Paul Keating

For other people named Paul Keating, see Paul Keating (disambiguation).

The Hon Paul Keating
File:PaulKeatingPEO.jpg
24th Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1993, 1996
In office 20 December 1991 – 11 March 1996
Preceded by	Bob Hawke
Succeeded by	John Howard
Constituency	Blaxland
Personal details
Born	(1944-01-18) January 18, 1944 Sydney, NSW, Australia
Political party	Labor
Occupation	Activist (Labour)

Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944), is a former Australian politician and the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996. He came to prominence as the reforming Treasurer in the Hawke government. 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. In his second term, however, his "big picture" policies failed to impress an electorate that harboured increasing uneasiness about engagement with the Asian region, and was increasingly concerned about economic issues. Keating was defeated at the 1996 federal election by current Prime Minister John Howard.

Early life

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.

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Keating and wife Annita with Prince Akishino, younger son of Japan's Emperor Akihito, and Princess Akishino, at The Lodge in 1995.

Through the unions and the NSW Young Labor Council, Keating met other Labor luminaries such as Laurie Brereton, Graham Richardson and Bob Carr, and also 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 1972 succeeded in having Lang's Labor Party membership restored. Using his extensive contacts, Keating gained Labor endorsement for the 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.

Keating was a backbencher for most of the Whitlam Labor government, but briefly became Minister for Northern Australia in 1975, one of the youngest ministers in Australian history. 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 Anna Johanna Maria van Iersel (b. 1949, The Netherlands), 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, not long after he left politics. Keating's daughter, Katherine, was a former advisor to former New South Wales Minister Craig Knowles.

Keating's interests include collecting French antique clocks. Keating is a resident of Potts Point, Sydney.

Reforming Treasurer

When Hawke won the March 1983 elections, Keating became Treasurer, a post which he held until 1991. Keating inherited the position of Treasurer of Australia from John Howard, and with it an economy that needed much attention. Just one year previously, under Howard, interest rates in Australia peaked at 13.5%, a very high level. (see: RBA: Bulletin Statistical Tables). Keating also attacked Howard for allegedly lying to Parliament about the size of the budget deficit that had been left by the outgoing government.

After a difficult start, Keating mastered economic policy and was soon acknowledged as the driving political force behind many of the macroeconomic reforms of the Hawke government, including floating the Australian dollar, substantial cuts in tariffs, the deregulation of the banking system and taxation reforms, all of which modernised the Australian economy and increased its competitiveness. In 1985, Keating proposed a value-added tax (known in Australia as in 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, after it was clear the tax was highly unpopular in the electorate.

The Hawke-Keating partnership was strongest during the first two terms of the government, (1983-87), with Hawke playing the statesman and populist leader while Keating was the political attack dog. His range of parliamentary invective was legendary, and successive Liberal Opposition leaders Andrew Peacock and John Howard were unable to get the better of him. Keating and Hawke provided a study in contrasts. Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early. Hawke's enthusiasms were cigars, horse racing, women and all forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture, Bruckner and collecting antique clocks. Hawke was consensus-driven; Keating revelled in aggressive debate. Hawke was a lapsed Protestant; Keating was a practising Roman Catholic. Despite, or because of, their differences, the two formed an effective political partnership. After the 1987 election, however, Keating began to feel that it was time for Hawke to make way for him. However, the beginnings of a recession (of which in 1990, Keating famously said "This is the recession Australia had to have") saw a resurgence in support for the Liberal party, which Keating used in his push for leadership.

Leadership rivalry

In 1988, in a 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. In 1991, when Hawke 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 (a declaration which few believed).

In 1991, Keating considered Hawke should resign so he could become Prime Minister. Hawke would not resign and Keating challenged Hawke for the leadership of the ALP in June 1991. Throughout the rest of 1991, the position of the Hawke government deteriorated under pressure from the poor economy , sniping from Keating supporters and attacks from the Opposition. In December 1991, Keating defeated Hawke in a second leadership challenge, and became Prime Minister.

Prime Minister 1991-96

Hawke's undoing had been the policy package unveiled by the new Liberal leader, Dr John Hewson. Known as Fightback!, it was centred around a GST and included massive industrial relations reforms, sweeping cuts in personal income tax and cuts to government spending, particularly in areas of health and education. Hawke and his new Treasurer, John Kerin, had been unable to counter the renewed energy of the opposition, which was invigorated by a policy package it perceived as a vote winner. Keating, however, severely damaged Hewson's credibility in a series of set-piece parliamentary encounters.

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Paul Keating at the APEC forum in Bogor, Indonesia in November 1994 with heads of government (from left to right) Jim Bolger (NZ), unknown, Julius Chan (PNG), Keating, Mahathir Mohamad (Malaysia), Jiang Zemin (PRC) and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (Chile). Paul Keating's batik shirt features Australia's Coat of Arms in its intricate pattern.

Nevertheless, the view of most commentators was that the 1993 election was "unwinnable" for Labor. The government had been in power for ten years, the pace of economic recovery was sluggish, and some voters perceived Keating as arrogant. However, Keating succeeded in winning back the electorate with a strong campaign opposing Fightback, memorable for Keating's litany of "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 memorable "true believers" victory speech has entered Australian political folklore as one of the great Australian political speeches. After Keating, many of the reforms of Fightback were implemented under the Liberal government of John Howard.

As Prime Minister, Keating's interests and public perception broadened from that of the narrowly focused Treasurer. His agenda included items such as making Australia a republic, achieving reconciliation with Australia's indigenous population, and further economic and cultural engagement with Asia. These issues, which came to be known as Keating's "big picture," were highly popular with the tertiary-educated middle class, but failed to capture the aspirations of rural and outer-suburban voters.

As well as this agenda, Keating embarked on a comprehensive legislative program. He established the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), reviewed the Sex Discrimination Act, and legislated for the land rights of Australia's indigenous people following the historic High Court decision in Mabo. He developed bilateral links with Australia's neighbours, primarily Australia’s largest neighbour Indonesia. Keating also took an active role in the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), and initiated the yearly leaders' meeting. One of Keating’s most far reaching legislative achievements was the introduction of a national superannuation scheme, implemented to address low national savings.

Concerning East Timor, Paul Keating received some criticism from Human Rights groups and Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos Horta over his friendship with Suharto, and the Keating government's policy of aiding the Indonesian Military in their occupation of East Timor. East Timor had gained a higher profile in Australia and Internationally after the Dili massacre. Keating was criticised for his close ties with President Suharto and the signing of the Timor Gap Treaty over human rights concerns.

Defeat

The Liberal Party leadership issues continued to assist Keating in his time as Prime Minister. After Hewson's 1993 defeat, Alexander Downer replaced him as party leader in 1994. Downer's downfall was during a policy speech when he quipped that his party slogan, "the things that matter", was "the things that batter" in reference to abusive husbands. This, coupled with Keating's parliamentary jibes such as being the "idiot son of the establishment" saw his downfall in early 1995 when John Howard gained the Liberal leadership for the second time in early 1995. Polls steadied under Howard and progressively went on to signal Keating's time coming to an end. One warning was the loss of a by-election in the seat of Canberra in 1995.

With the economy in recovery but still somewhat lacking after the late 80's/early 90's recession, Howard, determined to avoid a repeat of the 1993 election, deliberately ensured that the focus never left the Government by recanting his previous views on Asian immigration, promising that the GST would "never ever" be introduced, guaranteeing that "no worker would be worse off" under his Industrial Relations reforms and pledging to keep Medicare.

Howard also adopted a 'small target' strategy in order to secure support from small business and other sections of the community. As a result of all these factors, Howard led the Liberals to victory at the March 1996 election, ending the 13 years of Labor government, the longest in Labor's federal history. Keating subsequently resigned from Parliament.

Life after politics

Since the book's publication in March 2002, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart written by Don Watson has sold over 50,000 copies and won a string of prestiguous awards including The Age Book of the Year and Best Non-fiction book, The Courier-Mail Book of the Year and the National Biography Award.

In retirement Keating has been a director of various companies. 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). As is common with most Prime Ministers of Australia, a portrait of Keating was commissioned and now hangs in Parliament House, Canberra.

In 2000, he published a book, Engagement: Australia Faces the Asia-Pacific, which focused on foreign policy during his term as Prime Minister. .

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.

Paul Keating is currently the Chairman (international) of Carnegie, Wylie & Company - a Sydney based investment bank.

Views on John Howard

Keating has often lambasted his successor John Howard, once describing him as a "desiccated coconut" who was "araldited to the front bench", as well as stating "Howard ... is an old antediluvian 19th Century person who wanted to stomp forever ... on ordinary people's rights to organise themselves at work ... he's a pre-Copernican obscurantist". He has also stated that Howard's deputy Treasurer Peter Costello was "all tip and no iceberg" in reference to a pact made by Howard to hand the prime-ministership to Costello after two terms. His criticisms of the Howard Government have included accusing Howard of dishonesty when taking the country to the Iraq War .

In July 2007, Keating again criticised Howard calling him "a nationalist and not a patriot", using Adolf Hitler as an example, but at the same time stating his use of Hitler only in the narrative, and that aligning Hitler with Howard (or Thatcher) would be unreasonable and absurd. Keating added "Shades there of John Howard's discomfort with Australia's multicultural community and a disgust of the Islamic community." Federal Minister Joe Hockey responded by saying "Paul Keating is an unguided missile and obviously there are some people in this life that suffer attention deficit disorder when they leave politics - he's one of them". Howard replied to the remarks with "I'm a nationalist, I'm a patriot, I'm a believer and I feel sorry for Mr Keating, he ought to get on with life".

Views on the economy

Keating has 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. An editorial in The Australian supports Keating's view that it was Labor's term in government which was the catalyst. Michael Costello argues:

Howard would have us believe that as the Fraser government's treasurer from 1977 to 1983 he was frustrated in his desire to open up the then uncompetitive, inward-looking Australian economy, by a fuddy-duddy boss. Howard positions himself as the person really behind the subsequent floating of the Australian dollar, the dismantling of industry protection and the introduction of enterprise bargaining into the workplace that resulted in big increases in labour productivity in the 1980s and early '90s. The massive boom Australia is enjoying now is therefore down to him, goes Howard's argument.

...

Howard's economic legacy is this: a massive increase in the complexity of the tax system, an explosion in business regulation, inculcation of a public debt aversion that has choked off development of the infrastructure needed to optimise growth, and labour laws thicker than the Sydney Yellow Pages. That's progress Howard-style. You can take the word of Keating and Fraser as gospel on Howard's worth as an economic reformer. Lucky for Howard he's got a once-every-50-years sized terms of trade boost and booming world economy to provide a figleaf for his embarrassment.

Keating reiterated this view in an interview on Lateline in June 2007 and also criticised the Howard Government on interest rates, WorkChoices and suggested that a Labor Federal Government should legislate for national minimum wages and conditions. In July 2007, current Liberal treasurer Peter Costello joined ranks with Keating and Fraser in condemning Howard's economic record. Keating had also often re-stated his disapproval that Labor since 1996 had not pursued the Liberal government on the economy, however since Costello's book release, the current Labor leadership has taken steps to promote Labor's handling of the economy over the Liberals.

Views on Sydney

Keating has also recently become involved in the debate over Sydney's development as a city. In May 2007, he 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, the 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.

Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, responded by saying "the administrative capital of Australia is Canberra, that's where Parliament is. It would be terrific if we could pull it off, but I can't see that happening." The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Jon Stanhope described Keating's idea as "puerile".

Views on Current ALP Leadership

Keating has been critical of Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's leadership team. For example, he criticised 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 will stand for the former Labor leader Kim Beazley's seat of Brand in the 2007 federal election.

See also

• First Keating Ministry
• Second Keating Ministry
• Keating! the musical

External links

• Personal Website
• Paul Keating Insults Archive
• Paul Keating at the National Film and Sound Archive

Further reading

• Edna Carew, Paul Keating Prime Minister, Allen and Unwin, 1991
• Michael Gordon, A Question of Leadership: Paul Keating, Political Fighter, UQP, 1993
• Paul Keating, Advancing Australia, Big Picture, 1995
• John Edwards, Keating: The Inside Story, Viking, 1996
• Don Watson, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating, Knopf, 2002

(Note the rare symmetry: Hawke was Treasurer for one day before appointing John Kerin; thus he preceded and followed Keating as Prime Minister and Treasurer, whereas Howard preceded and followed Keating as Treasurer and Prime Minister.)