Where It All Went Wrong

On the thirtieth anniversary of John Howard coming to power, a searing analysis of the untouchable prime minister: how the ‘great economic manager’ sold our future.

John Howard is often revered as one of the great Australian prime ministers (1996–2007): economically prudent, politically astute, ‘relaxed and comfortable’ with Australia’s identity, venerated by the Liberal Party and grudgingly admired by the left.

Why then – just twenty years after his government ended – are we in such a mess?

Amy Remeikis is one of our most astute and convincing political commentators, and here she argues for a complete revision of how we see Howard’s tenure, for the first time holding him to account for the future he created. Of our modern crises, most are caused by his policies. Housing crisis? Guilty. Work insecurity? Guilty. Giving away gas? Guilty. Climate denial? Guilty. Rise of the far right? Guilty. America’s lapdog in foreign relations? Guilty. Jingoistic tracksuits and flag-wrapping? Guilty and convicted.

Far from being ‘great economic managers’, the Howard government bought boomer votes with franking credits and negative gearing, sacrificing the generations now inheriting the nation. They sold out their children and grandchildren for mining billionaires, investment properties and annual cruises.