INDEPTH: AUSTRALIA
Election 2004: Party Leaders
CBC News Online | October 10, 2004
On Saturday, October 9, 2004, Australians went to the polls in a national election.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard scored a decisive victory at the ballot box, winning a historic fourth term that should ensure the U.S. ally keeps its troops in Iraq.
Many international observers saw the election as the first referendum for the three leaders who launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Howard had come under fire for his unpopular decision to join the war and has been Washington's unstinting ally there, while the Labor Party pledged to pull Australia's 900 troops out by Christmas.
Liberal Party of Australia | John Howard
John Winston Howard was born July 26, 1939, and was raised in a middle-class suburb of Sydney. His parents ran a garage. In 1954, his father, Lyell Howard, died from war-related injuries.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 29, 2004 announces that Australians will go to the polls on October 9, 2004. (AP Photo)
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Howard went on to study law at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1961. Over the next 10 years, he practised law and became a partner in a Sydney firm. During that time, he met and married Janette Parker. They have three children: Melanie, Tim and Richard.
Howard joined the Liberal party at 18 and participated in student politics while in university. He was elected MP for Bennelong, a northwestern suburb of Sydney, in May 1974. After a Liberal victory under Malcolm Fraser in 1975, Howard was appointed minister for business and consumer affairs, and in 1977 he became treasurer.
During that time, Howard became captivated by the fiscal policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He promoted tax cuts, privatization of government-owned services and less government spending. By 1982, he was elected deputy leader of the Liberal party. The following year, Howard's party lost the election to Labor and struggled through the 1980s and early '90s to recapture votes.
During the 1980s, Howard would run for leadership of the Liberal party twice and lose. In 1988, he was roundly criticized for a speech in which he claimed Australia was taking too many Asian immigrants. Throughout, he stayed as deputy leader of the party.
In January 1995, party leader Alexander Downer resigned after about a year in the post. This gave Howard another chance and he was elected party leader later that year. Howard formed a partnership with the National party soon after, resulting in a successful political marriage.
In March 1996, Howard's coalition scored a big victory over Labor and its leader, Paul Keating. Howard became the country's 25th prime minister. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to wins in 1998 and 2001.
Illegal immigrants, terrorism and the U.S.
Howard won his first term in office with the support of the working class. He promised not to touch social welfare and labelled the Labor party as elitists. After the Port Arthur massacre of 1996, in which a lone gunman killed 35 people, Howard persuaded state government to restrict the availability of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns.
He instituted a program to buy back any illegal guns. During his first term, Howard would spend budget surpluses on private health insurance rebates and income tax cuts.
After his 1998 win, Howard implemented the unpopular Goods and Services Tax on most items except fresh food. His government also pressured Indonesia to uphold its offer to East Timor to hold a referendum on independence. Australia later contributed to a peacekeeping force there. Howard's stand on East Timor would win him international praise.
Howard's popularity grew in 2001 in the weeks before the federal election. In August, the government refused permission for a freighter carrying a group of professed asylum seekers to enter Australian waters. The move was popular with many Australians, who had become hostile to illegal immigration.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., Howard introduced strict border protection legislation, making it more difficult for foreigners to move to the country. In the November elections, he underlined his protectionist stance: "We decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come." He was returned to office.
Howard has been a staunch supporter of the American "war on terror," sending 2,000 troops to Iraq and promising more in the future. He has been close with the U.S. administration of George W. Bush, which has resonated with certain voters whose fear of terrorists and foreigners shot up after the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 85 Australians.
Howard becomes Australia's second-longest-serving PM. Another Liberal, Robert Menzies, held the office from 1949 to 1966.
Australian Labor Party | Mark Latham
Australian Labor Party leader Mark Latham at a media conference in Sydney, Sept. 24, 2004. (AP Photo)
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Mark Latham was born in a working-class suburb of southwestern Sydney, New South Wales, on Feb. 28, 1961. He graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Sydney in 1982 and went to work as a research assistant to former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam.
His career in elected politics began at the local level in 1987, when he won a seat on the city council of Liverpool, a suburb of Sydney. Latham became mayor in 1991 and held that post until 1994, when he resigned from council to focus on treatment for testicular cancer.
Latham's term as mayor saw radical changes including dramatic increases in spending on public works, which were paid for by a combination of loans and efficiencies achieved from "outsourcing" many council services. Among the projects were libraries, a pedestrian mall and public art. Latham's supporters at the time praised the projects. His detractors argue Latham's excessive spending left the city nearly bankrupt.
Late in 1994, Latham set his sights on federal politics. He won a byelection in the riding of Werriwa in New South Wales. He was re-elected in March 1996, October 1998 and November 2001.
During his time as a backbencher, Latham started to get noticed. He wrote a book – Civilising Global Capital: New Thinking for Australian Labor – in which he argued that the party needed to abandon many of its traditional policies and move to the centre. He argued the party should do more to appeal to the upwardly mobile skilled working class and small business class. It didn't sit well with the party's old guard.
But his aggressiveness in Parliament won him some fans. He once referred to Prime Minister John Howard as an "arselicker," and called the Liberal front bench a "conga-line of suckholes." He also once labelled U.S. President George W. Bush as "the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory."
In the aftermath of the 2001 election, Labor drifted. Party leader Kim Beazley resigned - Labor's healthy lead in the polls months before the election evaporated as Howard's popularity surged. The Liberals won handily after campaigning on a security and anti-terrorism platform. Beazley was replaced by Simon Crean.
Crean promoted Latham to the party's front bench and in June 2003, named him shadow treasurer and manager of Opposition business in the House of Representatives. The move was as good as naming him heir apparent to the party leadership.
While Latham's star rose, Crean's faded. He was unable to win over public opinion and lost support of the party. He stepped aside in November 2003. Latham stepped forward and found himself facing former leader Kim Beazley. It was close – but Latham prevailed by two votes. At the age of 42, Mark Latham was Labor's youngest leader since Chris Watson in 1901. He was 33.
Since becoming leader, Latham has moved quickly to heal wounds in the party. He appointed Crean as shadow treasurer and retained several key Beazely supporters in senior posts.
The National Party of Australia | John Anderson
John Anderson
Courtesy: John Anderson website
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John Anderson was born on Nov. 14, 1956, in Sydney, New South Wales, to a family of sheep ranchers and landowners – the family business since the 1840s.
Anderson received a master of arts degree from the University of Sydney. In 1988, he entered federal politics, winning the rural seat of Gwydir. By 1992, he had been promoted to the party's front bench. The next year, he was named the party's deputy leader.
In 1996, after the Liberals under John Howard took the most seats in Parliament and formed a government by forming a coalition with the Nationals, Anderson became minister for primary industries and energy. In 1998, he was shifted to minister for transort and regional development.
When party leader Tim Fischer retired in 1999, Anderson took the post unopposed. It meant he automatically became deputy prime minister.
The National party's support base and membership have traditionally been closely associated with the agricultural community. Historically the party is anti-union, supports free agricultural trade, and opposes tariff protection for Australia's manufacturing and service industries. Supporters are usually pro-mining, pro-development, and anti-environmentalist.
On social issues, they are generally regarded as the most conservative of Australia's mainstream parties. They strongly support the nuclear family, oppose much of the agenda of many aboriginal leaders (including treaties, land rights, and apologies over perceived government mistreatment), and are the only mainstream party that has an official policy opposing an Australian republic.
The party has had difficulty hanging on to its support base in recent years, due to a growing gulf between its rural conservative elements and increasing rural support for green candidates and independents.
In the 2001 election, the National party lost three seats – and some of its clout in the governing coalition. There was speculation Anderson would retire, but he decided to stick around for at least one more campaign.
Other parties
- Australian Greens
- Australian Democrats
- One Nation
- Australian Progressive Alliance
- Family First party
- Socialist Alliance
- Non-Custodial Parents party
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| QUICK FACTS: |
Country Name: Commonwealth of Australia
Total Area: 7,686,850 sq. km
Population: 19,913,144
Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)
Capital: Canberra
Head of State: Queen of Australia Elizabeth II represented by the governor general
Government type: Federal-state system with the British monarch as sovereign
Languages: English, native languages
Ethnic Groups: Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%
Religions: Anglican, Roman Catholic, other Christian, non-Christian and others
GDP: $570.3 billion
Key Exports: Coal, gold, meat, wool, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment
Key Industries: Mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel
Life Expectancy: 80.26 years
Infant Mortality: 4.76 deaths/1,000 live births
SOURCE: CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
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