John Howard
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An editor thinks that this article may not be neutral. (April 2009) |
| The Honourable John Howard OM AC SSI |
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| John Howard in the United States in 1997 | |
| 25th Prime Minister of Australia | |
| In office 11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Sir William Deane Peter Hollingworth Michael Jeffery |
| Deputy | Tim Fischer John Anderson Mark Vaile |
| Preceded by | Paul Keating |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Rudd |
| 29th Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 19 November 1977 – 11 March 1983 |
|
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Fraser |
| Preceded by | Phillip Lynch |
| Succeeded by | Paul Keating |
| 22nd Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989 |
|
| Deputy | Neil Brown Andrew Peacock |
| Preceded by | Andrew Peacock |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Peacock |
| In office 30 January 1995 – 11 March 1996 |
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| Deputy | Peter Costello |
| Preceded by | Alexander Downer |
| Succeeded by | Kim Beazley |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Bennelong |
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| In office 18 May 1974 – 24 November 2007 |
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| Preceded by | John Cramer |
| Succeeded by | Maxine McKew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 July 1939 Sydney, New South Wales |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Other political affiliations |
Coalition |
| Spouse(s) | Janette Parker |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Signature |  |
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939)[1] is a former Australian politician who was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia.[2] John Howard is a member of the Liberal Party. John Howard was the leader of Australia from 1996, when he won the election against Paul Keating of the Labor Party, until 2007 when he lost the election to Kevin Rudd of the Labor Party. John Howard is the second longest serving leader of Australia. He served for 11 years, and Robert Menzies is the longest serving leader of Australia who served for 18 years.[2] Janette Parker, a school teacher, married John Howard in 1971.[3]
John Howard was a lawyer before he became a politician.[1] He was in parliament from 1974 until 2007. From 1977 to 1983 he was the Treasurer in Malcolm Fraser's government.[1] Malcolm Fraser lost the 1983 election to Bob Hawke.
In 1995, the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, was not popular after 13 years of Labor government and in 1996 John Howard became Prime Minister of Australia.
One of the first things he did was get together all the governments in Australia to ban many kinds of dangerous guns in 1997. A man went on a shooting spree in Tasmania in 1996 and killed many people for no reason, so the Howard Government said nobody except farmers really needs certain guns in modern Australia. In 1998, Howard and his Treasurer, Peter Costello took a big tax reform (the GST) to the election and won. In 1999 John Howard's government held a referendum on whether Australia should become a republic and have a President instead of a Queen. However, John Howard did not support the referendum and urged people to vote no. The Australian Labor Party opposition led by Kim Beazley criticised John Howard's handling of the 1998 Australian Waterfront Dispute.
In 1999, Howard led a United Nations force into East Timor (INTERFET), to help them set up an independent democracy.
After the September 11 attacks, John Howard was involved in world issues. He was close with George W. Bush who was the leader of the United States. George Bush called John Howard a "key ally". John Howard sent SAS troops to Afghanistan and Iraq to support the United States, and signed a free trade agreement with the United States. Despite this alliance, Australia remained fairly neutral on Israel and Palestine.
Like before Howard, Australian trade with Asia got bigger while John Howard was leader. He invited the Chinese leader Hu Jintao to speak to the Australian Parliament for the first time. After the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, John Howard called the President of Indonesia and offered a billion dollars to help. John Howard increased immigration a lot and people came to Australia from all over the world, but he tried to stop boats of people coming without asking for visas first.
Australia was successful while John Howard was leader. In 2005, he made it easier for bosses to get rid of workers by introducing the controversial WorkChoices industrial legislation introduced by his Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews upset people and the Labor Party became more popular. On 24 November 2007, Kevin Rudd won an election and John Howard stopped being Prime Minister. John Howard also lost his seat in the Parliament to the Labor Party candidate Maxine McKew a former ABC TV journalist.[4]
References [change]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Howard". primeministers.naa.gov.au. http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/fastfacts.asp?pmSelectName=25. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Australia's Prime Ministers - Meet a PM - Howard". primeministers.naa.gov.au. http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=25. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
- ↑ http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/howard/spouse.aspx
- ↑ "How Labor's machine won Asian votes for McKew - National - smh.com.au". smh.com.au. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/12/12/1197135558234.html. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
| Prime Ministers of Australia |  |
|---|---|
| Barton | Deakin | Watson | Reid | Fisher | Cook | Hughes | Bruce | Scullin | Lyons | Page | Menzies | Fadden | Curtin | Forde | Chifley | Holt | McEwen | Gorton | McMahon | Whitlam | Fraser | Hawke | Keating | Howard | Rudd | Gillard | |
