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22
THE STORY SO FAR
Compiled by Rebecca Weisser
1996—Changing the Guard
‘If I am wrong and you are right then the democratic processes of Australia will vindicate you and condemn me.’
—John Howard, 16 May 1996
March 1996
2: John Howard leads the Coalition to its first federal election victory in 13 years with a landslide two-party-preferred vote of 53.9 per cent and a 45-seat majority, one of the biggest wins since World War II. ‘The government that I will lead will be a government not only for the people that voted for us but also for the people who voted against us,’ says Howard.
4: Howard outlines his reform agenda, declaring he has been given an emphatic and unambiguous mandate for the partial sale of Telstra and industrial relations changes. ‘There are no circumstances for people to try and frustrate, hinder or torpedo the implementation of our program,’ he says.
7: Howard tells Liberal MPs they could lead Australia into the next millennium if they deliver good government to all Australians.
8: Howard announces cuts to the ministry (from 31 to 28) and dismisses six departmental heads.
11: Howard restores the Queen to the oath of allegiance and the Australian flag to his official car.
12: Peter Costello says the ‘days of sloth and waste are over’ and pledges to cut $8 billion from the budget over the next two years.
15: Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad agrees to visit Australia for the first time in a decade.
18: Howard announces that he will move his family into Kirribilli House in Sydney, becoming the first Prime Minister since William McMahon not to live at The Lodge.
27: President Suharto invites Howard to visit Jakarta.
29: Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer meet Mahathir, who stops over briefly in Brisbane on his way to New Zealand.
April 1996
28: Martin Bryant murders 35 people and attempts the murder of 20 others in Port Arthur, Australia’s worst random killing by a lone gunman. Attorney-General Darryl Williams says he will press for changes to gun laws. ‘Gun controls are a state and territory responsibility and some states have been reluctant to impose restrictions that the Commonwealth regards as appropriate,’ he says.
29: Howard orders an emergency meeting of state police ministers to toughen gun laws and draw up a national plan for firearm registration. The Port Arthur massacre crystallises resolve for a national approach to the issue.
30: Howard imposes a new code of ministerial conduct on his first day in parliament. It forbids ministers from engaging in any other work, from holding directorships in public companies and from holding shares in companies in the area of their portfolios.
May 1996
10: Howard announces a firearms package, including bans on automatic and semi-automatic weapons, a nationwide register, a requirement for a genuine reason for owning, possessing or using a firearm, minimum standards for storage and mail order sales controls. ‘This represents an enormous shift in the culture of this country . . . it is an historic agreement. It means that this country, through its governments, has decided not to go down the American path.’
24: Howard indicates he may have to drop some of his election promises because of budget constraints. ‘I know the Australian people are very pragmatic . . . they understand that changed circumstances can sometimes make the delivery of some commitments difficult, no matter how genuinely made,’ he says.
June 1996
16: Howard wears a bullet-proof vest as he confronts an angry crowd of 3000 in Sale on a tour of rural Australia to listen to the pro-gun lobby. ‘If I am wrong and you are right then the democratic processes of Australia will vindicate you and condemn me.’
27: Howard rejects claims by Noel Pearson that he does not believe in the spirit of the Mabo decision. ‘I have always regarded the Mabo decision itself as being a justified, correct decision.’
July 1996
3: Howard slashes immigration by 10,000 places to 74,000 a year, citing high unemployment. Ethnic Communities Council of NSW Chair Angela Chan says, ‘You don’t have to come and say we will cut down on Asian migration . . . the minister knows where the target groups are coming from.’
7: The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, warns that unless there are drastic improvements for Aboriginal Australians, reconciliation is doomed until well into the next century.
22: Downer tells Asian governments Australia will now fund some development aid projects which were to be axed with the closure of the Development Import Finance Facility (DIFF).
26: Howard bolsters US links by upgrading and expanding Pine Gap and increasing joint military exercises.
28: Janette Howard is admitted to hospital to be operated on for a serious medical condition. Howard cancels his first overseas trip to Indonesia and Japan.
August 1996
9: The Government announces a lowering of the HECS threshold repayment threshold from $28,495 to $20,701 and HECS increases of between 35 and 125 per cent.
13: A $400 million cut to ATSIC is announced.
14: Costello releases the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy giving the Reserve Bank independence ending the need for it to consult with the government before making interest rate changes.
20: First Costello budget provides relief for families and small business, with cuts to unemployment programs, the aged, universities, the ABC, the Australia Council, ATSIC and foreign aid. Senator Mai Colston defects from the Labor Party to become an independent.
28: Prince Charles and Princess Diana are divorced.
September 1996
1: Senator Richard Alston calls for the full sale of Telstra, drawing a rebuke from Howard the following day.
10: The independent member for Oxley, Pauline Hanson, makes her maiden speech, launching a scathing attack on Aboriginal welfare and multiculturalism and calling for compulsory national service. She claims that Australia is ‘in danger of being swamped by Asians . . . They have their own culture and religion, form ghettoes and do not assimilate.’ The Government should ‘cease all foreign aid immediately and apply the savings to generating employment here at home’. On Aboriginal welfare she says, ‘present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land monies and facilities only available to Aboriginals . . . I am fed up with being told, “This is our land.” Well, where the hell do I go?’ There was no official reaction from the Prime Minister but a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said: ‘The Government has made clear its continued support for multicultural policies.’
16: Howard meets President Suharto in Jarkarta and tells him Australia does not need to choose between ‘our history and our geography’. ‘Neither do I see Australia as a bridge between Asia and the West, as is sometimes suggested,’ he says. ‘Rather I believe that our geography and our history are elements in an integrated relationship with our region and the wider world.’
22: Howard makes a veiled reference to Hanson’s maiden speech, saying, ‘One of the great changes that have come over Australia in the last six months is that people do feel able to speak a little more freely and a little more openly about what they feel. In a sense, the pall of censorship on certain issues has been lifted . . . I welcome the fact that people can now talk about certain things without living in fear of being branded as a bigot or as a racist . . . And that freedom of speech carries with it a responsibility on all those who exercise that freedom to do so in a tolerant and moderate fashion.’ ATSIC Social Justice Commissioner Mick Dodson accuses Howard of a lack of pandering to prejudice, bigotry and hatred.
23: Hanson says, ‘By making the comments he made over the weekend, he is being the leader I am prepared to have.’
24: Holocaust denier and revisionist historian David Irving says he will lodge a new visa application ‘because these remarks made by the Australian Prime Minister show a new climate of freedom of speech now applying in Australia’.
25: Howard rejects Hanson’s views on Asian immigration and multiculturalism but defends her right to express them. He supports reductions in the immigration program, saying: ‘there is a link between the high level of unemployment among certain groups in Australia and some past immigration levels in the composition of our program in the past’.
October 1996
1: Howard abandons his election promise for a full public inquiry into cross-media ownership in favour of a low-key, internal review.
8: Howard vows always to denounce intolerance and defend the nondiscriminatory nature of Australia’s immigration policy but questions the value of an inquiry into the stolen generation, saying additional funds would be better spent on improving Aboriginal health, education, housing and employment opportunities.
14: Assistant Treasurer Jim Short resigns after controversy about his ANZ shareholding.
15: Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Brian Gibson, resigns over share-trading technicality.
19: Liberal Jackie Kelly retains the seat of Lindsay with a primary swing of more than 6 per cent after Labor forces an election re-run on a technicality.
27: Democrats Leader Cheryl Kernot agrees to support the passage of IR legislation after 171 changes.
30: Ajoint motion opposing racism and re-affirming a non-discriminatory immigration policy attempts to dispel fears voiced in Asia. Howard says the motion ‘is an embodiment of certain attitudes and values that both sides of the House in the national Parliament have in common’.
November 1996
19: Howard emphasises the upgraded relationship with the US as President Bill Clinton visits Australia, only the third US head of state to do so. Clinton says Australia could be a ‘shining example’ of how people could come together as one nation and a ‘beacon of hope’.
21: Parliament passes Howard’s first major economic reform: the Workplace Relations Bill. Industrial Relations Minister Peter Reith agrees to amendments from the Australian Democrats, including a no-disadvantage test ensuring that employees could not be worse off if they signed a non-union indi...
