The 'Not happy, John!' campaign was an Australian political campaign to oppose the re-election of Prime Minister John Howard as member for Bennelong in the 2004 Australian federal election. The title of the campaign is based on the popular television commercial "Not happy, Jan!" and the book Not Happy, John by Margo Kingston. [1]
The campaign did not promote any specific candidate; instead, it called for votes for any other candidate standing against Howard. The campaign was unsuccessful, in that Howard was returned as member, but had some success in that it reduced Howard's majority by 3% in the face of a 2% swing to Howard's Liberal Party, [2] and he did lose the seat as sitting Prime Minister in the subsequent election.
Supporters of the campaign included Margo Kingston (journalist), John Valder (previous president of Howard's Liberal party), Brian Deegan (former magistrate, who stood against Alexander Downer), Andrew Wilkie (Greens candidate), Alex Broun playwright and Nicole Campbell (Australian Labor Party candidate). The campaign was launched on 22 June 2004 and continued until the election on 9 October.
There was a small Not Happy, John Campaign for the 2007 election based on the philosophy behind the original campaign.
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Margo Kingston is an Australian journalist, author, and commentator. She is best known for her work at The Sydney Morning Herald and her weblog, Webdiary. Since 2012, Kingston has been a citizen journalist, reporting and commenting on Australian politics via Twitter and her own Web site.
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The 2004 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 9 October 2004. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by John Anderson defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Mark Latham.
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Not Happy, John is a book written by Margo Kingston, an Australian journalist and political commentator. It outlines why she is not happy with then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, and his policies for Australia. Many opinions published on Margo Kingston's Webdiary made their way into the book. The book inspired the 'Not happy, John!' campaign to oppose the re-election of John Howard as member for Bennelong in the 2004 Australian federal election.
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The "Not happy, John" slogan came from journalist Margo Kingston's recent book.