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84-511: The Kidd -class destroyers were a series of four guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) based on the Spruance class . In contrast to their predecessor's focus on anti-submarine warfare , the Kidd s were designed as more advanced multipurpose ships with the addition of considerably enhanced anti-aircraft capabilities. Originally ordered for the former Imperial Iranian Navy , the contracts were canceled when

168-651: A U.S. Navy Admiral who had died in combat in the Pacific in World War II: Because they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and other features that made them suitable in hot climates, they tended to be used in the Middle East , specifically the Persian Gulf itself. During their service with the U.S. Navy from the 1980s to the late 1990s, the ships were popularly known as the "Ayatollah" class. In 1988–90,

252-400: A barrister as a likely career. Howard attended Earlwood Primary School and Canterbury Boys' High School . He won a citizenship prize in his final year at Earlwood (presented by local politician Eric Willis ), and subsequently represented his secondary school at debating as well as cricket and rugby union . Cricket remained a lifelong hobby. In his final year at school he took part in

336-413: A snap election for October 1998, three months sooner than required. The Coalition actually lost the national two-party preferred vote to Labor, suffering a 14-seat swing. However, the uneven nature of the swing allowed Howard to win a second term in government, with a considerably reduced majority (from 45 seats to 12). Howard himself finished just short of a majority on the first count in his own seat, and

420-569: A GST would "never ever" be part of the Liberal Party's policy. Howard, when making the promise, referred to the GST as being a losing policy for Hewson's election campaign in 1993. By the time the writs were issued for the 1996 election , the Coalition had been well ahead of Labor in opinion polls for over a year. The consensus of most opinion polls was that Howard would be the next prime minister. With

504-569: A Liberal if elected. Howard repudiated Hanson's views seven months after her maiden speech. Following the Wik Decision of the High Court in 1996, the Howard government moved swiftly to legislate limitations on its possible implications through the so-called Ten-Point Plan . From 1997, Howard spearheaded the Coalition push to introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST) at the subsequent election; this

588-409: A bid to become prime minister himself—the " Joh for Canberra " campaign. Keating campaigned against Howard's proposed tax changes forcing Howard to admit a double-counting in the proposal, and emphasising to the electorate that the package would mean at that stage undisclosed cuts to government services. Howard was not helped when the federal Nationals broke off the Coalition agreement in support of

672-404: A boy. In 1955, when Howard was aged 16, his father died, leaving his mother to take care of him. Howard suffered a hearing impairment in his youth, leaving him with a slight speech impediment , and he continues to wear a hearing aid. It also influenced him in subtle ways, limiting his early academic performance; encouraging a reliance on an excellent memory; and in his mind ruling out becoming

756-751: A broadly based indirect tax, and the rejection of counter-cyclical fiscal policy. Following the defeat of the Fraser government and Fraser's subsequent resignation from parliament, Howard contested the Liberal leadership against Andrew Peacock , losing 36–20 . However, he was re-elected as deputy leader. The Liberal Party were again defeated by Labor at the early 1984 election . In 1985, as Labor's position in opinion polls improved, Peacock's popularity sank and Howard's profile rose. Leadership speculation persisted, and Peacock said he would no longer accept Howard as deputy unless he offered assurances that he would not challenge for

840-431: A large lead over Latham as preferred prime minister. In the lead up to the election, Howard again did not commit to serving a full term. Howard attacked Latham's economic record as Mayor of Liverpool City Council and attacked Labor's economic history. The election resulted in a five-seat swing to the Coalition, netting it a majority almost as large as in 1996. It also resulted the first, albeit slim, government majority in

924-568: A majority in their own right with 75 seats, the most that the party had ever won. It was only the third time (the others being 1975 and 1977) that the main non-Labor party has been even theoretically able to govern alone since the Coalition's formation. Nevertheless, Howard kept the Nationals in his government. Howard entered office with a 45-seat majority—the second-biggest majority in Australian history, only behind Fraser's 55-seat majority in 1975. At

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1008-568: A man of steel, he's showed the world he's a man of heart." In April 2002, Howard was the first Australian prime minister to attend a royal funeral, that of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother . In October Howard responded to the 2002 Bali bombing with calls for solidarity. Howard re-dedicated his government to the " War on Terror ". In March 2003, Australia joined the US-led " Multinational force in Iraq " in sending 2,000 troops and naval units to support in

1092-642: A military port in eastern Taiwan, in December 2005, and were named Kee Lung and Su Ao in a commissioning ceremony on 17 December 2005. Following the tradition of ship class naming, ROCN has referred to these vessels as Kee Lung - class destroyers , with the ships named after military ports in Taiwan. The remaining two units, ex- Kidd and ex- Chandler , were delivered in 2006, and named Tso Ying and Ma Kong , respectively. The opposition-led Legislature Yuan originally allocated only enough money to purchase half of

1176-566: A radio show hosted by Jack Davey , Give It a Go , broadcast on the commercial radio station, 2GB . After gaining his Leaving Certificate , he studied law at the University of Sydney , graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1962. Howard began working for the firm of Stephen Jaques and Stephen as a junior solicitor. In 1964, he took a trip around the world, visiting Britain, Europe, Israel, India, and Singapore. After returning to Sydney in 1965, he began working for Clayton Utz , but "lacked

1260-412: A referendum be held, Habibie made a snap decision to hold a vote on independence. This referendum on the territory's independence triggered a Howard and Downer orchestrated shift in Australian policy. In September 1999, Howard organised an Australian-led international peace-keeping force to East Timor ( INTERFET ), after pro-Indonesia militia launched a violent "scorched-earth" campaign in retaliation to

1344-520: A repeat of mistakes made at the 1993 election, Howard revised his earlier statements against Medicare and Asian immigration, describing Australia as "a unique intersection between Europe, North America and Asia". This allowed Howard to campaign on a "small-target" strategy. He focused on the economy and memory of the early 1990s recession, and on the longevity of the Labor government, which in 1996 had been in power for 13 years. In May 1995, Howard promised that

1428-534: A result, the Hawke government was handily reelected, winning the most seats that Labor had ever won in an election. In his social agenda, Howard promoted the traditional family and was antipathetic to the promotion of multiculturalism at the expense of a shared Australian identity. The controversial immigration policy, One Australia , outlined a vision of "one nation and one future" and opposed multiculturalism. Howard publicly suggested that to support "social cohesion"

1512-528: Is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Bennelong from 1974 to 2007. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history , behind only Sir Robert Menzies . Howard has also been

1596-465: Is wrong, racist, immoral or anything, for a country to say 'we will decide what the cultural identity and the cultural destiny of this country will be and nobody else." Howard is opposed to abortion and voted against the RU-486 abortion drug being legalised. As the country's economic position worsened in 1989, public opinion moved away from Labor, however there was no firm opinion poll lead for Howard or

1680-525: The 2004 federal election . In his final term in office, his government introduced industrial relations reforms known as WorkChoices , which proved controversial and unpopular with the public. The Howard government was defeated at the 2007 federal election , with the Labor Party's Kevin Rudd succeeding him as prime minister. Howard also lost his own seat of Bennelong at the election to Maxine McKew , becoming only

1764-405: The Australian constitutional monarchy . Despite opinion polls suggesting Australians favoured a republic, a 1999 referendum rejected the model chosen by the convention. The new President of Indonesia , B.J. Habibie , had some months earlier agreed to grant special autonomy to Indonesian-occupied East Timor . However, following the receipt of a letter sent by Howard to Habibie suggesting that

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1848-515: The Kidd s received the " New Threat Upgrade ", which allowed cooperative engagement with Aegis Ticonderoga -class cruisers, enabling the cruisers to control the Kidd s ' surface-to-air missiles in flight while the destroyers remained electronically silent. However, the arrival of the Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke -class destroyers led to the accelerated retirement of the Kidd class. All four ships were decommissioned from

1932-548: The Port Arthur massacre , and controversially implemented a nationwide value-added tax , breaking a pre-election promise. The Howard government called a snap election for October 1998 , which they won, albeit with a greatly reduced majority. Going into the 2001 election , the Coalition trailed behind Labor in opinion polling . However, in a campaign dominated by national security, Howard introduced changes to Australia's immigration system to deter asylum seekers from entering

2016-679: The War in Afghanistan despite widespread opposition. Howard developed a strong personal relationship with the President, and they shared often similar ideological positions – including on the role of the United States in world affairs and their approach to the " War on Terror ". In May 2003, Howard made an overnight stay at Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch in Texas, after which Bush said that Howard "...is not only

2100-449: The invasion of Iraq . In response to the Australian participation in the invasion, there were large protests in Australian cities during March 2003, and Prime Minister Howard was heckled from the public gallery of Parliament House. While opinion polls showed that opposition to the war without UN backing was between 48 and 92 per cent, Howard remained preferred prime-minister over the Leader of

2184-480: The "Joh for Canberra" push, which led to a large number of three-cornered contests. Bjelke-Petersen abandoned his bid for prime minister a month before the election, however, the damage had already been done. Additionally, a number of swing voters outside Queensland were alarmed at the prospect of Bjelke-Petersen holding the balance of power, and voted for Labor to ensure that the Liberals and Nationals would be defeated. As

2268-594: The "most blemished chapter" in Australia's history; offered "deep and sincere regret " for past injustices. Following his 2007 loss of the prime ministership, Howard was the only living former prime minister who declined to attend the February 2008 apology made by Kevin Rudd with bi-partisan support. Howard did not commit to serving a full term if he won the next election; on his 61st birthday in July 2000 he said he would consider

2352-411: The "unloseable" 1993 election to Paul Keating , Howard unsuccessfully challenged Hewson for the leadership. In 1994, he was again passed over for the leadership, which went to Alexander Downer . Hewson had pledged to resign if defeated in 1993 but did not resign to block Howard from succeeding him. In January 1995, leaked internal Liberal Party polling showed that with gaffe-prone Downer as leader,

2436-634: The 1979 Iranian Revolution began, and the ships were completed for the United States Navy . They were decommissioned in 1999 and sold to Taiwan , where they have served in the Republic of China Navy as the Kee Lung class since 2005. These destroyers were originally ordered by the last Shah of Iran for service in the Persian Gulf in an air defence role around 1973/74. The original order of six ships

2520-529: The 20-year Labor incumbent, Les Haylen . In mid-1964, Howard travelled to London to work and travel for a period. He volunteered for the Conservative Party in the electorate of Holborn and St Pancras South at the 1964 UK general election . In 1967, with the support of party power brokers John Carrick and Eric Willis , Howard was endorsed as candidate for the marginal suburban state seat of Drummoyne , held by Labor's Reg Coady . Howard's mother sold

2604-481: The Campbell report, but adopted an incremental approach with Cabinet, as there was wide opposition to deregulation within the government and the treasury. The process of reform began before the committee reported 2 1 ⁄ 2 years later, with the introduction of the tender system for the sale of Treasury notes in 1979, and Treasury bonds in 1982. Ian Macfarlane described these reforms as "second only in importance to

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2688-435: The Coalition had slim chance of holding its marginal seats in the next election, let alone of winning government. Media speculation of a leadership spill ended when, on 26 January 1995, Downer resigned as Liberal Leader and Howard was elected unopposed to replace him. The Coalition subsequently opened a large lead over Labor in most opinion polls, and Howard overtook Paul Keating as preferred prime minister. Hoping to avoid

2772-470: The Coalition. In February, Liberal Party president and prominent businessman, John Elliott , said confidentially to Andrew Peacock that he would support him in a leadership challenge against Howard, and in May a surprise leadership coup was launched, ousting Howard as Liberal leader. When asked that day whether he could become Liberal leader again, Howard likened it to "Lazarus with a triple bypass" . The loss of

2856-516: The FFG Upgrade Project, to improve the Adelaide frigates' capabilities; however, this project ran over costs and was behind schedule. After the Australian refusal, the four ships were offered to Greece, which also refused. In 2001, the U.S. authorized the reactivation and sale of all four ships to Taiwan (Republic of China). All four have been transferred to the Republic of China Navy under

2940-725: The French Navy no longer uses the term "destroyer", the largest frigates are assigned pennant numbers with flag superior "D", which designates destroyer. [REDACTED]   Australia [REDACTED]   Canada [REDACTED]   France [REDACTED]   Germany [REDACTED]   Italy [REDACTED]   Japan [REDACTED]   Soviet Union [REDACTED]   United Kingdom [REDACTED]   United States John Howard Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1996–2007) Ministries Elections John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939)

3024-509: The Government would lose office in the election later that year. The government announced a series of policy reversals and softenings which boosted the government's fortunes, as did news that the economy had avoided recession. The government's position on "border protection", in particular the Tampa affair where Howard refused the landing of asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian freighter, consolidated

3108-408: The Howard government. Also unpopular with voters were large spending cuts aimed at eliminating the budget deficit (and Howard's distinction between "core" and "non-core" election promises when cutting spending commitments), industrial changes and the 1998 waterfront dispute , the partial sale of government telecommunications company Telstra , and the Government's commitment to a GST. Howard called

3192-528: The Iranian government canceled the second two ships in the class, signing a memorandum of understanding indicating that they were available for acquisition by the U.S. Navy. On 21 February. 1979, the Iranian Prime Minister notified the U.S. government that Iran intended to terminate the contract of the first two ships, officially cancelling delivery on 8 March 1979. Each ship in the class was named after

3276-508: The Kuang Hua VII program. They were sold for a total price of US$ 732 million with upgraded hardware, overhaul, activation, and training, and included a reduced missile loadout of 148 SM-2 Block IIIA and 32 RGM-84L Block II Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The reactivation was done in Charleston, South Carolina, by VSE/BAV. The first two ships, ex- Scott and ex- Callaghan , arrived at Su-ao ,

3360-409: The Liberal Party leadership to Peacock deeply affected Howard, who admitted he would occasionally drink too much. Declining Peacock's offer of Shadow Education, Howard went to the backbench and a new period of party disunity ensued which was highlighted by a Four Corners episode detailing the coup against Howard. Following the Coalition's 1990 election loss, Howard considered challenging Peacock for

3444-437: The Liberal Party. In December 1977, aged 38, Howard was appointed Treasurer , in place of Phillip Lynch . He was the youngest Treasurer since Chris Watson in 1904. Fraser said in his memoirs that he appointed him despite his limited experience because "he was bright and he got across a brief well, and he was a good manager". During his five years in the position, Howard became an adherent of free-market economics , which

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3528-646: The Middle East, they also had four air conditioning plants to the Spruances' three, additional dust separators on their gas turbines' air intakes, and increased water distillation capacity. The Shah was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution , prior to Iran accepting delivery of the ships, causing the United States Navy to integrate the vessels into its own fleet in 1981–82 as the Kidd class. On 3 February 1979,

3612-559: The Opposition . He led the Liberal–National coalition to the 1987 federal election , but lost to Bob Hawke 's Labor government, and was removed from the leadership in 1989. Remaining a key figure in the party, Howard was re-elected leader in 1995, replacing Alexander Downer , and subsequently led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 1996 federal election . In his first term, Howard introduced reformed gun laws in response to

3696-436: The Opposition, Simon Crean , although his approval ratings were lower compared to before the war. Throughout 2002 and 2003 Howard had increased his opinion poll lead over Labor Party leader, Simon Crean . In December 2003, Crean resigned after losing party support and Mark Latham was elected leader. Howard called an election for 9 October 2004 . While the government was behind Labor in the opinion polls, Howard himself had

3780-428: The Opposition. Defunct Defunct Howard was in effect the Liberal party's first pro-market leader in the conservative Coalition and spent the next two years working to revise Liberal policy away from that of Fraser's. In his own words he was an "economic radical" and a social conservative . Referring to the pro-market liberalism of the 1980s, Howard said in July 1986 that "The times will suit me". That year

3864-491: The SM-2 missiles that the destroyers can carry; a further purchase of 100 supplemental SM-2MRs was included in the 2007 annual budget to ensure all four ships had a full load of SM-2. By end of 2008, Su Ao was spotted to have eight HF-3 AShMs installed in place of eight Harpoon AShMs. It has been speculated from 2014 on that a navalized Sky Bow missile system, currently planned for an upcoming shipbuilding programme that involves

3948-467: The Senate since 1981. For the second time since becoming prime minister, Howard came up short of a majority in the first count for his own seat. He was assured of reelection on the third count, ultimately winning 53.3 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. On 21 December 2004, Howard overtook Bob Hawke to become the second longest-serving Australian prime minister after Sir Robert Menzies . In 2006, with

4032-517: The U.S. Navy in 1994. In the early 1990s the Labor government of Paul Keating chose to maintain the Royal Australian Navy's existing Adelaide -class frigates instead of replacing them with the more expensive and much more labour-intensive, but more capable Kidd -class destroyers. Under the succeeding Liberal government of John Howard , in the mid-1990s they commenced the SEA 1390, also known as

4116-557: The U.S. Navy in the late 1990s and were initially offered for sale to Australia in 1997 for A$ 30 million each. The Royal Australian Navy was a strong supporter of buying the Kidd -class destroyers to replace the Perth class as their air warfare ships. In 1999, the offer was rejected, based on extensive problems the Royal Australian Navy had encountered during the acquisition of two surplus Newport -class tank landing ships from

4200-563: The United States’ Aegis Combat System , and may be adopted for use in an anti-missile or ballistic-missile defense role. This is especially true for navies that no longer operate cruisers , so other vessels must be adopted to fill in the gap. Many guided-missile destroyers are also multipurpose vessels, equipped to carry out anti-surface operations with surface-to-surface missiles and naval guns , and anti-submarine warfare with torpedoes and helicopters. Although

4284-531: The age of 56, he was sworn in as prime minister on 11 March 1996, ending a record 13 years of Coalition opposition. Howard departed from tradition and made his primary residence Kirribilli House in Sydney rather than The Lodge in Canberra. Early in the term Howard had championed significant new restrictions on gun ownership following the Port Arthur massacre in which 35 people had been shot dead. Achieving agreement in

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4368-568: The country, and pledged military assistance to the United States following the September 11 attacks . Due to this, Howard won widespread support, and his government would be narrowly re-elected. In Howard's third term in office, Australia contributed troops to the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War , and led the International Force for East Timor . The Coalition would be re-elected once more at

4452-489: The country—resulted in stagflation ; unemployment touched double-digits and inflation peaked at 12.5% (official interest rates peaked at 21%). The Fraser government with Howard as Treasurer lost the 1983 election to the Labor Party led by Bob Hawke . Over the course of the 1980s, the Liberal Party came to accept the free-market policies that Fraser had resisted and Howard had espoused. Policies included low protection, decentralisation of wage fixation, financial deregulation,

4536-500: The economy was seen to be in crisis with a 40% devaluation of the Australian dollar, a marked increase in the current account deficit and the loss of the Federal Government's triple A rating. In response to the economic circumstances, Howard persistently attacked the Labor government and offered his free-market reform agenda. Support for the Labor Party and Hawke strengthened in 1985 and 1986 and Howard's approval ratings dropped in

4620-642: The face of immense opposition from within the Coalition and some State governments, was credited with significantly elevating Howard's stature as prime minister despite a backlash from core Coalition rural constituents. Howard's initial silence on the views of Pauline Hanson —a disendorsed Liberal Party candidate and later independent MP from the Brisbane area—was criticised in the press as an endorsement of her views. When Hanson had made derogatory statements about minorities, Howard not only cancelled her Liberal endorsement, but declared she would not be allowed to sit as

4704-480: The face of infighting between Howard and Peacock supporters, a "public manifestation of disunity" over policy positions, and questions over Howard's leadership. Hawke called the 1987 federal election six months early. In addition to the Howard–Peacock rivalry, Queensland National Party criticism of the federal Liberal and National leadership culminated in longtime Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen making

4788-567: The family home in Earlwood and rented a house with him at Five Dock , a suburb within the electorate. At the election in February 1968 , in which the incumbent state Liberal government was returned to office, Howard narrowly lost to Coady, despite campaigning vigorously. At the 1974 federal election , Howard successfully contested the Division of Bennelong , located in suburban Sydney. The election saw

4872-514: The float of the Australian dollar in 1983." In 1981, Howard proposed a broad-based indirect tax with compensatory cuts in personal rates; however, cabinet rejected it citing both inflationary and political reasons. After the free-marketeers or "drys" of the Liberals challenged the protectionist policies of Minister for Industry and Commerce Phillip Lynch , they shifted their loyalties to Howard. Following an unsuccessful leadership challenge by Andrew Peacock to unseat Fraser as prime minister, Howard

4956-405: The general public. Howard is the fourth son of Mona ( née Kell) and Lyall Howard , who married in 1925. Howard was also known as "Jack" in his youth. His older brothers were Walter (1926–2019), Stanley (1930–2014) and Robert (b. 1936). Lyall Howard was an admirer of Winston Churchill . Howard's ancestors were English, Scottish, and Irish. He is descended from convict William Tooley, who

5040-399: The government now controlling both houses of parliament for the first time since the Fraser era, industrial relations changes were enacted. Named " WorkChoices " and championed by Howard, they were intended to fundamentally change the employer-employee relationship. Opposed by a broad trade union campaign and antipathy within the electorate, WorkChoices was subsequently seen as a major factor in

5124-572: The improving polls for the government, as did the 11 September 2001 attacks . Howard led the government to victory in the 2001 federal election with an increased majority. Howard had first met US President George W. Bush in the days before the 11 September terrorist attacks and was in Washington the morning of the attacks. In response to the attacks, Howard invoked the ANZUS Treaty . In October 2001, he committed Australian military personnel to

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5208-401: The issue as instrumental in Howard subsequently losing the leadership in 1989. In a 1995 newspaper article (and in 2002 as prime minister), Howard recanted his 1988 remarks on curbing Asian immigration. In line with "One Australia's" rejection of Aboriginal land rights, Howard said the idea of an Aboriginal treaty was "repugnant to the ideals of One Australia" and commented "I don't think it

5292-463: The leadership, but didn't have enough support for a bid. Ultimately, Peacock resigned and was replaced with Howard's former staffer John Hewson who defeated Peter Reith ; Peacock supported Hewson as a symbol of generational change . Howard was a supporter of Hewson's economic program, with a Goods and Services Tax (GST) as its centrepiece. Howard was Shadow Minister for Industrial relations and oversaw Jobsback section of Fightback. After Hewson lost

5376-504: The leadership. Following Howard's refusal to offer such an assurance, Peacock sought, in September 1985, to replace him with John Moore as deputy leader. The party room re-elected Howard as deputy on 5 September 38 votes to 31, which Peacock treated as a vote of no confidence in his leadership. He subsequently called a leadership ballot , which he chose not to contest. Howard defeated Jim Carlton by 57 votes to six, thus becoming Leader of

5460-512: The oldest living Australian former prime minister since the death of Bob Hawke in May 2019. Howard was born in Sydney and studied law at the University of Sydney . He was a commercial lawyer before entering parliament. A former federal president of the Young Liberals , he first stood for office at the 1968 New South Wales state election , but lost narrowly. At the 1974 federal election , Howard

5544-498: The political spectrum, and commanded a diverse base of supporters, colloquially referred to as his " battlers ". Retrospectively, ratings of Howard's premiership have been polarised. His critics have admonished him for involving Australia in the Iraq War, his policies regarding asylum seekers, and his economic agenda. Nonetheless, he has been frequently ranked within the upper-tier of Australian prime ministers by political experts and

5628-593: The procurement of up to 15 general purpose frigates and three or four air defense destroyers, will also be replacing the Standard Missile system on these vessels. No plan for any Mk 26-compatible version of the Sky Bow III missile is ever known to have existed. Guided-missile destroyer Guided-missile destroyers are equipped with large missile magazines, with modern examples typically having vertical-launch cells . Some contain integrated weapons systems, such as

5712-409: The question of retirement when he turned 64. This was interpreted as boosting Costello's leadership aspirations, and the enmity over leadership and succession resurfaced publicly when Howard did not retire at the age of 64. In the first half of 2001, rising petrol prices, voter enmity over the implementation of the GST, a spike in inflation and economic slowdown led to bad opinion polls and predictions

5796-571: The rate of Asian immigration be "slowed down a little". The comments divided opinion within the Coalition, and undermined Howard's standing amongst Liberal party figures including federal and state Ministers, intellectual opinion makers, business leaders, and within the Asia Pacific. Three Liberal MPs crossed the floor and two abstained in response to a motion put forward by Prime Minister Hawke to affirm that race or ethnicity would not be used as immigrant selection criteria. Many Liberals later nominated

5880-579: The referendum's overwhelming vote in favour of independence. The successful mission was widely supported by Australian voters, but the government was criticised for "foreign policy failure" following the violence and collapse of diplomatic relations with Indonesia. By Howard's fourth term, relations with Indonesia had recovered to include counter-terrorism cooperation and Australia's $ 1bn Boxing Day Tsunami relief efforts, and were assisted by good relations between Howard and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono . Throughout his prime-ministership, Howard

5964-490: The return of the Gough Whitlam -led Labor government. Howard supported Malcolm Fraser for the leadership of the Liberal Party against Billy Snedden following the 1974 election. When Fraser won office at the 1975 federal election , Howard was appointed Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs , a position in which he served until 1977. At this stage, he followed the protectionist and pro-regulation stance of Fraser and

6048-404: The second prime minister to do so, after Stanley Bruce at the 1929 election . Following this loss, Howard retired from politics, but has remained active in political discourse. Howard's government presided over a sustained period of economic growth and a large " mining boom ", and significantly reduced government debt by the time he left office. He was known for his broad appeal to voters across

6132-590: The support of many traditionally Labor voters—dubbed " Howard battlers "—Howard and the Liberal-National Coalition swept to power on the back of a 29-seat swing. This was the second-worst defeat of an incumbent government since Federation. The Coalition picked up a five per cent swing, taking 13 seats away from Labor in New South Wales, and winning all but two seats in Queensland. The Liberals actually won

6216-540: The tax changes—including the GST—were implemented in the government's second term after amendments to the legislation were negotiated with the Australian Democrats to ensure its passage through the Senate. Through much of its first term, opinion polling was disappointing for the government. The popularity of Pauline Hanson, and the new restrictions on gun ownership drew many traditionally Coalition voters away from

6300-484: The university grades and the social connections to be on track for a partnership". He subsequently moved to a smaller firm, which became Truman, Nelson and Howard after he was made a partner. Howard married fellow Liberal Party member Janette Parker in 1971, with whom he had three children: Melanie (1974), Tim (1977) and Richard (1980). John and Janette are Christians . Howard joined the Liberal Party in 1957. He

6384-797: Was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in April 1982. His election depended largely on the support of the "drys", and he became the party's champion of the growing free-market lobby. The economic crises of the early 1980s brought Howard into conflict with the Keynesian Fraser. As the economy headed towards the worst recession since the 1930s, Fraser pushed an expansionary fiscal position much to Howard's and Treasury's horror. With his authority as treasurer being flouted, Howard considered resigning in July 1982, but, after discussions with his wife and senior advisor John Hewson , he decided to "tough it out". The 1982 wages explosion—wages rose 16 per cent across

6468-568: Was transported to New South Wales in 1816 for stealing a watch. Howard was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood , in a Methodist family. His mother had been an office worker until her marriage, while his father and his paternal grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of the First Australian Imperial Force in the First World War . They also ran two Dulwich Hill petrol stations where Howard worked as

6552-526: Was a member of the party's New South Wales state executive and was federal president of the Young Liberals (the party youth organisation) from 1962 to 1964. Howard supported Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War , although has since said there were "aspects of it that could have been handled and explained differently". At the 1963 federal election , Howard acted as campaign manager for Tom Hughes in his local seat of Parkes . Hughes went on to defeat

6636-552: Was challenging economic orthodoxies in place for most of the century. He came to favour tax reform including broad-based taxation (later the GST ), a freer industrial system including the dismantling of the centralised wage-fixing system, the abolition of compulsory trade unionism , privatisation and deregulation. In 1978, the Fraser government instigated the Campbell Committee to investigate financial system reforms. Howard supported

6720-399: Was despite saying, before winning the prime ministership, that it would "never ever" be part of Coalition policy. A long-held conviction of Howard's, his tax reform package was credited with "breaking the circuit" of party morale—boosting his confidence and direction, which had appeared to wane early in the Government's second term. The 1998 election was dubbed a "referendum on the GST", and

6804-412: Was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Bennelong . He was promoted to cabinet in 1977, and later in the year replaced Phillip Lynch as treasurer of Australia , remaining in that position until the defeat of Malcolm Fraser 's government at the 1983 election . In 1985, Howard was elected leader of the Liberal Party for the first time, thus replacing Andrew Peacock as Leader of

6888-450: Was only assured of reelection on the ninth count. He ultimately finished with a fairly comfortable 56 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. In 1998, Howard convened a constitutional convention which decided in principle that Australia should become a republic . At the convention Howard confirmed himself as a monarchist, and said that of the republican options, he preferred the minimalist model. Howard outlined his support for retaining

6972-404: Was resolute in his refusal to provide a parliamentary "apology" to Indigenous Australians as recommended by the 1997 " Bringing Them Home " Report. Howard made a personal apology before the release of the report. In 1999, Howard negotiated a " Motion of Reconciliation " with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway . Eschewing use of the word "sorry", the motion recognised mistreatment of Aborigines as

7056-472: Was tentatively assigned hull numbers DD 993–998 by the U.S. Navy but it was reduced to four ships after U.S. Congress declined to halt the original production run of 30 Spruance ships. Compared to the preceding Spruance class, they retained the former's anti-submarine capabilities while adding two Tartar-D missile launchers for the Mark 26/Standard anti-aircraft missile system. In order to operate more effectively in

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