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The End of a Labor Era in Australian Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Ian McAllister
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The March 1996 Australian Federal Election Was The most important Australian election for more than a decade. It resulted in the return of the Liberal-National coalition to office after thirteen years in opposition, ending a period of unprecedented Labor-initiated change, first under the leader-ship of Bob Hawke and since 1991, Paul Keating.

The election was also important because the new government will in all probability lead Australia into the new millennium and guide the country through a period of intense change in the Asia Pacific region; how the Liberal-Nationals approach the whole question of Australia's changing relationship with the world will shape Australia's future and wellbeing for decades to come. And finally, the election was notable for making John Howard prime minister during his second period as Liberal leader, a prospect that Howard himself had once ridiculed as akin to ‘Lazarus with a triple bypass’.

Type
Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 288 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1996

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References

1 Labor’s thirteen years in office was the longest period of continuous Labor government since federation in 1901. The next longest period was eight years, from 1941 to 1949.

2 More strangely, the election was notable for producing Amnesty International’s first ever prisoner of conscience in Australia, Albert Langer. Langer urged voters to use their preferences under the alternative vote electoral system to disadvantage the major parties. Under the Electoral Act, such a strategy did not invalidate a vote, but it was illegal to publicize it. When Langer breached a court injunction brought by the Australian Electoral Commission not to place any further advertisements in national newspapers outlining his strategy, he was jailed.

3 Ann Capling and Brian Galligan, Beyond the Protective State: The Political Economy of Australia’s Manufacturing Industry Policy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

4 Bell, Stephen and Head, Brian (eds), State, Economy and Public Policy in Australia, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1994.Google Scholar

5 Pusey, Michael, Economic Rationalism in Canberra, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992.Google Scholar

6 Higgott, Richard, Fenton Cooper, Andrew and Bonnor, Jenelle, ‘Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation: An Evolving Case‐Study in Leadership and Co‐operation Building’, International Journal, 45, 1990, pp. 823–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 McAllister, Ian and Vowles, Jack, ‘The Rise of New Politics and Market Liberalism in Australia and New Zealand’, British Journal of Political Science, 24, 1994, pp. 381–402.Google Scholar

8 The Liberals’ policy platform in 1993 was entitled ‘The Things that Matter’. In front of a large audience, Downer said that a recently‐released report on domestic violence should have been retitled ‘The Things that Batter’.

9 McAllister, Ian, ‘Party Adaptation and Factionalism within the Australian Party System’, American Journal of Political Science, 35, 1991, pp. 206–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 Bulletin, 16 April 1996.

11 Senators have four year terms, with half of the Senate usually being elected at every federal election. Double dissolution elections (such as have occurred in most of the recent federal elections) result in all of the Senate being elected. The 1996 election was a half‐Senate election.

12 There are several examples of party elites avoiding debate on the issue. For example, after a history professor, Geoffrey Blainey, raised the issue of Asian immigration in 1984, Michael Hodgman was removed from the shadow immigration portfolio after it appeared likely that he would take up the issues raised by Blainey. Similarly, when it looked as if Stewart West, then immigration minister, would also enter the debate in opposition to Blainey, he was replaced. In their formal policy pronouncements, parties have assiduously avoided generating controversy on the issue since multiculturalism became formal government policy in 1973. See Ian McAllister, ‘Immigration; Bipartisanship and Public Opinion’ in Jupp, James and Kabala, Marie (eds), The Politics of Immigration, Melbourne, Bureau of Immigration Research, 1993.Google ScholarPubMed

13 The Australian, 17 February 1996.

14 The Australian, 9 March 1996.

15 The Australian, 8 February 1996.

16 The Australian, 15 February 1996.

17 Because Pauline Hanson’s disendorsement took place after nominations had closed, she remained on the ballot paper as a Liberal candidate.

18 The Australian, 15 February 1996.

19 The Australian, 1 March 1996.

20 The exceptions were the Liberal victories of 1966 and 1975, which brought Harold Holt and Malcolm Fraser, respectively, to power.

21 Bulletin, 16 April 1996.

22 Rowse, Tim, After Mabo: Interpreting Indigenous Traditions, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1993.Google Scholar

23 Age, 25 April 1996.

24 Bean, Clive, ‘Public Attitudes on the Monarchy‐Republic Issue’, Australian Journal of Political Science, 28, 1993, pp. 190–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar