220-590: Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1983–1991) Ministries Elections Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions from 1969 to 1980 and president of
440-590: A Master of Laws (LL.M.) in 1918. He did, however, fail Latin in his first year. One of his prize-winning essays, The Rule of Law During the War , was published as a brochure with an introduction by Harrison Moore , the law school dean. In 1916, Menzies was elected president of the Student Representatives' Council and editor of the Melbourne University Magazine . He wrote both prose and poetry for
660-567: A leadership challenge by the Treasurer , Paul Keating , but Hawke managed to retain power; however, Keating mounted a second challenge six months later, and won narrowly, replacing Hawke as prime minister. Hawke subsequently retired from parliament, pursuing both a business career and a number of charitable causes, until his death in 2019, aged 89. Hawke remains his party's longest-serving Prime Minister, and Australia's third-longest-serving prime minister behind Robert Menzies and John Howard . He
880-499: A 3.1% swing against the national trend, although he fell short of ousting longtime Liberal incumbent Hubert Opperman . Hawke rejected several opportunities to enter Parliament throughout the 1970s, something he later wrote that he "regretted". He eventually stood for election to the House of Representatives at the 1980 election for the safe Melbourne seat of Wills , winning it comfortably. Immediately upon his election to Parliament, Hawke
1100-522: A Day . In retaliation, unions grounded Sinatra's private jet in Melbourne, demanding he apologise. The popular view was that Mr Hawke engaged in protracted, boozy negotiations with Ol' Blue Eyes to reach a settlement. The [diplomatic] cables say the US embassy reached a deal with Mr Hawke to end the standoff, no apology was sought from Sinatra and that most of Mr Hawke's time was spent with the singer's lawyer. Hawke
1320-484: A Jobs, Education and Training Program (JET) for sole parents was launched, comprising a package of measures aimed at liberalising income tests measures, ensuring access to child care, and upgrading the skills of single parents. This reform (which haws introduced with the intention of combating high levels of poverty amongst single parents) helped to enable many single parents to take on part-time work and increase their earnings. Between 1986 and 1996, according to one estimate,
1540-479: A biography of Hawke. His popularity with the public was, if anything, enhanced by this period of rehabilitation, and opinion polling suggested that he was a more popular public figure than either Labor Leader Bill Hayden or Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser . During the period of 1973 to 1979, Hawke acted as an informant for the United States government. According to Coventry, Hawke as concurrent leader of
1760-460: A close relationship with the United States, assisted by Hawke's close friendship with US Secretary of State George Shultz ; this led to a degree of controversy when the Government supported the US's plans to test ballistic missiles off the coast of Tasmania in 1985, as well as seeking to overturn Australia's long-standing ban on uranium exports. Although the US ultimately withdrew the plans to test
1980-530: A critical condition for several days. This near-death experience acted as his catalyst, driving him to make the most of his talents and not let his abilities go to waste. He joined the Labor Party in 1947 at the age of eighteen. Hawke was educated at West Leederville State School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia , graduating in 1952 with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. He
2200-711: A decision he soon regretted. After Labor was defeated at the election, Whitlam initially offered the leadership to Hawke, although it was not within Whitlam's power to decide who would succeed him. Despite not taking on the offer, Hawke remained influential, playing a key role in averting national strike action. During the 1977 federal election , he emerged as a strident opponent of accepting Vietnamese boat people as refugees into Australia, stating that they should be subject to normal immigration requirements and should otherwise be deported. He further stated only refugees selected off-shore should be accepted. Hawke resigned as President of
2420-477: A decrease in both inflation and unemployment through to 1990. Criticisms of the Accord would come from both the right and the left of politics. Left-wing critics claimed that it kept real wages stagnant, and that the Accord was a policy of class collaboration and corporatism . By contrast, right-wing critics claimed that the Accord reduced the flexibility of the wages system. Supporters of the Accord, however, pointed to
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#17328456176812640-571: A family like the Browns would receive $ 93.10 in family payment and up to $ 40 a week in rent assistance. You put this in perspective; such a family would have received assistance worth about 4 per cent of average weekly ordinary time earnings in November 1982, but 20 per cent of such earnings in early 1996. We are thus talking about very major changes in the amount of assistance available to low-income working families with children. The Hawke government carried out
2860-401: A five-shilling increase. The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke. He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as an ACTU advocate that, in 1969, he was encouraged to run for the position of ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union. He was elected ACTU President in 1969 on
3080-599: A hero's welcome. However, his support in Parliament was less certain. Not only did some Coalition MPs doubt his popularity in the electorate, but they also believed that a national unity government was the only long-term solution. Menzies's reputation was badly damaged by the failure of the Allied expedition to Greece, in which Australian troops played a prominent role. The Australian Worker newspaper in an editorial on 11 June 1941 attacked Menzies for having "too readily acquiesced in
3300-646: A major public stand after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre ; despite having spent years trying to get closer relations with China, Hawke gave a tearful address on national television describing the massacre in graphic detail, and unilaterally offered asylum to over 42,000 Chinese students who were living in Australia at the time, many of whom had publicly supported the Tiananmen protesters. Hawke did so without even consulting his Cabinet, stating later that he felt he simply had to act. The Hawke government pursued
3520-512: A modernising platform by the narrow margin of 399 to 350, with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the Communist Party of Australia . He later credited Ray Gietzelt , General Secretary of the FMWU , as the single most significant union figure in helping him achieve this outcome. Questioned after his election on his political stance, Hawke stated that "socialist
3740-553: A national unity government, but Labor turned the offer down. With his position now untenable, Menzies resigned the prime ministership on 27 August 1941. A joint UAP-Country Party conference chose Country Party leader Arthur Fadden as Coalition leader—and hence Prime Minister—even though the Country Party was the junior partner in the Coalition. Menzies was bitter about this treatment from his colleagues, and nearly left politics, but
3960-869: A non-racially biased team for the rugby union tour , with the intention of unions agreeing not to serve the team in Australia. Prior to arrival, the Western Australian branch of the Transport Workers' Union , and the Barmaids' and Barmens' Union, announced that they would serve the team, which allowed the Springboks to land in Perth. The tour commenced on 26 June and riots occurred as anti-apartheid protesters disrupted games. Hawke and his family started to receive malicious mail and phone calls from people who thought that sport and politics should not mix. Hawke remained committed to
4180-734: A number of Italian capital ships at anchor at the Italian base at Taranto. In December 1940, Menzies sent Churchill a letter expressing concern that the Imperial Japanese Navy might likewise use air power to cripple the Singapore base. In the same letter, Menzies asked Churchill to activate the Singapore strategy by stationing at least three or four capital ships at Singapore. In response, Churchill wrote back to Menzies that to say he would not have capital ships "sitting idle" at Singapore and that to transfer capital ships to Singapore would mean "ruining
4400-479: A number of government decisions. Hawke was also subject to challenges from some former colleagues in the trade union movement over his "confrontationalist style" in siding with the airline companies in the 1989 Australian pilots' strike . Hawke government Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1983–1991) Ministries Elections The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of
4620-663: A number of government decisions. He has also received criticism for his 'confrontationalist style' in siding with the airlines in the 1989 Australian pilots' strike . The Hawke government did, however, significantly increase the social wage as part of its Accord with the trade unions, a social democratic policy continued by the Keating government. Improvements to the social wage included improved affordability of and access to key services such as health and child-care and health, together with large increases to payments for low-wage and jobless families with children. Indexation of child payments
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#17328456176814840-409: A peace agreement had failed, and that war was now an inevitability. In his Declaration of War broadcast on 3 September 1939, Menzies explained the dramatic turn of events over the past twelve months necessitating this change of course: In those past 12 months, what has happened? in cold-blooded breach of the solemn obligations implied in both the statements I have quoted, Hitler has annexed the whole of
5060-729: A per-student basis, the increase in Commonwealth funding amounted to 136% for government schools and 71% for non-government schools. A Participation and Equity Program was also established which provided around $ 250 million mainly to schools with low retention to the end of secondary education from 1983 to 1987. Student numbers in training and vocational education (mainly in TAFE colleges) rose by over 25% under Hawke. University enrolments rose by almost 57%, from 357,000 in 1984 to 559,000 in 1992. The percentage of students in secondary education rose substantially, from 35% in 1982 to 77% in 1992, partly as
5280-450: A percentage fall in real money wages from 1983 to 1991, the social wage of Australian workers was argued by the Government to have improved drastically as a result of these reforms, and the ensuing decline in inflation. The Accord was revisited six further times during the Hawke government, each time in response to new economic developments. The seventh and final revisiting would ultimately lead to
5500-628: A professional soldier, he would never have sent the Australians to Greece. Matters came to a head in August, when the cabinet voted to have Menzies return to London to speak for Australia's interests in the War Cabinet. However, since Labor and the Coalition were level (both sides had 36 MPs), Menzies needed the support of the Labor Party in order to travel to Britain. Amid rumours that Menzies's real intention
5720-688: A result of greater financial assistance to students from low-income backgrounds. In 1989, the Hawke Labor government gradually re-introducing fees for university study. It set up the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS), which was first proposed by Professor Murray Wells and subsequently developed by economist and lecturer at the Australian National University , Bruce Chapman and championed by Education Minister John Dawkins (see Dawkins Revolution ). Under
5940-625: A scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the area of arbitration law in the law department at the Australian National University in Canberra . Soon after his arrival at ANU, he became the students' representative on the University Council. A year later, he was recommended to the President of the ACTU to become a research officer, replacing Harold Souter who had become ACTU Secretary. The recommendation
6160-513: A series of other measures during its time in office. Upon taking office in 1983, a Community Employment Program was set up, providing a large number of work experience opportunities in the public and non-profit sectors. Together with smaller programs such as the Community Youth Support scheme (CYSS), this played a major role in both alleviating and reversing the effects of the 1982 economic recession. A Home and Community Care Program (HACC)
6380-470: A sufficiently patriotic contribution to the war effort, and that the family's interests would be served best by Robert continuing his academic career. Another reason for keeping one of the elder sons home was the health of their father, James, who was physically unwell and emotionally unstable at the time. It has been noted that, as a student, Menzies supported the introduction of compulsory overseas conscription , which if implemented would have made him one of
6600-624: A threat from Japan. A war with Germany would require the majority of the Royal Navy's ships to stay within European waters, and an inability to execute the Singapore strategy as planned was widely feared in Canberra to be a strong encouragement for Japan to strike south against Australia. However, Menzies had a strong faith in the ability of Neville Chamberlain to handle the Danzig crisis. Menzies believed that
6820-666: A treaty, such as financial compensation , and no such treaty was ever concluded. In 1984, Hawke appointed Charles Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, making him the first Indigenous Australian to head a Commonwealth department. In 1989 the Hawke government replaced the Department of Aboriginal Affairs with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as the main administrative and funding agency for Indigenous Australians . The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission began work in March 1990. In 1985,
Bob Hawke - Misplaced Pages Continue
7040-674: A war coalition, and opposed using the Australian army for a European war, preferring to keep it at home to defend Australia. Labor agreed to participate in the Advisory War Council . Menzies sent the bulk of the army to help the British in the Middle East and Singapore, and told Winston Churchill the Royal Navy needed to strengthen its Far Eastern forces. On 11 August 1940, Churchill sent a long letter to Menzies promising that if Japan entered
7260-435: Is also at war." A couple of days after the declaration, Menzies recalled parliament and asked for general support as the government faced the enormous responsibility of leading the nation in war time. Page and Curtin, as party leaders, pledged their support for all that needed to be done for the defence of the country. Thus, Menzies at the age of 44 found himself a wartime leader of a small nation of 7 million people. He
7480-576: Is also the only prime minister to be born in South Australia and the only one raised and educated in Western Australia. Hawke holds the highest-ever approval rating for an Australian prime minister, reaching 75% approval in 1984. Hawke is frequently ranked within the upper tier of Australian prime ministers by historians. Bob Hawke was born on 9 December 1929 in Border Town , South Australia ,
7700-569: Is not a word I would use to describe myself", saying instead his approach to politics was pragmatic . His commitment to the cause of Jewish Refuseniks purportedly led to a planned assassination attempt on Hawke by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , and its Australian operative Munif Mohammed Abou Rish . In 1971, Hawke along with other members of the ACTU requested that South Africa send
7920-500: Is often cited by economic historians as being a "turning point" from a protectionist, agricultural model to a more globalised and services-oriented economy. According to the journalist Paul Kelly , "the most influential economic decisions of the 1980s were the floating of the Australian dollar and the deregulation of the financial system". Although the Fraser government had played a part in the process of financial deregulation by commissioning
8140-704: Is remembered for its development of Australia's capital city of Canberra , its expanded post-war immigration scheme , emphasis on higher education, and national security policies, which saw Australia contribute troops to the Korean War , the Malayan Emergency , the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation , and the Vietnam War . Robert Gordon Menzies was born on 20 December 1894 at his parents' home in Jeparit, Victoria . He
8360-495: The 1980 federal election . Three years later, he was elected unopposed to replace Bill Hayden as leader of the Australian Labor Party , and within five weeks led Labor to a landslide victory at the 1983 election , and was sworn in as prime minister. He led Labor to victory a further three times, with successful outcomes in 1984 , 1987 and 1990 elections , making him the most electorally successful prime minister in
8580-610: The Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was succeeded by another Labor administration, the Keating government , led by Paul Keating after an internal party leadership challenge in 1991. Keating was Treasurer through much of Hawke's term as prime minister and the period is sometimes termed the Hawke-Keating government . Bob Hawke
8800-588: The Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) . The new party directed its preferences to the Liberals, with the Menzies government re-elected with an increased majority at the 1955 election . Menzies was re-elected almost as easily at the 1958 election , again with the help of preferences from what had become the Democratic Labor Party . The Menzies era saw immense regional changes, with post-war reconstruction and
9020-525: The Czechoslovak state . Has, without flickering an eyelid, made a pact with Russia, a country the denouncing and reviling of which has been his chief stock-in-trade ever since he became chancellor. And has now, under circumstances which I will describe to you, invaded with armed force and in defiance of civilised opinion, the independent nation of Poland . Your own comments on this dreadful history will need no reinforcement by me. All I need say is, that whatever
Bob Hawke - Misplaced Pages Continue
9240-474: The December 1991 leadership spill which saw him replaced as leader by Paul Keating . The inaugural days of the Hawke government were distinctly different from those of the Whitlam era. Rather than immediately initiating extensive reform programmes, Hawke announced that Fraser's pre-election concealment of the budget deficit meant that many of Labor's election commitments would have to be deferred. Hawke convinced
9460-556: The Empire of Japan , for that country's war against China . In 1939, he resigned from the Cabinet in protest at postponement of the national insurance scheme and insufficient expenditure on defence. With Lyons's sudden death on 7 April 1939, Page became caretaker prime minister until the UAP could elect a new leader. On 18 April 1939, Menzies was elected party leader over three other candidates. He
9680-459: The Journal of Australian Studies by C. J. Coventry concluded that Hawke's achievement was "possibly fabricated" and "cultural propaganda" designed to make Hawke appealing to unionised workers and nationalistic middle-class voters. The article contends that "its location and time remain uncertain; there are no known witnesses; the field of competition was exclusive and with no scientific accountability;
9900-696: The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. Canberra's New Parliament House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in a grand ceremony in May 1988 and Australian Bicentenary was marked by huge pomp and ceremony across Australia to mark anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Sydney in 1788. The government refused to fund the tall ship First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage which
10120-402: The Labor Party national executive from 1973 to 1978. Hawke was born in Border Town , South Australia . He attended the University of Western Australia and went on to study at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar . In 1956, Hawke joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as a research officer. Having risen to become responsible for national wage case arbitration, he
10340-648: The Melbourne University Rifles (a part-time militia unit) from 1915 to 1919. This unit was not efficient and Menzies noted in his diary that training in even basic skills such as rifle shooting was sub-standard. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on 6 January 1915. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not volunteer for overseas service, something that would later be used against him by political opponents; in 1939 he described it as "a stream of mud through which I have waded at every campaign in which I have participated". Menzies never publicly addressed
10560-473: The OECD average in 1980 to 140% in 1994, and it is argued that the social and economic policies delivered under the government-trade union Accord had some substantial success in reducing family poverty, as characterised by reductions in child poverty from the early Eighties onwards. According to the OECD , the percentage of Australians living in poverty fell during the Hawke government's time in office, from 11.6% of
10780-594: The Phoenix Foundry . Seeking a new start, he moved the family to Jeparit to take over the general store, which "survived rather than prospered". During Menzies's childhood, three of his close relatives were elected to parliament. His uncle Hugh was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1902, followed by his father in 1911, while another uncle, Sydney Sampson , was elected to the federal Australian House of Representatives in 1906. Each of
11000-630: The Sex Discrimination Act to prevent discrimination in the workplace, declaring " Advance Australia Fair " as the country's national anthem, initiating superannuation pension schemes for all workers, negotiating a ban on mining in Antarctica and overseeing passage of the Australia Act that removed all remaining jurisdiction by the United Kingdom from Australia. In June 1991, Hawke faced
11220-586: The War Cabinet for the duration, which was strongly backed by Sir Maurice Hankey , former WWI Colonel and member of both the WWI and WWII War Cabinets. Writer Gerard Henderson has rejected this theory, but history professors Judith Brett and Joan Beaumont support Day, as does Menzies's daughter, Heather Henderson, who claimed Lady Astor "even offered all her sapphires if he would stay on in England". Menzies came home to
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#173284561768111440-405: The early 1980s recession , he initiated a leadership challenge against Hayden, and narrowly lost. At the February 1983 Funeral of former Labor Prime Minister Frank Forde , Hayden was persuaded by colleagues to step down, leaving the way open for Hawke to assume leadership of the ALP. In announcing his resignation, Hayden famously remarked that, given the electoral climate, "a drover's dog could lead
11660-425: The "really spiritual quality in the willingness of Germans to devote themselves to the service and well-being of the state". Menzies supported British foreign policy, including appeasement, and was initially reticent about the prospect of going to war with Germany. However, by September 1939 the unfolding crisis in Europe changed his public stance that the diplomatic efforts by Chamberlain and other leaders to broker
11880-423: The 1949 election with 74 House seats and 51.0 percent of the two-party vote but remained in minority in the Senate. Whatever else Menzies's victory represented, his anti-communism and advocacy for free enterprise had captured a new and formidable support base in postwar Australian society. After his election victory, Menzies returned to the office of prime minister on 19 December 1949. The spectre of communism and
12100-443: The 1970s, there were other prominent people at that time who secretly gave information. Biographer Troy Bramston rejects the view that Hawke's prolonged, discreet involvement with known members of the Central Intelligence Agency within the US Embassy amounted to Hawke being a CIA "spy". Hawke's first attempt to enter Parliament came during the 1963 federal election . He stood in the seat of Corio in Geelong and managed to achieve
12320-555: The 1981 Campbell Report, opposition from Fraser himself had stalled this process. Shortly after its election in 1983, the Hawke government took the opportunity to implement a comprehensive program of economic reform, in the process "transform(ing) economics and politics in Australia". Hawke and Keating together led the process for overseeing the economic changes by launching a "National Economic Summit" one month after their election in 1983, which brought together business and industrial leaders together with politicians and trade union leaders;
12540-426: The ACTU and ALP informed the US of details surrounding labour disputes, especially those relating to American companies and individuals, such as union disputes with Ford Motor Company and the black ban of Frank Sinatra . The major industrial action taken against Sinatra came about because Sinatra had made sexist comments against female journalists. The dispute was the subject of the 2003 film The Night We Called It
12760-495: The Antarctic drilling ban was his "proudest achievement". As a former ACTU President, Hawke was well-placed to engage in reform of the industrial relations system in Australia, taking a lead on this policy area as in few others. Working closely with ministerial colleagues and the ACTU Secretary, Bill Kelty , Hawke negotiated with trade unions to establish the Prices and Incomes Accord in 1983, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict their demands for wage increases, and in turn
12980-486: The Australian Labor Party to a landslide victory against Malcolm Fraser 's Liberal-National Coalition government at the 1983 Australian Federal Election , with Labor seizing 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives against the Liberal Party 's 33 and the National Party 17. He went on to become Australia's longest serving Labor prime minister and remains the third longest serving Australian prime minister after Robert Menzies and John Howard . Hawke again led
13200-438: The Australian economy and Keating began to position himself for a challenge. The government promised economic recovery for 1991 and launched a series of asset sales to increase revenue. GDP sank, unemployment rose, revenue collapsed and welfare payments surged. The Opposition turned to economist John Hewson as its new leader. Hewson argued that the nation was in economic crisis. He said the Hawke-Keating government had increased
13420-416: The Australian economy would weather the storm because the Hawke government had already balanced its Budget and brought down inflation. The government postponed policy adjustments, planning a mini-Budget for May. Hawke wrote to US President Reagan calling on the US to reduce its Budget deficit. The Business Council called for wage reductions, decreased government expenditure, a lower dollar and deregulation of
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#173284561768113640-421: The Canberra conference, the fourteen parties, with the UAP as the nucleus, decided to merge as one new non-Labor party—the Liberal Party of Australia . The organisational structure and constitutional framework of the new party was formulated at the Albury Conference. Officially launched at the Sydney Town Hall on 31 August 1945, the Menzies-led Liberal Party of Australia inherited the UAP's role as senior partner in
13860-406: The Coalition. Curtin died in office in 1945 and was succeeded by Ben Chifley . The reconfigured Coalition faced its first national test in the 1946 election . It won 26 of 74 seats on 45.9 percent of the two-party vote and remained in minority in the Senate. Despite winning a seven-seat swing, the Coalition failed to make a serious dent in Labor's large majority. Over the next few years, however,
14080-425: The Commonwealth Public Service was introduced. In 1986, a Disability Services Act was passed to expand opportunities for the participation of disabled persons in local communities. A major cash benefit for low-income working households, known as the Family Allowance Supplement, was introduced which reduced poverty and provided a better-graduated system of family income support. This new benefit significantly boosted
14300-410: The Country Party back into his government in a full-fledged Coalition, with Page's successor, Archie Cameron, as number-two-man in the government. During the Danzig crisis , Menzies, who had long felt that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh towards Germany, supported having the Free City of Danzig (modern Gdańsk ) rejoin Germany. Though Hitler had only asked for extraterritorial highways across
14520-409: The Country Party minister for the interior, Thomas Paterson. Menzies had extended discussions with British experts on Germany in 1935, but could not make up his mind whether Adolf Hitler was a "real German patriot" or a "mad swash-buckler". He condemned Nazi antisemitism, in 1933 writing to the organisers of an anti-Nazi protest at the Melbourne Town Hall that "I hope that I may be associated with
14740-400: The Danzig dispute. He dismissed the "jitters", as he called it, on the stock market in the summer of 1939 while he spoke of "an outpouring of the sentiments of peace in the minds of the people". Throughout the summer of 1939, Menzies stressed in his speeches that war was "not inevitable" as he urged Australians to enjoy their summer vacations. In the cabinet, Menzies was opposed to expanding
14960-656: The Dardanelles-and he was highly suspicious of another of Churchill's plans for victory in the Mediterranean. On 25 February 1941, Menzies reluctantly gave his approval to send the 6th Division to Greece. Professor David Day , an Australian historian, has posited that Menzies might have replaced Churchill as British prime minister, and that he had some support in the UK for this. Support came from Viscount Astor , Lord Beaverbrook and former WWI Prime Minister David Lloyd George , who were trenchant critics of Churchill's purportedly autocratic style, and favoured replacing him with Menzies, who had some public support for staying on in
15180-444: The Government guaranteed to both minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage, including by establishing new social programmes such as Medicare. Inflation had been a significant issue for the previous decade prior to the election of the Hawke government, regularly running into double-digits. The process of the Accord, by which the Government and trade unions would arbitrate and agree upon wage increases in many sectors, led to
15400-478: The Government's time in office included the public health campaign regarding HIV/AIDS, and Indigenous land rights reform, with an investigation of the idea of a treaty between Aborigines and the Government being launched, although the latter would be overtaken by events, notably the Mabo court decision . The Hawke government also drew attention for a series of notable environmental decisions, particularly in its second and third terms. In 1983, Hawke personally vetoed
15620-417: The Hawke government officially returned ownership of Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock), with Governor General Sir Ninian Stephen presiding over the ceremony handing the title deeds to the local Pitjantjatjara people. The transfer was done on the basis that a lease-back to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and joint management by members of the local Mutijulu community would be settled upon. In
15840-724: The Hawke government produced the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia, which had bipartisan political support. After Keating became prime minister in 1991, the OMA was wound down, and was abolished in 1996 by the Howard government. In education, the Hawke government sought to significantly widen educational opportunities for all Australians. Increased funds were made available for most schools, while both TAFE and higher education were expanded. Measures were taken to improve educational opportunities for Aboriginal Australians, as demonstrated by
16060-519: The House into silence momentarily before both sides of Parliament laughed at Evatt's naivety. This Cold War scare was claimed by some to enable the Menzies government to win the election. The Menzies government won 64 of 121 seats and 49.3 percent of the two-party vote. Evatt accused Menzies of arranging Petrov's defection. The aftermath of the 1954 election caused a split in the Labor Party, with several anti-Communist members from Victoria defecting to form
16280-466: The Labor Party in August 1978. Neil Batt was elected in his place. The strain of this period took its toll on Hawke and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse. This shock led Hawke to publicly announce his alcoholism in a television interview, and that he would make a concerted—and ultimately successful—effort to overcome it. He was helped through this period by the relationship that he had established with writer Blanche d'Alpuget , who, in 1982, published
16500-515: The Labor Party to victory". Long serving Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced an election that same day, with a date set for 5 March. Hawke served just one month as Opposition Leader (and without sitting in Parliament as one) before taking the ALP to victory against Fraser at the 1983 Election. Labor had been out of office since the divisive Dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975. Hawke led
16720-401: The Labor Party was absolute. This enabled him to persuade MPs to support a substantial set of policy changes which had not been considered achievable by Labor governments in the past. Individual accounts from ministers indicate that while Hawke was not often the driving force behind individual reforms, outside of broader economic changes, he took on the role of providing political guidance on what
16940-521: The Labor caucus to divide the ministry into two tiers, with only the most important Ministers attending regular cabinet meetings. This was to avoid what Hawke viewed as the unwieldy nature of the 27-member Whitlam cabinet. The caucus under Hawke exhibited a much more formalised system of parliamentary factions , which significantly altered the dynamics of caucus operations. Hawke and Keating formed an effective political partnership despite their differences. Hawke
17160-752: The Mediterranean situation. This I am sure you would not want to do unless or until the Japanese danger became far more menacing than at present". In March 1941 and again in August 1941, Menzies appealed to Churchill in letters to activate the Singapore strategy as he wrote that he was highly concerned about Japanese ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region. From 24 January 1941, Menzies spent four months in Britain discussing war strategy with Churchill and other Empire leaders, while his position at home deteriorated. En route to
17380-576: The Menzies government signed the ANZUS treaty in San Francisco on 1 September 1951. Menzies later told parliament that this security pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States was 'based on the utmost good will, the utmost good faith and unqualified friendship' saying 'each of us will stand by it'. At the same time as strengthening the alliance with the United States, Menzies and Spender were committed to Australia being on 'good neighbour terms' with
17600-606: The Polish Corridor to link East Prussia with the rest of the Reich , Menzies also supported having the Polish Corridor returned to Germany. Despite his support for the Germans' claims to Danzig, Menzies was opposed to the prospect of German domination of Europe. Menzies in a speech on 28 March 1939 declared: "I do not accept this doctrine of an unimpeded march by Germany to a territorial conquest of middle and southeastern Europe". Ultimately,
17820-579: The Senate rejected his banking bill, he called a double dissolution election . At that election, the Coalition suffered a five-seat swing, winning 69 of 121 seats and 50.7 percent of the two-party vote. However, it won six seats in the Senate, giving it control of both chambers. Later in 1951 Menzies decided to hold a referendum on the question of changing the Constitution to permit the parliament to make laws in respect of Communists and Communism where he said this
18040-510: The September 1940 election, on 13 August 1940, three members of Menzies's cabinet had been killed in an air crash—the Canberra air disaster —along with General Brudenell White , Chief of the General Staff ; two other passengers and four crew. This event weakened Menzies's government. On the night of 11 November 1940, aircraft from the carriers of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean fleet disabled
18260-526: The UAP. His supporters began promoting him as Lyons's natural successor; his critics accused Menzies of wanting to push Lyons out, a charge he denied. In 1938, as part of the Dalfram dispute , he was ridiculed as Pig Iron Bob , the result of an industrial conflict with the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia whose members had refused to load Australian pig iron being sold to an arms manufacturer in
18480-630: The UK he took the opportunity to stop over to visit Australian troops serving in the North African Campaign . On 20 February 1941, Churchill asked Menzies to give his approval to send the Australian forces in North Africa to Greece. Like many other Australians of his generation, Menzies was haunted by the memory of the Battle of Gallipoli -which came about because of Churchill's plans to send an Allied fleet up
18700-539: The anti-communist atmosphere of the early Cold War began to erode Labor's support. In 1947, Chifley announced that he intended to nationalise Australia's private banks, arousing intense middle-class opposition which Menzies successfully exploited. In addition to campaigning against Chifley's bank nationalization proposal, Menzies successfully led the 'No' case for a referendum by the Chifley government in 1948 to extend commonwealth wartime powers to control rents and prices. In
18920-532: The ban on apartheid teams and later that year, the South African cricket team was successfully denied and no apartheid team was to ever come to Australia again. It was this ongoing dedication to racial equality in South Africa that would later earn Hawke the respect and friendship of Nelson Mandela . In industrial matters, Hawke continued to demonstrate a preference for, and considerable skill at, negotiation, and
19140-416: The beginning of the Hawke government to 7 in 10 by its conclusion in 1991. Considerable progress was also made in directing assistance "to the most disadvantaged recipients over the whole range of welfare benefits." Although criticisms were leveled against the Hawke government that it did not achieve all it said it would do on social policy, it nevertheless enacting a series of reforms which remain in place to
19360-422: The blueprint of his liberal philosophy, The Forgotten People encompassed a wide range of topics including Roosevelt's Four Freedoms, the control of the war, the role of women in war and peace, the future of capitalism, the nature of democracy and especially the role of the middle class, 'the forgotten people' of the title and their importance to Australia's future as a democracy. The addresses frequently emphasised
19580-419: The business community—the "main loser" from the 1985 Tax Summit according to Paul Kelly—was the introduction of full dividend imputation , a reform insisted upon by Keating. Funding for schools was also considerably increased as part of this package, while financial assistance was provided for students to enable them to stay at school longer; the number of Australian children completing school rose from 3 in 10 at
19800-662: The concealment of the size of the budget deficit by Fraser before the 1983 election to great effect, damaging the Liberal Party's economic credibility as a result. However, Hawke's time as Prime Minister also saw friction develop between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, many of whom were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke's iconoclasm and willingness to cooperate with business interests. Hawke regularly and publicly expressed his willingness to cull Labor's "sacred cows". The Labor Left faction, as well as prominent Labor backbencher Barry Jones , offered repeated criticisms of
20020-624: The construction of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania , responding to a groundswell of protest around the issue. Hawke also secured the nomination of the Wet Tropics of Queensland as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, preventing the forests there from being logged. Hawke would later appoint Graham Richardson as Environment Minister, tasking him with winning the second-preference support from environmental parties, something which Richardson later claimed
20240-490: The countries of South and South East Asia. To help forge closer ties in the region, the Menzies government initiated the Colombo Plan that would see almost 40 000 students from the region come to study in Australia over the four subsequent decades. Recognising the economic potential of a burgeoning postwar Japan, Menzies, together with Trade Minister Jack McEwan and his new minister for External Affairs, Richard Casey, negotiated
20460-512: The country, but the bitter memories of the disillusionment which followed World War I made his task difficult; this was compounded by his lack of a service record. Furthermore, as attorney-general and deputy prime minister, he had made an official visit to Germany in 1938, when the official policy of the Australian government, supported by the Opposition, was strong support for Neville Chamberlain 's policy of Appeasement . Menzies, then also holding
20680-582: The crisis should and would be resolved by a Munich-type deal under which the Free City of Danzig would be peacefully allowed to "go home to the Reich " while at the same time Germany should and would be deterred from going to war against Poland. Though Menzies felt that Poland was in the wrong in opposing the return of the Free City to Germany, he did not want to see the crisis end with Poland being subjected to Germany. Several times, Menzies declared that there were "two sides" both equally worthy of consideration to
20900-508: The downturn was a necessary correction by opening a press conference in November as follows: The first thing to say is, the accounts do show that Australia is in a recession. The most important thing about that is that this is a recession that Australia had to have – Treasurer Paul Keating , November 1990 . The popularity of Hawke's prime ministership, along with the health of the Hawke-Keating political partnership deteriorated along with
21120-618: The early 1950s and Labor was confident of winning the 1954 election . Menzies engaged in red-baiting of political opponents. Shortly before the election, Menzies announced that a Soviet diplomat in Australia Vladimir Petrov , had defected, and that there was evidence of a Soviet spy ring in Australia, including members of Evatt's staff. Evatt felt compelled to state on the floor of Parliament that he'd personally written to Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov , who assured him there were no Soviet spy rings in Australia, bringing
21340-472: The economic reforms carried out during the Eighties in both Australia and New Zealand, "some modest case can be mounted for Labor in Australia as refurbisher of the welfare state". From 1983 to 1996, improved service provision, higher government transfer payments, and changes to the taxation system "either entirely offset, or at the very least substantially moderated, the increase in inequality of market incomes over
21560-495: The economy grew and middle-class values prevailed; the Australian Labor Party 's support had also been eroded by Cold War scares. After 1955, his government also received support from the Democratic Labor Party , a breakaway group from the Labor Party. Menzies won seven consecutive elections during his second period, eventually retiring as prime minister in January 1966. Despite the failures of his first administration, his government
21780-589: The election called at the same time that Hawke became Labor leader this meant that Hawke never sat in Parliament as Leader of the Opposition having spent the entirety of his short Opposition leadership in the election campaign which he won. After Labor's landslide victory, Hawke was sworn in as the Prime Minister by the Governor-General Ninian Stephen on 11 March 1983. The style of the Hawke government
22000-487: The election campaign of 1949, Menzies and his party were resolved to stamp out the communist movement and to fight in the interests of free enterprise against what they termed as Labor's 'socialistic measures'. If Menzies won office, he pledged to counter inflation, extend child endowment and end petrol rationing. With the lower house enlarged from 74 to 121 seats, the Menzies Liberal/Country Coalition won
22220-418: The environment., such a Landcare program, which was established to promote environmental conservation. In addition, spending on housing, education, and health was increased, while an anti-poverty trap package was introduced in the 1985 budget. That same year, rent assistance was extended to include unemployed and low-income working families. The 1985 Tax Summit led to a reduction of loopholes and distortions in
22440-403: The establishment of the enterprise bargaining system, although this would be finalised shortly after Hawke left office in 1991. Arguably the most significant foreign policy achievement of the Government took place in 1989, after Hawke proposed a south-east Asian region-wide forum for leaders and economic ministers to discuss issues of common concern. After winning the support of key countries in
22660-514: The expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait . The success of the campaign, and the lack of any Australian casualties, led to a brief increase in the popularity of the Government. Through his role on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting , Hawke played a leading role in ensuring the Commonwealth initiated an international boycott on foreign investment into South Africa , building on work undertaken by his predecessor Malcolm Fraser, and in
22880-553: The fear of Japan proved decisive for Menzies, who believed that for Australia to not support Britain in the Danzig crisis would lead to Britain eventually abandoning Australia to face Japan alone. The prospect of war in Europe threatened to undermine the Singapore strategy that called for the main British battle fleet to be sent out to Singapore (the major British naval base in Asia) in the event of
23100-640: The federal Division of Kooyong in the upcoming general election for the United Australia Party (UAP), which was the result of a merger during his tenure as a state parliamentarian of the Nationalists, Labor dissidents and the Australian Party . The previous member, John Latham , had given up the seat in order to prepare for appointment as Chief Justice of Australia . Kooyong was a safely conservative seat based on Kew , and Menzies won easily. He
23320-464: The final straw in convincing Hayden that he would have to resign as Labor Leader. Less than two months after the Flinders by-election result, Hayden announced his resignation as Leader of the Labor Party on 3 February 1983. Hawke was subsequently elected as Leader unopposed on 8 February, and became Leader of the Opposition in the process. Having learned that morning about the possible leadership change, on
23540-618: The final year of Hawke's prime ministership, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody released its final report, having investigated some 99 deaths between 1980 and 1989. In 1986, the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs (AIMA), established in 1979 by the previous government, was dismantled by the Hawke government. In 1987 the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA)
23760-620: The first to be conscripted. Promoted to lieutenant, he resigned his commission with effect from 16 February 1921. After graduating from the University of Melbourne in 1916 with first-class honours in Law, Menzies was admitted to the Victorian Bar and to the High Court of Australia in 1918. Establishing his own practice in Melbourne, Menzies specialised chiefly in constitutional law which he had read with
23980-444: The government providing funding of almost $ 100 million from 1984 to 1992 for parental education, student support and tutorial assistance through its Aboriginal Education Direct Assistance Program. In addition, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Capital Grants Program was established to construct and renovate school buildings in remote area communalities. Government expenditure on education under Hawke also rose significantly. On
24200-506: The government stopped the construction of the Franklin Dam , on the Franklin River in Tasmania , responding to protest about the issue. The Hawke government came to power in 1983 amidst an economic downturn, but pursued a number of economic reforms that assisted in a strong recovery through the 1980s. Economic factors at play during the Hawke government were globalisation , micro-economic reform and industrial relations reform, as well as
24420-582: The history of the Labor Party. The Hawke government implemented a significant number of reforms, including major economic reforms, the establishment of Landcare , the introduction of the universal healthcare scheme Medicare , brokering the Prices and Incomes Accord , creating APEC , floating the Australian dollar , deregulating the financial sector, introducing the Family Assistance Scheme , enacting
24640-475: The homes of people who are nameless and unadvertised, and who, whatever their individual religious conviction or dogma, see in their children their greatest contribution to the immortality of their race. The home is the foundation of sanity and sobriety; it is the indispensable condition of continuity; its health determines the health of society as a whole. Menzies himself described The Forgotten People collection as 'a summarised political philosophy'. Representing
24860-584: The ill-starred Greek campaign, of which the Cretan misadventure was the inevitable sequel ... As a military adventure, it was madness. As a political gesture, it was stupid because it was doomed to failure." Menzies sought to blame General Sir Thomas Blamey for the Greek expedition as he maintained that he had only given permission to send the Australians to Greece after Blamey did not oppose it. Menzies maintained that if Blamey had given his disapproval in his opinion as
25080-530: The impetus for economic reform largely came from Keating, Hawke took the role of reaching consensus and providing political guidance on what was electorally feasible and how best to sell it to the public. In his first term, Hawke set the record for the highest approval rating on the ACNielsen Poll (a record which still stands as of 2008). The government benefited from the disarray within the Liberal opposition after
25300-558: The improvements in the social security system that occurred, including the introduction of rental assistance for social security recipients, the creation of labour market schemes such as NewStart, and the introduction of the Family Income Supplement. In 1986, the Hawke government passed a bill to de-register the Builders Labourers Federation federally due to the union not following the Accord agreements. Despite
25520-471: The inflamed ambitions of the German Führer may be, he will undoubtedly learn, as other great enemies of freedom have learned before, that no empire, no dominion, can be soundly established upon a basis of broken promises or dishonoured agreements. Menzies went on to say that if Hitler's expansionist "policy were allowed to go unchecked there could be no security in Europe and there could be no just peace for
25740-540: The labour market. Seven months into the crisis, Hawke told the State Premiers that the "savings of Australia must be freed" to go into business investment for export expansion, and funding to the States was cut. A phase out of tariff protections was continued and company tax was cut by 10% to 39%. In the May mini-Budget, payment to the states was cut by $ 870 million and tax cuts deferred. The government declared cost cutting
25960-462: The leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) in his first term, and subsequently as the inaugural leader of the Liberal Party of Australia , which he was responsible for establishing and defining in policy and political outreach. He is the longest-serving prime minister in Australian history. Menzies studied law at the University of Melbourne and became one of Melbourne 's leading lawyers. He
26180-449: The leadership in 1983, the two formed a personal as well as political relationship which enabled the Government to pursue a significant number of reforms, although there were occasional points of tension between the two. The Labor Caucus under Hawke also developed a more formalised system of parliamentary factions , which significantly altered the dynamics of caucus operations. Unlike many of his predecessor leaders, Hawke's authority within
26400-491: The leading Victorian jurist and future High Court judge, Sir Owen Dixon . In 1920, Menzies was an advocate for the Amalgamated Society of Engineers which eventually took its appeal to the High Court of Australia . The case became a landmark authority for the positive reinterpretation of Commonwealth powers over those of the States. The High Court's verdict raised Menzies's profile as a skilled advocate, and eventually he
26620-408: The level of income support for families principally dependent on social welfare benefits. The supplement was also made fully payable, tax-free, to low-income families who were principally reliant on wages, albeit for those who earned below a certain amount. Above that amount, the payment rate fell by 50 cents for every additional dollar of other income until it vanished entirely from families approaching
26840-601: The magazine, and also contributed a song about "little Billy Hughes " to an end-of-year revue . Menzies was also president of the Students' Christian Union, a founding member of the Historical Society, and a prominent member of the Law Students' Society. He had "a reputation as an "unusually bright and articulate member of the undergraduate community", and was known as a skilful debater. However, he had also begun to develop
27060-648: The middle-income range. In addition, the social security rent allowance was extended to these families if they lived in private rental accommodation. The rates of payment were also index-linked to inflation, while additional benchmarks were fixed to help achieve and maintain relativities with community earnings levels. As a result of the FAS, major improvements were made in the financial position of working families on low incomes. In his memoirs, Hawke described this as "the greatest social reform of my government, and perhaps of all Labor governments". To increase workforce participation,
27280-552: The missiles, the furore led to a fall in Hawke's approval ratings. Shortly after the 1990 election , Hawke would lead Australia into its first overseas military campaign since the Vietnam War , forming a close alliance with US President George H. W. Bush to join the coalition in the Gulf War . The Royal Australian Navy contributed several destroyers and frigates to the war effort, which successfully concluded in February 1991, with
27500-585: The most senior ministers sitting in the Cabinet of Australia . The Labor caucus was still given the authority to determine who would make up the Ministry, but this move gave Hawke unprecedented powers to empower individual ministers. After Australia won the America's Cup in 1983 Hawke said "any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum", effectively declaring an impromptu national public holiday. In particular,
27720-480: The next election. Hawke decided to challenge Hayden in the spill, but Hayden defeated him by five votes; the margin of victory, however, was too slim to dispel doubts that he could lead the Labor Party to victory at an election. Despite his defeat, Hawke began to agitate more seriously behind the scenes for a change in leadership, with opinion polls continuing to show that Hawke was a far more popular public figure than both Hayden and Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser . Hayden
27940-643: The normal enjoyments and camaraderies of a small country town". He began his formal education in 1899 at the Jeparit State School, a single-teacher one-room school . When he was about eleven, he and his sister were sent to Ballarat to live with his paternal grandmother; his two older brothers were already living there. In 1906, Menzies began attending the Humffray Street State School in Bakery Hill . The following year, aged 13, he ranked first in
28160-509: The opening of Australian finance and industry to international competition and adjustments to the role of trade unions. Hawke concluded his tenure during the worst downturn in Australia since the Great Depression . Major economic reforms included the floating of the Australian dollar, deregulation of financial markets, dismantling of the tariff system, privatised state sector industries , ended subsidisation of loss-making industries, and
28380-417: The original HECS, a $ 1,800 fee was charged to all university students, and the Commonwealth paid the balance. A student could defer payment of this HECS amount (in which case it was called a HECS debt) and repay the debt through the tax system, when the student's income exceeds a threshold level. As part of the reforms, Colleges of Advanced Education entered the University sector by various means. The HECS system
28600-462: The original HECS, a $ 1,800 fee was charged to all university students, and the Commonwealth paid the balance. A student could defer payment of this HECS amount and repay the debt through the tax system, when the student's income exceeds a threshold level. As part of the reforms, Colleges of Advanced Education entered the university sector by various means. by doing so, university places were able to be expanded. Further notable policy decisions taken during
28820-420: The party to the 1984 Election and was returned with a reduced majority, in an expanded House of Representatives: with Labor taking 82 seats to the Coalition's 66. Labor went on to a third straight victory at the 1987 Election and increased its majority from 16 to 24 seats. Hawke fought his final election in 1990 , with Labor winning a nine-seat majority. Hawke retired from Parliament in February 1992, following
29040-467: The percentage of single parents receiving 90% or more of their income from benefits fell from 47% to less than 36%. Other important social security initiatives introduced for the unemployed included the introduction of the New Employment Entry payment, while some administrative obstacles and income tests were relaxed. In October 1987, the international Stock Market Slump saw markets crash around
29260-484: The period". During the period 1983 to 1996, Australia was one of the leading OECD countries in terms of social expenditure growth, with total social spending increasing by more than four percentage points of GDP compared to an OECD average of around 2.5 percentage points. "Active society" measures were also introduced in an attempt to limit the growth of poverty and inequality. From 1980 to 1994, financial assistance for low-income families in Australia increased from 60% of
29480-593: The political partnership that developed between Hawke and his Treasurer , Paul Keating , proved to be essential to Labor's success in government, with multiple Labor figures in years since citing the partnership as the party's greatest ever. The two men proved a study in contrasts: Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar ; Keating left high school early. Hawke's enthusiasms were cigars, betting and most forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture , Mahler symphonies and collecting British Regency and French Empire antiques. Despite not knowing one another before Hawke assumed
29700-403: The poor state of the Australian economy. Industrial Relations Minister Peter Cook indicated an intention to introduce a more flexible wage system. In his July budget, Kerin forecast a deficit of $ 4.7 billion. In a press conference, Kerin was unable to recall what GOS – gross operating surplus – stood for. In December, shortly before Keating's successful second challenge against Hawke, Kerin
29920-585: The population in 1985–86 to 9.3% in 1989–90. Child poverty also fell dramatically under the Hawke-Keating government, with the percentage of children estimated to be living in poverty falling from nearly 16% in 1985 to around 11% by 1995. As noted by Brian Howe , social policy under Hawke was effective in reducing poverty and protecting those most vulnerable to massive social and economic change. According to some observers, "improvements in government policies and programs in income support payments, and services such as education, health, public housing and child care, and
30140-407: The present day. From 1983 to 1989, the Government oversaw the permanent establishment of universal health care in Australia with the creation of Medicare , doubled the number of subsidised childcare places, began the introduction of occupational superannuation , oversaw a significant increase in school retention rates, created subsidised homecare services, oversaw the elimination of poverty traps in
30360-691: The previous Labor government lost the support of the cross-bench Country Progressives. The following year he shifted to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for the Electoral district of Nunawading . In 1929, he founded the Young Nationalists as his party's youth wing and was its first president. Holding the portfolios of Attorney-General and Minister for the Railways, Menzies was Deputy Premier of Victoria from May 1932 until July 1934. In August 1934, Menzies resigned from state parliament to contest
30580-537: The process clashing publicly with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher , who initially favoured a more cautious approach. The resulting boycott, led by the Commonwealth, was widely credited with helping bring about the collapse of apartheid , and resulted in a high-profile visit by Nelson Mandela in October 1990, months after the latter's release from a 27-year stint in prison. During
30800-566: The progressive nature of the income tax system, have all contributed to the result that Australia appears to have become a more equal society over the period from 1981–82 to 1993–94". In 1984, the government introduced its three mine policy to limit the number of uranium mines in the Australia to three. The policy resulted from the strength of the anti-nuclear movement within Labor. The 1987 budget extended rental assistance to all Family Allowance Supplement recipients together with longer-term unemployment benefit beneficiaries. A family package
31020-406: The protest of the meeting tonight against the barbaric and medieval persecution to which their fellow Jews in Europe are apparently being subjected". In July 1939, Menzies, by then prime minister, declared in a speech that "history will label Hitler as one of the great men of the century". In August 1938, while Attorney-General, Menzies spent several weeks on an official visit to Nazi Germany . He
31240-402: The reasons for his decision not to enlist, stating only that they were "compelling" and related to his "intimate personal and family affairs". His two older brothers did serve overseas. In a 1972 interview, his brother Frank Menzies recalled that a "family conference" had determined that Robert should not enlist. They believed that having two of the family's three adult sons serving overseas was
31460-503: The record was first published in a beer pamphlet; and Hawke's recollections were unreliable." Not long after Hawke began work at the ACTU, he became responsible for the presentation of its annual case for higher wages to the national wages tribunal, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission . He was first appointed as an ACTU advocate in 1959. The 1958 case, under previous advocate R.L. Eggleston, had yielded only
31680-515: The region, this led to the creation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The first APEC meeting duly took place in Canberra in November 1989; the economic ministers of Australia, Brunei , Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States all attended. APEC would subsequently grow to become one of the most pre-eminent high-level international forums in
31900-439: The resignation of Fraser. The Liberals were divided between supporters of John Howard and Andrew Peacock . The conservative Premier of Queensland , Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen , also helped Hawke with his " Joh for Canberra " campaign in 1987, which proved highly damaging for the conservatives. Exploiting these divisions, Hawke led the Labor Party to comfortable election victories in 1984 and 1987 . In its first months in office
32120-542: The responsibility for the Department of Munitions created a couple of months earlier, led the Coalition into the 1940 election and suffered an eight-seat swing, losing the slender majority he had inherited from Lyons. The result was a hung parliament , with the Coalition two seats short of a majority. Menzies managed to form a minority government with the support of two independent MPs, Arthur Coles and Alex Wilson . Labor, led by John Curtin , refused Menzies's offer to form
32340-399: The sale of the state-owned Commonwealth Bank , Telstra , Qantas and CSL . Hawke's Prime Ministership saw friction between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, who were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke's iconoclasm and willingness to co-operate with business interests. The Socialist Left faction, as well as prominent Labor figure Barry Jones , offered severe criticism of
32560-511: The same that Hawke assumed the leadership of the Labor Party, Malcolm Fraser called a snap election for 5 March 1983 , unsuccessfully attempting to prevent Labor from making the leadership change. However, he was unable to have the Governor-General confirm the election before Labor announced the change. At the 1983 election, Hawke led Labor to a landslide victory, achieving a 24-seat swing and ending seven years of Liberal Party rule. With
32780-399: The second child of Arthur "Clem" Hawke (1898–1989), a Congregationalist minister, and his wife Edith Emily (Lee) (1897–1979) (known as Ellie), a schoolteacher. His uncle, Bert , was the Labor premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959. Hawke's brother Neil, who was seven years his senior, died at the age of seventeen after contracting meningitis , for which there was no cure at
33000-437: The severity of the recession by initially encouraging the economy to boom post-stock crash as elections were approaching, which necessitated higher interest rates and tighter monetary policy than would otherwise have been necessary. Hewson called for a radical reform program and formulated a package which included a consumption tax policy and industrial relations reform to address the poor economic situation. The Fightback! policy
33220-665: The shock of the German-Soviet non-aggression pact caused the Japanese Prime Minister Baron Hiranuma Kiichirō to submit his resignation to the Emperor, which was accepted. The possibility that at least for the moment that Japan would stay neutral if the Danzig crisis led to war in Europe encouraged the cabinet in Canberra to stand by Britain. On 3 September 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany due to its invasion of Poland on 1 September, leading to
33440-416: The start of World War II. Menzies responded immediately by also declaring Australia to be at war in support of Britain, and delivered a radio broadcast to the nation on that same day, which began "Fellow Australians. It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia
33660-414: The state-wide scholarship examinations. This feat financed the entirety of his secondary education, which had to be undertaken at private schools, as Victoria did not yet have a system of public secondary schools. In 1908 and 1909, Menzies attended Grenville College , a small private school in Ballarat Central . He and his family moved to Melbourne in 1910, where he enrolled in Wesley College . Menzies
33880-458: The subsidisation of loss-making industries, and sold off part of the state-owned Commonwealth Bank . The taxation system was also significantly reformed, with income tax rates reduced and the introduction of a fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax; the latter two reforms were strongly opposed by the Liberal Party at the time, but were never reversed by them when they eventually returned to office in 1996. Partially offsetting these imposts upon
34100-435: The superiority of free enterprise except for certain public utilities such as the railways. His candidacy was nearly defeated when a group of ex-servicemen attacked him in the press for not having enlisted, but he survived this crisis. Within weeks of his entry to parliament, he was made a minister without portfolio in a new minority Nationalist State government led by Premier William McPherson. The new government had formed when
34320-405: The support of his party and consequently resigned as prime minister. He subsequently helped to create the new Liberal Party, and was elected its inaugural leader in August 1945. At the 1949 federal election , Menzies led the Liberal–Country coalition to victory and returned as prime minister. His appeal to the home and family, promoted via reassuring radio talks, matched the national zeitgeist as
34540-404: The tax system, while the Family Assistance Package (introduced in 1987) significantly strengthened the amount of income support for hundreds of thousands of low-income families. Some sole parents and unemployed persons benefited from other measures designed to reduce barriers to workforce participation, deal with their housing costs, and increase their incomes. In addition, a new Child Support Agency
34760-399: The threat it was deemed to pose to national security became the dominant preoccupation of the new government in its first phase. Menzies introduced legislation in 1950 to ban the Communist Party, hoping that the Senate would reject it and give him a trigger for a double dissolution election, but Labor let the bill pass. It was subsequently ruled unconstitutional by the High Court . But when
34980-419: The three represented rural constituencies, and were defeated after a few terms. Menzies's maternal grandfather John Sampson was active in the trade union movement. He was the inaugural president of the Creswick Miners' Association, which he co-founded with future Australian Labor Party MP William Spence , and was later prominent in the Amalgamated Miners' Association. Growing up, Menzies and his siblings "had
35200-399: The three-day summit led to a unanimous adoption of a national economic strategy, generating sufficient political capital for widespread reform to follow. Among other reforms, the Hawke government floated the Australian dollar , repealed rules that prohibited foreign-owned banks to operate in Australia, dismantled the protectionist tariff system, privatised several state sector industries, ended
35420-401: The time. Ellie Hawke subsequently developed an almost messianic belief in her son's destiny, and this contributed to Hawke's supreme self-confidence throughout his career. At the age of fifteen, he presciently boasted to friends that he would one day become the prime minister of Australia . At the age of seventeen, Hawke had a serious crash while riding his Panther motorcycle that left him in
35640-400: The tiny Australian Army beyond its current size of 1, 571 soldiers on economic grounds. The news of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact of 22 August 1939 was greeted with both relief and concern in Menzies's cabinet. It was understood that the German-Soviet nonaggression pact ended the prospect of a "peace front" of Britain, France and the Soviet Union to deter Germany from invading Poland, and that war
35860-454: The traits of pomposity and arrogance that would cause difficulties later in his career. His fellow law student and future parliamentary colleague Percy Joske noted Menzies as a student "did not suffer fools gladly [...] the trouble was that his opponents frequently were not fools and that he tended to say things that were not only cutting and unkind but that were unjustified". During World War I, Menzies served his compulsory militia service in
36080-440: The values which Menzies regarded as critical to shaping Australia's wartime and postwar policies. These were essentially the principles of liberalism: individual freedom, personal and community responsibility, the rule of law, parliamentary government, economic prosperity and progress based on private enterprise and reward for effort. After losing the UAP leadership, Menzies moved to the backbench. Besides his overall sense of duty,
36300-446: The visit, Mandela publicly thanked the Hawke government for the role it played in the boycott. Hawke benefited greatly from the disarray into which the Liberal Party fell after the resignation of Fraser following the 1983 election. The Liberals were torn between supporters of the more conservative John Howard and the more liberal Andrew Peacock , with the pair frequently contesting the leadership. Hawke and Keating were also able to use
36520-398: The war would have made it nearly impossible for him to return to his legal practice in any event. Labor won a crushing victory at the 1943 election , taking 49 of 74 seats and 58.2 percent of the two-party-preferred vote as well as a Senate majority. The Coalition, which had sunk into near-paralysis in opposition, was knocked down to only 19 seats. Hughes resigned as UAP leader, and Menzies
36740-416: The war, Britain would activate the Singapore strategy by sending a strong Royal Navy force to Singapore. Menzies continued to be worried about the fact that the Singapore base-despite being billed as the "Gibraltar of the East" was a base, not the fortress that it was presented as; about the shoddy state of the fortifications at Singapore; and about the lack of details in Churchill's promises. Just before
36960-401: The welfare system, increased the real value of the old-age pension, reintroduced the six-monthly indexation of single-person unemployment benefits, and established a wide-ranging programme for paid family support, known as the Family Income Supplement. During the 1980s, the proportion of total government outlays allocated to families, the sick, single parents, widows, the handicapped, and veterans
37180-436: The withdrawal of European Powers and the British Empire from the Far East (including independence for India and Indonesia). In response to these geopolitical developments, the Menzies government maintained strong ties with Australia's traditional allies such as Britain and the United States while also reorienting Australia's foreign policy focus towards the Asia Pacific. With his first Minister for External Affairs, Percy Spender,
37400-440: The world". However, in a letter written by Menzies on 11 September 1939, he privately urged for peace negotiations and the continuation of appeasement with Hitler. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, animosity developed between Sir Earle Page and Menzies which was aggravated when Page became Acting Prime Minister during Lyons's illness after October 1938. Menzies and Page attacked each other publicly. He later became deputy leader of
37620-463: The world, particularly after the later inclusions of China and Russia, and the Keating government 's later establishment of the APEC Leaders' Forum. Elsewhere in Asia, the Hawke government played a significant role in the build-up to the United Nations peace process for Cambodia , culminating in the Transitional Authority; Hawke's Foreign Minister Gareth Evans was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiations. Hawke also took
37840-404: The world. The crisis originated when Japan and West Germany pushed up interest rates, pressuring US rates also to rise, triggering a massive sell off of US shares. Global share prices fell an average of 25%, but Australia saw a 40% decline. The Hawke government responded to the crisis initially by asking the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to defer its national wage case. Treasurer Keating
38060-408: The years ahead. As noted by Ann Harding at the University of Canberra : To appreciate the scale of these changes, let us look at the Browns, a hypothetical family. Mr Brown works for a low wage, Mrs Brown looks after two children, and they rent their home. In late 1982 the Browns received just under $ 13 a week in family allowance – about $ 25 per week in 1995–96 dollars. In contrast, in January 1996
38280-590: Was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1932 to 1934, and then transferred to Federal Parliament , subsequently becoming Attorney-General of Australia and Minister for Industry in the government of Joseph Lyons . In April 1939, following Lyons's death, Menzies was elected leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) and sworn in as prime minister. He authorised Australia's entry into World War II in September 1939, and spent four months in England to participate in meetings of Churchill's war cabinet . On his return to Australia in August 1941, Menzies found that he had lost
38500-417: Was "not very interested in and certainly incompetent at sport", but excelled academically. In his third and final year at Wesley he won a £40 exhibition for university study, one of 25 awarded by the state government. In 1913, Menzies entered the Melbourne Law School . He won a variety of prizes, exhibitions, and scholarships during his time as a student, graduating as a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1916 and
38720-483: Was 79 years old at the time. During his time in the political wilderness Menzies built up a large popular base of support by his frequent appeals, often by radio, to ordinary non-elite working citizens whom he called 'the Forgotten People'—especially those who were not suburban and rich or members of organised labour. From November 1941, he began a series of weekly radio broadcasts reaching audiences across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. A selection of these talks
38940-420: Was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early. Hawke's enthusiasms were cigars, horse racing and sport whereas Keating preferred classical architecture , Mahler symphonies, and antique collecting. Hawke was consensus-driven whereas Keating revelled in debate. Hawke was a lapsed Protestant and Keating was a practising Catholic, although the extent of his commitment to formal practices are debated . While
39160-496: Was accepted by both federal political parties and has survived until today, though with a number of changes. Robert Menzies Prime Minister of Australia First term of government (1939–1941) Second term of government (1949–1966) Ministries Elections Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th prime minister of Australia from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. He held office as
39380-423: Was advised to tighten monetary policy, but, with forthcoming by-elections and a state election in New South Wales, the government opted to delay the potentially unpopular move, which would raise interest rates. Commodity prices dropped and the Australian dollar sharply declined. The Reserve Bank conducted a $ 2 billion intervention to hold the dollar at 68c but it crashed to 51c. In December 1987, Keating said that
39600-443: Was also introduced, while coverage of occupational superannuation pensions was also widened significantly, from 46% of employees in 1985 to 79% in 1991. During the course of the 1980s and early 1990s, government benefits substantially improved the incomes of the bottom 20% of households, with rent assistance, family payments, and sole parent benefits all substantially boosted in real terms. According to some historians, when examining
39820-537: Was also president of the university's guild during the same year. The following year, Hawke won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend University College, Oxford , where he began a Bachelor of Arts course in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). He soon found he was covering much the same ground as he had in his education at the University of Western Australia, and transferred to a Bachelor of Letters course. He wrote his thesis on wage-fixing in Australia and successfully presented it in January 1956. In 1956, Hawke accepted
40040-401: Was appointed a King's Counsel in 1929. In 1928, Menzies entered state parliament as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from East Yarra Province , representing the Nationalist Party of Australia . He stood for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, the sanctity of contracts and the jealous preservation of existing institutions. Suspicious of the Labor Party, Menzies stressed
40260-423: Was appointed director, who turned the focus on the economic benefits of a culturally diverse society. OMA advised the PM and Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs as well as the newly-established Australian Council of Multicultural Affairs , with Justice Sir James Gobbo as chair. In 1989, following community consultations and drawing on the advice of the Advisory Council for Multicultural Affairs (ACMA),
40480-434: Was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet by Labor Leader Bill Hayden as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations. Hayden, after having led the Labor Party to narrowly lose the 1980 election, was increasingly subject to criticism from Labor MPs over his leadership style. To quell speculation over his position, Hayden called a leadership spill on 16 July 1982, believing that if he won he would be guaranteed to lead Labor through to
40700-450: Was born in Renfrewshire , Scotland, and arrived in Melbourne in 1854. The following year he married Elizabeth Band, the daughter of a cobbler from Fife . Menzies was proud of his Scottish heritage, and preferred his surname to be pronounced in the traditional Scottish manner ( / ˈ m ɪ ŋ ɪ s / MING -iss ) rather than as it is spelled ( / ˈ m ɛ n z i z / MEN -zeez ). This gave rise to his nickname "Ming", which
40920-408: Was completed. A surge in commodity prices began in 1986 and assisted the economy to a small 1987 surplus of $ 2.3 Billion. With commodity prices now over their peak, economic conditions were entering a decline, with high interest rates, a growing current account deficit, declining demand, increasing foreign debt and a wave of corporate collapses. Furthermore, the collapse of the Eastern Bloc economies,
41140-432: Was created in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet . This was partly because of a poor reaction to the 1986 budget, which led to the need for better information to be gathered on multicultural issues, and also because it was recommended by the Jupp Review of Migrant and Multicultural Programs and Services. Putting it in PMC gave multicultural affairs the same status as women's and Aboriginal issues. Peter Shergold
41360-439: Was deliberately distinct from the Whitlam government , the Labor government that preceded it. Rather than immediately initiating multiple extensive reform programs as Whitlam had, Hawke announced that Malcolm Fraser 's pre-election concealment of the budget deficit meant that many of Labor's election commitments would have to be deferred. As part of his internal reforms package, Hawke divided the government into two tiers, with only
41580-415: Was described by US diplomats as "a bulwark against anti-American sentiment and resurgent communism during the economic turmoil of the 1970s", and often disputed with the Whitlam government over issues of foreign policy and industrial relations. US diplomats played a major role in shaping Hawke's consensus politics and economics. Although Hawke was the most prolific Australian informer for the United States in
41800-405: Was edited into a book bearing the title of his most famous address, The Forgotten People , delivered on 22 May 1942. In this landmark address, Menzies appealed to his support base: I do not believe that the real life of this nation is to be found either in great luxury hotels and the petty gossip of so-called fashionable suburbs, or in the officialdom of the organised masses. It is to be found in
42020-458: Was elected as his successor on the second ballot, defeating three other candidates. The UAP also voted to end the joint opposition arrangement with the Country Party, allowing Menzies to replace Fadden as opposition leader. Soon after his return, Menzies concluded that the UAP was at the end of its useful life. Menzies called a conference of anti-Labor parties with meetings in Canberra on 13 October 1944 and again in Albury (NSW) in December 1944. At
42240-419: Was elected as president of the ACTU in 1969, where he achieved a high public profile. In 1973, he was appointed as president of the Labor Party. In 1980, Hawke stood down from his roles as ACTU and Labor Party president to announce his intention to enter parliamentary politics, and was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Wills at
42460-462: Was elected as the Federal President of the Labor Party . Two years later, when the Whitlam government was controversially dismissed by the Governor-General , Hawke showed an initial keenness to enter Parliament at the ensuing election . Harry Jenkins , the MP for Scullin , came under pressure to step down to allow Hawke to stand in his place, but he strongly resisted this push. Hawke eventually decided not to attempt to enter Parliament at that time,
42680-462: Was electorally feasible and how best to sell it to the public, tasks at which he proved highly successful. Hawke took on a very public role as Prime Minister, campaigning frequently even outside of election periods, and for much of his time in office proved to be incredibly popular with the Australian electorate; to this date he still holds the highest ever AC Nielsen approval rating of 75%. The Hawke government oversaw significant economic reforms, and
42900-413: Was especially worried about the military threat from Japan. Australia had very small forces, and depended on Britain for defence against the looming threat of the Japanese Empire, with its 100 million people, a very powerful Army and Navy and an aggressive foreign policy. He hoped that a policy of appeasement would head off a war with Japan, and repeatedly pressured London. Menzies did his best to rally
43120-572: Was established to provide community-based services for frail aged people and people with disabilities, while to combat homelessness a Supported Accommodation Assistance program was introduced to assist those who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or escaping domestic violence. A bereavement payment equivalent to fourteen weeks pension for the surviving member of a pensioner couple was also introduced, together with an Asylum Seeker Assistance scheme to provide help to applicants for refugee status in need. A wide range of measures were introduced to protect
43340-652: Was established, designed to provide a more efficient system of maintenance and tackle child poverty. Funding for public housing and disadvantaged students was also considerably increased. Various measures were also introduced which enhanced the rights of women in the workplace. The Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 prohibited sex discrimination in employment while the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act of 1986 required all higher education institutions and all private companies with more than 100 employees to introduce affirmative action programmes on behalf of women. A year later, equal opportunity legislation for
43560-783: Was further weakened after Labor's unexpectedly poor performance at a by-election in December 1982 for the Victorian seat of Flinders , following the resignation of the sitting member, former deputy Liberal leader Phillip Lynch . Labor needed a swing of 5.5% to win the seat and had been predicted by the media to win, but could only achieve 3%. Labor Party power-brokers, such as Graham Richardson and Barrie Unsworth , now openly switched their allegiance from Hayden to Hawke. More significantly, Hayden's staunch friend and political ally, Labor's Senate Leader John Button , had become convinced that Hawke's chances of victory at an election were greater than Hayden's. Initially, Hayden believed that he could remain in his job, but Button's defection proved to be
43780-415: Was generally liked and respected by employers as well as the unions he advocated for. As early as 1972, speculation began that he would seek to enter the Parliament of Australia and eventually run to become the Leader of the Australian Labor Party . But while his professional career continued successfully, his heavy drinking and womanising placed considerable strains on his family life. In June 1973, Hawke
44000-478: Was immediately appointed Attorney-General of Australia and Minister for Industry in the Lyons government . In 1937 he was appointed a Privy Counsellor . In late 1934 and early 1935 Menzies, then attorney-general, unsuccessfully prosecuted the government's highly controversial case for the attempted exclusion from Australia of Egon Kisch , a Czech Jewish communist. The initial prohibition on Kisch's entry to Australia, however, had not been imposed by Menzies but by
44220-413: Was imposing a monetary squeeze, while on the other it was encouraging spending with wage increases and tax cuts". By July 1990, Australia was entering severe recession. Initially, the Treasurer had insisted Australia would face a "soft landing", but after receiving the September quarter accounts indicating a large contraction of 1.6 per cent, he adopted a different political strategy, instead arguing that
44440-457: Was introduced that same year, designed not only to improve the adequacy of welfare payments for low-income families, but was also designed to ensure that participating in part-time work or full-time work didn't lead to a loss in income support. The Hawke government's achievements in boosting financial support to low-income households were substantial, with the family assistance package bringing significant benefits to millions of low-income families in
44660-413: Was later expanded to " Ming the Merciless " after the comic strip character. His middle name was given in honour of Charles George Gordon . The Menzies family had moved to Jeparit, a small Wimmera township, in the year before Robert's birth. At the 1891 census, the settlement had a population of just 55 people. His elder siblings had been born in Ballarat, where his father was a locomotive painter at
44880-515: Was launched in November 1991. The comprehensive plan further destabilised Hawke's leadership. The ACTU campaigned for a wage increase. Hawke brokered an increase for waterside workers and public servants. By April 1991, unemployment was nearing 10% and rising. On 3 June, Keating challenged Hawke for the leadership of Labor, but lost the vote and became a destabilising presence on the back bench. The new treasurer, John Kerin and deputy prime minister Brian Howe blamed Keating's 1990 economic policy for
45100-482: Was made by Hawke's mentor at ANU, H. P. Brown, who for a number of years had assisted the ACTU in national wage cases. Hawke decided to abandon his doctoral studies and accept the offer, moving to Melbourne with his wife Hazel . Hawke is well known for a "world record" allegedly achieved at Oxford University for a beer skol (scull) of a yard of ale in 11 seconds. The record is widely regarded as having been important to his career and ocker chic image. A 2023 article in
45320-420: Was more likely than not in Europe. Conversely, the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact had (temporarily as it proved) alienated Japan from Germany, and within the Australian cabinet, it was felt that Japan would be less likely to enter a war against the British empire because of the German-Soviet agreement, which had come as a most unwanted surprise in Tokyo. In Tokyo, the failure to achieve an alliance with Germany alongside
45540-436: Was necessary for the security of the Commonwealth. If passed, this would have given a government the power to introduce a bill proposing to ban the Communist Party. Chifley died a few months after the 1951 election. The new Labor leader, H. V. Evatt , campaigned against the referendum on civil liberties grounds, and it was narrowly defeated. Menzies sent Australian troops to the Korean War . Economic conditions deteriorated in
45760-419: Was persuaded to become Minister for Defence Co-ordination in Fadden's cabinet. The Fadden government lasted only 40 days before being defeated on a confidence motion. On 9 October 1941, Menzies resigned as leader of the UAP after failing to convince his colleagues that he should become Leader of the Opposition in preference to Fadden. He was replaced as UAP leader by former prime minister Billy Hughes , who
45980-400: Was president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 1969 to 1980. On 14 October 1980, he was preselected as the Australian Labor Party candidate for the Seat of Wills and resigned from the ACTU. Hawke won the seat at the 1980 Election and was appointed as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Employment and Youth Affairs by Opposition Leader Bill Hayden . In 1982, amongst
46200-483: Was proclaimed. In April 1984, the Hawke government proclaimed Advance Australia Fair as Australia's national anthem, settling an ongoing debate, and at the same time declared green and gold as the national colours of Australia . The Hawke government secured passage of the Australia Acts in 1986, severing remaining constitutional ties to Britain: ending the inclusion into Australian law of British Acts of Parliament, and abolishing remaining provisions for appeals to
46420-488: Was removed as Treasurer and appointed Minister for Transport and Communications and the Minister for Finance, Ralph Willis, became Treasurer. Hawke attributed the change to loss of confidence in communication. By 1992, shortly after Hawke lost office, unemployment had reached 11 per cent, the highest level in Australia since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In health, the Whitlam government's universal health insurance system (Medibank), which had been dismantled by Fraser,
46640-410: Was restored under a new name, Medicare while a Pharmaceutical Allowance was also introduced to help pay towards the cost of prescription medicines. The government's response to the AIDS concern is also considered to have been a success. In addition, nursing education was transferred from hospital-based programs to the tertiary education sector, while Australia's first ever national mental health policy
46860-408: Was significantly higher than under the previous Fraser and Whitlam governments. In 1984, the Hawke government enacted the landmark Sex Discrimination Act 1984 , which eliminated discrimination on the grounds of sex within the workplace. In 1989, Hawke oversaw the gradual re-introduction of some tuition fees for university study, creating set up the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS). Under
47080-405: Was staged on Sydney Harbour on Australia Day out of respect for Indigenous Australians . In 1988 Hawke was the first to promise a treaty between Aboriginal peoples and the government, after receiving the Barunga Statement from Aboriginal elders , which called for such a treaty to be concluded. Despite public interest and growing support, concerns were raised over possible implications of such
47300-485: Was strongly committed to democracy for the British peoples, but he initially thought that the Germans should take care of their own affairs. He strongly supported the appeasement policies of the Chamberlain government in London, and sincerely believed that war could and should be avoided at all costs. after the visit to Germany in 1938, Menzies wrote that the "abandonment by the Germans of individual liberty ... has something rather magnificent about it". Menzies also praised
47520-401: Was sworn in as prime minister eight days later. A crisis arose almost immediately, however, when Page refused to serve under him. In an extraordinary personal attack in the House, Page accused Menzies of cowardice for not having enlisted in the War, and of treachery to Lyons. Menzies then formed a minority government. When Page was deposed as Country Party leader a few months later, Menzies took
47740-512: Was the fourth of five children born to Kate ( née Sampson) and James Menzies ; he had two elder brothers, an elder sister Isabel , and a younger brother. Menzies was the first Australian prime minister to have two Australian-born parents: his father was born in Ballarat and his mother in Creswick . His grandparents on both sides had been drawn to Australia by the Victorian gold rush . His maternal grandparents were born in Penzance , Cornwall . His paternal grandfather, also named Robert Menzies,
47960-411: Was the major factor in the government's narrow re-election at the 1990 election . In the Government's fourth term, Hawke personally led the Australian delegation to secure changes to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty , ultimately winning a guarantee that drilling for minerals within Antarctica would be totally prohibited until 2048 at the earliest. Hawke later claimed that
48180-479: Was to launch a political career in Britain, Labor insisted that the crisis was too dire for Menzies to leave the country. With Labor unwilling to support him travelling to London and his position within his own party room weakening, Menzies called an emergency cabinet meeting. He announced his intention to resign and advise the Governor-General , Lord Gowrie to commission Curtin as prime minister. The Cabinet instead urged Menzies to make another overture to Labor for
48400-513: Was to see wool and wheat prices decline, savaging Australia's agricultural sector. Keating budgeted a record $ 9.1 billion surplus for 1989–90, and Labor won the 1990 election, aided by the support of environmentalists. To court the green vote, environment minister Graham Richardson had placed restrictions on mining and logging which had a further detrimental effect on already rising unemployment. David Barnett wrote in 1997 that Labor fiscal policy at this time "self-defeating as "with one hand it
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