1996: Lazarus Rises

Abstract

Paul Keating has claimed that Australia would be a republic today if he had won the 1996 federal election, but change is hard. Public opinion was on his side in the republic debate, but his attempts to bundle the republic issue into a broad vision of large-scale social reform were less popular. Keating’s government promised a new Australian identity: confident, outward-looking, socially progressive, not pitching to mass public opinion or apologising for its progressiveness. The landslide electoral result that brought John Howard’s nearly 12 year government into power suggests that Keating’s plan for Australia was too much, too fast, for most Australians. Howard’s victory on a platform of minimal reform and traditional values, his remarkable tenure as prime minister, and the political approaches of subsequent Labor governments reflect Australian voters’ inherent conservatism. For better or worse, 1996 was an archetype for the disciplined, ‘small target’ campaigns that so often win Australian elections. Political survival and risk minimisation now characterise Australian politics. Show more