John Howard
| John Winston Howard | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 26 July 1939 |
| Wife | Janette Howard |
| Party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| As Prime Minister | |
| From | 11 March 1996 |
| To | |
| Succeeded | Paul Keating |
| Preceded | — |
John Winston Howard is the current Prime Minister of Australia, and leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. He has been Prime Minister since the Liberal Party won a majority in the House of Representatives at the general election in 1996 (in coalition with the smaller National Party), succeeding Paul Keating.
John Howard married Janette Parker in 1971, and they have a daughter and two sons.
Political life
Howard had been a parliamentarian for 22 years before becoming the Prime Minister, and for 21 of those years he was on the ministerial benches, including roles as Treasurer and Opposition Leader.
During his term as Prime Minister, he has tightened controls on firearms, began privatisation of the national communications provider, Telstra, introduced a 10% Goods and services tax to replace various other taxes, and brought in new labour laws allowing for employee contracts meeting certain minimum standards. Although opposed to the idea, he also introduced a referendum on Australia becoming a republic, which was defeated.
Howard has been very supportive of the war in Iraq, and Australia has been a steadfast supporter of the coalition of the willing, although this has also brought much opposition against him.
Recent political controversies
The resignation of Santo Santoro as Minister of Ageing following his public admission to share trading in breach of Howard's Ministerial Code of Conduct has resulted in adverse publicity to Howard. The week prior to the resignation Howard had publicly supported the former Minister when he had admitted to one breach of the code. Santoro admitted a week later that he had committed a further 72 breaches which resulted in the withdrawal of support from the Prime Minister. Bob Quinn, the former leader of the opposition in the Queensland State Parliament is the current front-runner for the Senate seat vacated by the sudden resignation of Mr Santoro.
The prosecution of David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay continues to be a political issue for Howard.
The popularity of Howard has been at an all-time low since the opposition has been headed by Kevin Rudd although it seems as 2007 progresses this gap in the polls has lessened. A general election must be called before the end of 2007.
Sources
- National Museum of Australia, John Howard
| Australian Prime Ministers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Barton (1901) Alfred Deakin (1903, 1905, and 1909) |
Stanley Bruce (1923) James Scullin (1929) |
Francis Forde (1945) Joseph Chifley (1945) |
Malcolm Fraser (1975) Robert Hawke (1983) |
