarus Rising: A Personal and Political Autobiography (2010). John Howard's autobiography shows he is still slightly surprised by the measure of his success]".The Spectator.314 (9505):viii–ix.ISSN0038-6952.
Romei, Stephen (13–14 August 2011). "Lazarus writing: four years after his political demise, John Howard has risen again as the relaxed and comfortable author of Australia's bestselling political memoir".The Australian. Canberra, A.C.T. pp. 12–15.ISSN1038-8761.
Salusinszky, Imre (2010). "Triumph of an ordinary man [Book review of Howard, John. Lazarus Rising (2010)]".The Australian. Vol. 5, no. 10. Canberra, A.C.T. pp. 5–6.ISSN1038-8761.
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