The history of Australia from 1983 to 1996, known as the Hawke-Keating years, encompasses a transformative period in Australian politics and society under successive Labor governments. Beginning with Bob Hawke's election victory in 1983 and concluding with Paul Keating's defeat in 1996, this era was characterized by major economic reforms, constitutional changes, and social progress.
The period saw significant microeconomic and industrial relations reforms designed to increase Australia's economic efficiency and international competitiveness. Key policy initiatives included the establishment of Medicare, financial deregulation, floating of the Australian dollar, and the Prices and Incomes Accord with trade unions. Constitutional sovereignty was achieved through the Australia Act 1986, which severed remaining legislative ties with the United Kingdom.
Major social and cultural milestones included the 1988 Australian Bicentenary celebrations, the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra, and landmark developments in Indigenous rights, particularly the 1992 Mabo decision and subsequent Native Title Act 1993. The era also witnessed Australia's increasing engagement with the Asia-Pacific region and participation in international peacekeeping operations.
The period ended with high unemployment, foreign debt concerns, and the Coalition's victory under John Howard at the 1996 federal election, marking the conclusion of 13 years of Labor governance.
The Hawke government pursued a mixture of free market reforms and consensus politics featuring "summits" of government representatives, business leaders, trade unions and non-government organisations in order to reach consensus on key issues such as economic policy and tax reform. The centrepiece of this policy mix was an Accord with trade unions under which wage demands would be curtailed in return for increased social benefits. Welfare payments were increased and better targeted to those on low incomes, and a retirement benefits scheme (superannuation) was extended to most employees. A new universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, was introduced.[1] After the initial failure of the Whitlam model and partial dismantling under Fraser, Hawke re-established this new, universal system of health insurance called Medicare.
The Treasurer Paul Keating oversaw a program of deregulation and micro-economic reforms which broke with the Keynesian economics that had traditionally been favoured by the Labor party.[2] Hawke and Keating abandoned traditional Labor support for tariffs to protect industry and jobs. These reforms included floating the Australian dollar, deregulating capital markets and allowing competition from foreign banks. Business regulation and competition policy was streamlined, tariffs and quotas on imports were reduced, and a number of government enterprises were privatised. The higher education system was restructured and significantly expanded, partly funded by the reintroduction of fees in the form of student loans and "contributions" (HECS).[3] Paul Kelly concludes that, "In the 1980s both Labor and non-Labor underwent internal philosophical revolutions to support a new set of ideas—faith in markets, deregulation, a reduced role for government, low protection and the creation of a new cooperative enterprise culture."[4]
The 1980s saw severe concerns about Australia's future economic health take hold, with severe current account deficits and high unemployment at times. An agreement was reached with trade unions to moderate wage demands and accept more flexible working condition arrangements by accepting tax cuts in return. Ultimately, many of the reforms, continued by successive governments, appear to have been successful in pushing the economy along.
The government's environmental interventions included stopping the Franklin Dam in Tasmania, banning new uranium mines at Jabiluka, and proposing Kakadu National park for world heritage listing.[1] In foreign policy, the government maintained strong relations with the US and was instrumental in the formation of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group. Australia contributed naval ships and troops to UN forces in the Gulf War after Iraq had invaded Kuwait in 1990.[1][5]
The government took other initiatives aimed at fostering national unity. The Australia Act 1986 eliminated the last vestiges of British legal authority at the federal level. The Australian Bicentenary in 1988 was the focus of year-long celebrations with multicultural themes. The World Expo 88 was held in Brisbane and a new Parliament House in Canberra was opened.[6] The following year the Australian Capital Territory achieved self-government and Jervis Bay became a separate territory administered by the Minister for Territories.
A supporter of the US alliance, Hawke committed Australian naval forces to the Gulf War, following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Strong economic growth, falling unemployment, an unstable opposition, and Bob Hawke's popularity with the public contributed to the re-election of the Hawke government in 1984, 1987 and 1990. However, the economy went into recession in 1990 and by late 1991 the unemployment rate had risen above 10 per cent. With the government's popularity falling and amid a deteriorating Australian economy and the intense rivalry between Hawke and Keating, the Labor Party replaced Hawke as leader and Paul Keating successfully challenged for the leadership and became prime minister in December 1991.[1][7]
The Keating government's first priority was economic recovery. In February 1992 it released the "One Nation" job creation package and later legislated tax cuts to corporations and individuals to boost economic growth. Unemployment reached 11.4 per cent in 1992—the highest since the Great Depression in Australia. The Liberal-National opposition had proposed an ambitious plan of economic reform to take to the 1993 Election, including the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax. Keating shuffled treasurers and campaigned strongly against the tax and was returned to office in March 1993.[8]
In May 1994 a more ambitious "Working Nation" jobs program was introduced. The Keating government also pursued a number of "big picture" issues throughout its two terms including increased political and economic engagement in the Asia Pacific region, Indigenous reconciliation, and an Australian republic. During his time in office, Keating emphasised links to the Asia Pacific region, co-operating closely with the Indonesian President, Suharto and other regional partners, and successfully campaigned to increase the role of APEC as a major forum for strategic and economic co-operation.[9] A Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was established and, following the High Court of Australia's historic Mabo decision in 1992, the first national Native Title legislation was introduced to regulate claims and provide compensation for loss of native title.[10] In 1993, Keating established a Republic Advisory Committee to examine options for Australia becoming a republic. The government also introduced family payments and a superannuation guarantee with compulsory employer contributions.[11]
Under the Hawke government the annual migration intake had more than doubled from 54,500 in 1984–85 to more than 120,000 in 1989–90. The Keating government responded to community concerns about the pace of immigration by cutting the immigration intake and introducing mandatory detention for illegal immigrants arriving without a valid visa. Immigration fell to 67,900 in 1992–93.[12][13]
With foreign debt, inflation and unemployment still stubbornly high, and after a series of ministerial resignations, Keating lost the March 1996 Election to the Liberals' John Howard.[14][15][16]
Full sovereignty from the United Kingdom
The Australia Act 1986 led to the severing of nearly all constitutional ties between Australia and the UK. This was achieved by the passing of the Act which removed the right of the British Parliament to make laws for Australia and ended any British role in the government of the Australian States.[17] It also removed the right of appeal from Australian courts to the British Privy Council in London. Most important, the Act transferred into Australian hands full control of all Australia's constitutional documents.[18]
In 1992, the High Court of Australia handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. That same year, Prime Minister Paul Keating said in his Redfern Park Speech that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: 'We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice'.
Society and culture
Multicultural programs continued to expand between 1986 and 1996 with an emphasis on addressing disadvantage in migrant communities as well as settlement services for recent migrants.[19] James Walter argues that the Hawke and Keating governments (1983–96) also promoted high migration as a means of improving Australia's competitive advantage in a globalised market.[20]
Australian forces were very active in UN peacekeeping through the 1990s. In 1993, Foreign Minister Gareth Evans was active in the search for a settlement to ongoing troubles in Cambodia in the aftermath of the genocidal 1970s Pol Pot regime. Australia contributed the force commander and the operation's communications component to the UN operation. In the ultimately unsuccessful Somalia intervention, a battalion-level Australian contingent was employed to aid in the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Baidoa area. In 1994, Australia deployed medical staff to the UN force in Rwanda sent to deal with the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.
↑ Tim Battin, "A Break from the Past: The Labor Party and the Political Economy of Keynesian Social Democracy", Australian Journal of Political Science, July 1993, Vol. 28 Issue 2, pp. 221–41
↑ Walter, James (2013). "Growth resumed, 1983-2000". In Bashford, Alison; MacIntyre, Stuart (eds.). The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, The Commonwealth of Australia. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. pp.166, 179. ISBN9781107011540.
↑ Paul Kelly, The end of certainty: The story of the 1980s (1992) p. 660
↑ David Lowe (2013) "Security". In Bashford and Macintyre (eds) The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, pp 511–12
↑ Bashford and MacIntyre (eds) The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2, pp 178–9, 532
↑ Twomey, Anne (May 2007). "The De-Colonisation of the Australian States, Paper No. 07/19". Sydney Law School Research. SSRN984994. the Australian States remained 'self-governing colonial dependencies of the British Crown' until the Australia Acts 1986 came into force.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
