Search

When prime ministers speak, the nation usually listens. In the Australian federation, prime ministers have consistently used the power of their political pulpit to launch policy interventions into areas of traditional State responsibility. This article suggests that there is an emerging rhetorical pattern to the way these policy interventions are presented. Prime ministers of both major parties have used rhetoric to portray the Commonwealth as acting on behalf of the legitimate interests of constituents who have been ignored by State governments. Occurring in close proximity to federal elections, policy interventions are shown to be weapons which favour incumbent prime ministers in their battles with State governments and federal oppositions alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been three waves of regulatory reform in Australia since the 1980s, each informed by broadly similar neoliberal political and economic objectives, but with important differences of emphasis that reflect key priorities and changing contexts. This article argues that the second and third waves brought with them three significant developments: (1) A substantially enhanced capacity for the organisation and management of intergovernmental relations in Australia; (2) a new, national emphasis on the need for microeconomic reform, reinvigorated and broadened in the third wave by a broadening of the national 'productivity and efficiency' debate through the Human Capital agenda of Council of Australian Governments (COAG); and (3) markedly changed funding and policy responsibilities between the levels of government. These changes include new arrangements for intergovernmental funding; a new performance oversight body, the COAG Reform Council; a revised Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations; and a new role for Commonwealth ministers in chairing COAG working parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perhaps the most potent symbol of the Howard government's faith in New Public Management (NPM) was the Job Network. Interrogating the Rudd government's replacement package, this article assesses whether the recent restructuring of employment services constitutes a post-NPM environment. It is argued that there are major post-NPM elements, seen most clearly in: the softening of jobseeker sanctions; greater deliberation on policy direction and results; a more inclusive employment super-ministry and reliance on other 'horizontal' governance reforms; and enhanced government resources for multiple-disadvantage clients. However, categorising these changes as post-NPM is problematic because the steering mechanism remains the market-based contract, a central NPM characteristic. Theoretical difficulties in applying paradigmatic concepts to services provide additional barriers to conclusive assessments, though the Rudd government's employment services regime provides a basis for taking stock in the post-NPM debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tracks the waning of John Howard's authority as leader during the Australian federal election campaign of 2007 by focusing on the political cartoons in major newspapers. Political cartoons as analysed in this piece provide two interlinked things of interest to political analysts: (1) a clear account of the ebb and flow of election campaigns; and (2) a good gauge of political 'strength' of individuals as it is projected in the media. The story they tell for the 2007 campaign in Australia is of a tired government led by a once-strong leader who came to look faintly ridiculous in the face of circumstances he could no longer control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the debates and media interviews that were conducted during the 2007 Australian election campaign. It discusses the leaders' debate between John Howard and Kevin Rudd, the National Press Club and broadcast media debates, and the significant broadcast media interviews that occurred throughout the campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite claims that Kevin Rudd's campaign against John Howard was based around 'me-tooism', there was an ideological contest underlying both the Labor and Liberal electoral strategy. Indeed, Howard's ideological hubris helps to explain why the Liberals' previous election strategies no longer worked. WorkChoices reflected Howard's neoliberal ideological influences and undermined his previously electoral strategy of wedging conservative workers and 'battlers' away from Labor. Rudd presented as a safe, economically conservative, 'small target' candidate. Nonetheless, his own policies were influenced by social democratic ideology, particularly in regard to his critique of extreme neoliberalism. That critique underlay Rudd's policies on working families, climate change and broadband. Furthermore, while being cautious in his statements on contentious social issues, Rudd cleverly used the politics of signs to indicate that he had more progressive policies than Howard on issues ranging from race to gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that 'Asia' has tended to function as an ambivalent 'sign' in Australian political discourse, signifying both fear and hope. That ambivalence is reflected in Australian government policy. The article focuses on the period from Gough Whitlam on, tracing the links between debates over Australian relations with Asia and key issues in Australian domestic politics, including debates over immigration, the economy and Australian national identity. Key differences are identified between the views of John Howard and those of recent Australian Labor Prime Ministers. However, it is pointed out that Kevin Rudd also has ambivalent attitudes towards Asia, both encouraging Asian engagement as a path to future prosperity and fearing that Australia will be left behind in an increasingly 'Asian Century'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the leadership attributes and styles of the Prime Minister (John Howard) and the Leader of the Opposition (Kevin Rudd) prior to—and during—the Australian national election of 2007. Although he led his party to defeat, John Howard was still held in fair regard by the electorate. Kevin Rudd achieved high levels of popularity from the time he became Leader of the Opposition at the end of 2006 until the election of November 2007. Both leaders attracted comments about the elusiveness of their political personalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queensland makes up nearly one-quarter of the Australian continent. After a redistribution that added the new seat of Flynn, it contained twenty-nine House of Representatives divisions. Both major parties agreed that it would be a key battle ground in the 2007 federal election. The election of the Queenslander Kevin Rudd as its leader gave the ALP a desperately-needed fillip in a state in which it held just nine seats. In all its key elements Labor's Queensland campaign was an extension of its national campaign. Labor candidates played upon Rudd's image as a young, savvy politician. Their Coalition rivals distanced themselves from John Howard and ran as local members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ALP's campaign focused on the leadership team of Kevin Rudd and the future; longer term issues such as WorkChoices; and incorporated a more centralised candidate selection strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is arguable that the 2007 election was decided on longer term issues, and longer term campaigning. This article focuses on the campaigning side. The campaigning commenced with the election of Labor's new leadership team of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in December 2006. The Howard Coalition Government, after a minor cabinet reshuffle, pressed on with the promotion of its policies and programmes; but by May 2007 was forced to change tack, making concessions on the unpopular WorkChoices policy, and then introducing a controversial Aboriginal intervention programme. The election campaign was anti-climactic. The article includes a postscript on the election aftermath, comparing Kevin Rudd with Gough Whitlam in his rapid implementation of key campaign policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian federal election of 24 November 2007 saw the defeat of the Howard Liberal-National Party coalition government after almost 12 years in office and brought to power a Labor government, the first since 1996, under the leadership of Kevin Rudd. John Howard, Australia's second longest-serving prime minister, became only the second prime minister to lose his own seat at an election. This article summarizes the election result and places it in the context of post-Second World War Australian political and electoral history. The highly unusual character of the large swing to the Labor Party is underlined, as is the rarity of a change of government in Australia since the Second World War. The article also examines the influence of the political leadership of the two major parties in contributing to the changing climate of opinion during 2007 and surveys the campaign itself, underlining the many problems experienced by the Howard government in the final weeks of its life. Finally, the article emphasizes the critical roles that interest rates, climate change and industrial relations all played in fatally undermining the Howard ascendancy. The government, faced with a politically credible and electorally attractive opponent, emerging economic difficulties and a shifting policy agenda, was unable to present itself as equipped to deal with new local and global challenges after a long period in power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on Australia's foreign policy from July to December 2007, which coincided with and impacted the results of political campaigns in the country. Prime Minister John Howard and Kevin Rudd's Australian Labor Party (ALP) were the main forces of the campaign. The most prominent foreign policy issues of the campaign were the Iraq war, Afghanistan, the South Pacific, climate change, and the place of the U.S. in Asian-Pacific politics. The case of Mohammed Haneef, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorist attacks in Great Britain, is discussed. Issues such as Australia's position on the Iraq war and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan were also important campaign issues.

The article presents information on domestic politics and government in Australia from July to December 2007 for the whole country and individual regions like New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. During that time a general election took place in which Prime Minister John Howard campaigned to keep his position from opponent Kevin Rudd. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting was held on September 2-9, 2008 in Sydney, Australia and foreign leaders from the region came, including U.S. President George W. Bush. The outcome of the elections was that Rudd became Prime Minister of Australia. The election results of the Australian Senate are also discussed.

In an era of continuous campaigning, elections are seldom won in the final weeks of the formal campaign period. The 2007 Australian federal election saw voters dispatch a Liberal Party and Nationals Coalition government that had presided over a buoyant economy, and return the Australian Labor Party from the electoral wilderness it had occupied since 1996. The explanation of this revival in Labor's stocks can be traced to the Wheat Board scandal, the unpopularity of the labour market deregulation, and to a series of other political tribulations that the fourth Howard Government faced during 2005 and 2006. Initially their impact was masked by the failure of Labor's parliamentary leadership. But when caucus elected Kevin Rudd and freed him to position Labor as offering fresh ideas and a safe pair of hands, Labor seized a lead in the opinion polls and retained it throughout 2007. Rudd's tactical leadership of his party proved critical. This article describes how the 2007 campaign unfolded and the pattern of events which saw a refashioned ALP win an eighteen-seat lower house majority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the authors' views on social conditions in Australia after the administration of former Prime Minister John Howard. The authors reflect on the federal government of Australia in 2008 under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and note the differences between the two leaders. Concepts of civil society, democratic processes, and duty are also explored.