 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, then the opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 8 February 1983. It saw the resignation of Leader Bill Hayden followed by the election of Bob Hawke as his replacement.
| | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, then the opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 8 February 1983. It saw the resignation of Leader Bill Hayden followed by the election of Bob Hawke as his replacement.
Bill Hayden had been leader of the Labor Party since shortly after the 1977 landslide defeat, and he led the party to a much improved result at the 1980 election. However, after only just surviving a challenge from Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations Bob Hawke, a disappointing by-election result in December 1982 caused many[ who? ] to question his ability to win the impending federal election. [1] With a second challenge from Hawke imminent, Hayden resigned as party leader on 3 February 1983 and Hawke was elected, in the caucus ballot held on 8 February, [2] unopposed. [3]
On the same day Hayden resigned, Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser had announced a snap election hoping to capitalise on Labor's disunity and go to the polls against Hayden rather than Hawke. However, the plan backfired as Labor managed to secure the transition from Hayden to the more popular and charismatic Hawke just in time as the election was announced. Later that afternoon at a press conference, Hayden famously said that "a drover's dog could lead the Labor Party to victory, the way the country is". The ensuing federal election was easily won by Labor and Hawke became Prime Minister.
Robert James Lee Hawke was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions from 1969 to 1980 and president of the Labor Party national executive from 1973 to 1978.
John Malcolm Fraser was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Paul John Keating is an Australian former politician who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia, from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously served as the treasurer of Australia in the Hawke government from 1983 to 1991 and as the 7th deputy prime minister of Australia from 1990 to 1991.
Simon Findlay Crean was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 2001 to 2003. He represented the seat of Hotham in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2013 and was a cabinet minister in the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments.
Andrew Sharp Peacock was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions, leading the party to defeat at the 1984 and 1990 elections.
William George Hayden was an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983, and served as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 1983 to 1988 under Bob Hawke and as Treasurer of Australia in 1975 under Gough Whitlam.
Ralph Willis AO is an Australian former politician who served as a Cabinet Minister during the entirety of the Hawke-Keating government from 1983 to 1996, most notably as Treasurer of Australia from 1993 to 1996 and briefly in 1991. He also served as Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Transport and Communications and Minister for Finance. He represented the Victorian seat of Gellibrand in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1998.
John Norman Button was an Australian politician, who served as a senior minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor governments. He was notable for the Button car plan, which involved downsizing and eventually ending Australia's car industry by reducing tariffs and government protection.
John Charles Kerin was an Australian economist and Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial roles in both the Hawke and Keating governments, including six months as Treasurer of Australia and eight years as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, holding the latter role for the longest period in Australian history.
The 1987 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well as all 76 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia, led by John Howard and the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair. This was the first, and to date only, time the Labor Party won a third consecutive election.
William Albert Landeryou was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the Victorian Legislative Council from 1976 to 1992, including as a minister in the Labor government of John Cain. Before entering politics he was a senior official in the Storemen and Packers' Union.
Albert Redvers George Hawke was the 18th Premier of Western Australia. He served from 23 February 1953 to 2 April 1959, and represented the Labor Party.
The 1983 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election, following a double dissolution. The incumbent Coalition government which had been in power since 1975, led by Malcolm Fraser and Doug Anthony, was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labor Party led by Bob Hawke.
The 1980 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–NCP coalition government, led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, was elected to a third term with a much reduced majority, defeating the opposition Labor Party led by Bill Hayden. This was the last federal election victory for the Coalition until the 1996 election.
Stewart John West was an Australian politician. He represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, holding the New South Wales seat of Cunningham. He was a member of cabinet in the Hawke government, serving as Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1983–1984), Housing and Construction (1984–1987), and Administrative Services (1987–1990).
The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was succeeded by another Labor administration, the Keating government, led by Paul Keating after an internal party leadership challenge in 1991. Keating was Treasurer through much of Hawke's term as Prime Minister and the period is sometimes termed the Hawke-Keating government.
The Keating government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Paul Keating of the Australian Labor Party from 1991 to 1996. The government followed on from the Hawke government after Paul Keating replaced Bob Hawke as Labor leader in an internal party leadership challenge in 1991. Together, these two governments are often collectively described as the Hawke-Keating government. The Keating government was defeated in the 1996 federal election and was succeeded by the John Howard's Coalition government.
The history of the Australian Labor Party has its origins in the Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation. Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree in Barcaldine, Queensland in 1891. The Balmain, New South Wales branch of the party claims to be the oldest in Australia. Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia, 1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies.
A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 8 April 1982, following former Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock's dissatisfaction with the party's direction under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Fraser beat Peacock's challenge for the leadership of the Liberal Party, 54 votes to 27.
A leadership spill of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), then the opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 16 July 1982. Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Employment and Youth Bob Hawke unsuccessfully challenged ALP leader Bill Hayden, with Hayden winning 42 votes to 37.