Paul Keating

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The Honourable  Paul Keating  LLD (hc, KU) LLD (hc, US) LLD (hc, UNSW)
24th Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1993, 1996
In office 20 December 1991 – 11 March 1996
Deputy	Brian Howe Kim Beazley
Preceded by	Bob Hawke
Succeeded by	John Howard
Constituency	Blaxland (New South Wales)
30th Treasurer of Australia
In office 11 March 1983 – 20 December 1991
Preceded by	John Howard
Succeeded by	Bob Hawke
Member of the Australian Parliament for Blaxland
In office 25 October 1969 – 15 June 1996
Preceded by	James Harrison
Succeeded by	Michael Hatton
Born	18 January 1944 (1944-01-18) (age 64) Sydney, NSW, Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Occupation	Trade union staffer

Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, from 1991 to 1996. He came to prominence as the reformist Treasurer in the Hawke government from 1983. As Prime Minister, he is noted for his many legislative achievements, and his victory in the 1993 federal election, which many had considered "unwinnable" for Labor, but also blamed for the early 1990s recession. Keating was defeated at the 1996 federal election by the Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard.

[edit] Early and Personal life

Paul Keating in 1977

Keating grew up in Bankstown, a working-class suburb of Sydney. He was one of four children of Matthew Keating, a boilermaker and trade union representative of Irish-Catholic descent, and his wife, Minnie. Keating was educated at Catholic schools; he was the first practising Catholic Labor Prime Minister since James Scullin left office in 1932. Leaving De La Salle College Bankstown (now LaSalle Catholic College) at 15, Keating worked as a clerk and then as a research assistant for a trade union. He joined the Labor Party as soon as he was eligible. In 1966, he became President of the ALP’s Youth Council.^[1]

Through the unions and the NSW Young Labor Council, Keating met other Labor figures such as Laurie Brereton, Graham Richardson and Bob Carr, and developed a friendship with former New South Wales Labor Premier Jack Lang, then in his 90s. Keating met Lang to discuss politics on a weekly basis for some time, and in 1971 succeeded in having Lang re-admitted to the Labor party.^[2] Using his extensive contacts, Keating gained Labor endorsement for the federal seat of Blaxland in the western suburbs of Sydney, and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1969 election, at the age of 25.^[1]

Keating was a backbencher for most of the tenure of the Whitlam Labor government (December 1972 – November 1975), and briefly became Minister for Northern Australia in October 1975. After Labor's defeat in 1975, Keating became an opposition frontbencher, and in 1981 he became president of the New South Wales branch of the party, and thus leader of the dominant right-wing faction. As opposition spokesperson on energy, his parliamentary style was that of an aggressive debater. He initially supported Bill Hayden against Bob Hawke's leadership challenges, partly because he hoped to succeed Hayden himself; but by the end of 1982, he accepted that Hawke would become leader.

In 1975, Keating married Annita van Iersel, a Dutch flight attendant for Alitalia. The Keatings had four children, who spent some of their teenage years in the Lodge, the Prime Minister's official residence in Canberra. They separated in late November 1998. Keating's daughter, Katherine, was a former adviser to former New South Wales Minister Craig Knowles. ^[3]

Keating's interests include collecting French antique clocks, and the music of Mahler.^[1] Keating is a resident of Potts Point, Sydney.

[edit] Treasurer (1983-1991)

Following the Labor Party's victory in the March 1983 election, Keating was appointed Treasurer, a post he held until 1991. Keating had succeeded John Howard as treasurer position under who's tenure official interest rates peaked at 22% on 8 April 1982,^[4] (at the time, home loan rates were capped at 13.5%)^[5] and inflation peaked at 12.5% in September 1982^[6] Keating alleged Howard misled to Parliament about the size of the budget deficit that had been left by the outgoing government.^[7]

Prime Minister Paul Keating and US President George HW Bush, in 1992 at Government House, Canberra

Keating was soon acknowledged^[who?] as the main instigator of economic reforms of the Hawke government.^{[citation needed]} The Hawke/Keating governments of 1983 to 1996 pursued economic policies and restructuring such as floating the Australian Dollar in 1983, reducing in trade tariffs, taxation reforms, changing from centralised wage-fixing to enterprise bargaining, privatisation of publicly-owned companies such as Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank, and deregulation of the banking system. In 1985, Keating proposed the introduction of a value-added tax (known in Australia, New Zealand and Canada whence it was directly copied as the Goods and Services Tax or GST), an option seriously debated before being dropped by Hawke. The early 1990s recession, which Keating labelled "the recession we had to have",^[8] resulted in significant increase in support for the Liberal party, which Keating used in his push for the Labor party leadership.

Keating's tenure as Treasurer and Prime Minster is often criticised for the high interest rates experienced, including home mortgage rates that reached 17%,^{[citation needed]} and the 1990s recession.^{[citation needed]} During the subsequent Howard Government (1996 to 2007), Keating often criticised Howard for taking credit over the relatively good economic conditions Australia has experienced over the latter half of Howard's time as Prime Minister.^[9] Keating had also often re-stated his disapproval that Labor since 1996 had not pursued the Liberal government on the economy.^{[citation needed]}

At a 1988 meeting at Kirribilli House, Hawke and Keating discussed the handover of the leadership to Keating. Hawke confidentially agreed in front of two witnesses that after the 1990 election, he would resign in Keating's favour.^{[citation needed]} In June 1991, after Hawke had intimated to Keating that he planned to renege on the deal on the basis that Keating had been publicly disloyal and moreover was less popular than Hawke, Keating challenged him for the leadership. He lost, resigned as Treasurer, and publicly declared his leadership ambitions had ended.^{[citation needed]} Throughout the rest of 1991, the position of the Hawke government deteriorated under pressure from the recent recession, sniping from Keating supporters, and from Opposition attacks. In December 1991, Keating defeated Hawke in a second leadership challenge, and became Prime Minister.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Prime Minister (1991–1996)

Paul Keating with heads of government at the APEC forum in Bogor, Indonesia, November 1994. Keating's batik shirt motif includes the Australian Coat of Arms.

In 1992, Keating caused outrage in the British tabloid press, who dubbed him "The Lizard of Oz" after he placed his arm around Queen Elizabeth II.^[10]

Most commentators believed the 1993 election was "unwinnable" for Labor; the government had been in power for 10 years, the pace of economic recovery was slow, and there was an electorate perception of Keating as arrogant.^{[citation needed]} However, Keating succeeded in winning back the electorate with a strong campaign opposing Fightback, memorable for Keating's reference to Hewson's proposed GST as "15% on this, 15% on that", and a focus on creating jobs to reduce unemployment. Keating led Labor to an unexpected election victory, and his "true believers" victory speech has entered Australian political folklore as one of the great Australian political speeches. ^[11] After Keating, some of the reforms of Fightback were implemented under the centre-right coalition government of John Howard, such as the GST.

Keating's agenda included making Australia a republic, reconciliation with Australia's indigenous population, and furthering economic and cultural ties with Asia. These issues, which came to be known as Keating's "big picture,"^[12] were popular with the tertiary-educated middle class.^{[citation needed]} Keating's embarked legislative program included establishing the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), a review of the Sex Discrimination Act,^[clarify] and native title rights of Australia's indigenous peoples following the "Mabo" High Court decision. He developed bilateral links with Australia's neighbours, primarily Australia’s largest neighbour Indonesia, and took an active role in the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), initiating the annual leaders' meeting. One of Keating's far-reaching legislative achievements was the introduction of a national superannuation scheme, implemented to address low national savings.

Paul Keating's friendship with Indonesian President Suharto was criticised by Human Rights activists supportive of East Timorese independence and by Nobel Peace Prize winner, José Ramos-Horta (later that country's Prime Minister and President of that country). The Keating government's cooperation with the Indonesian military and the signing of the Timor Gap Treaty were also criticised.^[13]

[edit] Defeat

Liberal Party leadership issues assisted Keating during 1993 and 1994. Questions over Hewson's leadership led to him being replaced as Liberal leader by Alexander Downer in 1994. But Downer's leadership was marred by gaffes, and he was replaced by John Howard in 1995. Under Howard, the Coalition moved ahead of Labor in opinion polls and Keating was unable to wrest back the lead. A warning sign for Labor was the loss of a by-election in the seat of Canberra in 1995. Howard, determined to avoid a repeat of the 1993 election, adopted a "small target" strategy - committing to keep Labor reforms such as Medicare, and defusing the republic issue by promising to hold a constitutional convention. This allowed Howard to focus the election on the economy (which was in recovery but still somewhat lacking after the early 1990s recession) and the longevity of the Labor government, which had been in power now for 13 years.

In the election held in March 1996, the Keating Government was defeated by the Coalition who scored a 29-seat swing. Keating immediately resigned as Labor Party leader and resigned from Parliament a little over a month later on 23 April 1996.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] After politics

Don Watson's biography of Keating, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart.

Since leaving parliament, Keating has been a director of various companies,^[14] including the Chairman (international) of Carnegie, Wylie & Company - a Sydney based investment bank.^[15] During Howard's Prime Ministership, Keating has made occasional speeches strongly criticising his successor's social policies, and defending his own policies (such as those on East Timor). A portrait of Keating was commissioned and now hangs in Parliament House, Canberra.^[16] In 2000, he published a book, Engagement: Australia Faces the Asia-Pacific, which focused on foreign policy during his term as Prime Minister.^[17] In March 2002, a Don Watson-authored biography of Keating, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, was released and has sold over 50,000 copies. It has been awarded the The Age Book of the Year and Best Non-fiction book, The Courier-Mail Book of the Year and the National Biography Award.^{[citation needed]} He is currently a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the University of New South Wales. He has been awarded honorary Doctorates in Laws from Keio University in Tokyo, the National University of Singapore, and the University of New South Wales^[18]

Bust of Paul Keating by political cartoonist, caricaturist and sculptor Peter Nicholson located in the Prime Minister's Avenue in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

In May 2007, Keating suggested that Sydney should be the capital of Australia, not Canberra saying that:

John Howard has already effectively moved the Parliament here. Cabinet meets in Philip Street in Sydney, and when they do go to Canberra, they fly down to the bush capital, and everybody flies out on Friday. There is an air of unreality about Canberra. If Parliament sat in Sydney, they would have a better understanding of the problems being faced by their constituents. These real things are camouflaged from Canberra.^[19]

Keating was critical of former Opposition Leader (now Prime Minister) Kevin Rudd's leadership team. For example, before the 2007 federal election, which Labor won, he criticised the then-Opposition industrial relations spokesperson, Julia Gillard, saying she lacked an understanding of principles such as enterprise bargaining set under his government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also attacked Rudd's chief of staff David Epstein and Gary Gray, who was at that time a candidate for the former Labor leader Kim Beazley's seat of Brand (he won the seat).^[20]

In February 2008, Keating joined former Prime Ministers Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke in Parliament House, Canberra, to witness the parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generations.^[21]

[edit] See also

• First Keating Ministry
• Second Keating Ministry
• Redfern Park Speech
• Keating! the musical

[edit] Further reading

• Edna Carew, Paul Keating Prime Minister, Allen and Unwin, 1991
• Paul Keating, Advancing Australia, Big Picture, 1995
• Michael Gordon, A True Believer: Paul Keating, UQP, 1996
• John Edwards, Keating: The Inside Story, Viking, 1996
• Don Watson, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating, Knopf, 2002

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Paul Keating

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Paul Keating

• Keating's Personal Website
• Meet a PM - National Archives of Australia
• Paul Keating Insults Archive
• Paul Keating at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Video - Paul Keating vs John Hewson
• Video - Re: The Great Motion
• Video - Floating the dollar