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A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, the party of government in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 3 June 1991. It was the first of two ballots that year with Prime Minister Bob Hawke surviving the ballot against Treasurer Paul Keating, who then went to the backbench.
Bob Hawke had been leader of the Labor Party since 3 February 1983, and Prime Minister since the 1983 election, with Labor winning a record four elections under his leadership. However, the unexpectedly close win at the 1990 election, coupled with the deepening economic recession, fuelled tensions within the government over economic policy.[ citation needed ]
Furthermore, a re-energised Liberal opposition led by John Hewson, a qualified economist, gained ground in the opinion polls.[ citation needed ] Hawke had alienated key NSW Right faction powerbroker, Senator Graham Richardson by late 1990, with the latter bluntly telling Hawke he no longer had the support of the Right.[ citation needed ]
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Paul Keating launched his first June challenge against Hawke after the latter apparently reneged on a Kirribilli agreement that he would hand over the leadership in 1990. [1]
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The following tables gives the ballot results:
| Name | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Hawke | 66 | 60.0 | |
| Paul Keating | 44 | 40.0 | |
| Candidate | Final ballot | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Howe | 81 | 73.6 | |
| Graeme Campbell | 18 | 16.4 | |
| Abstentions | 11 | 10.0 | |
Hawke's public support continued to decline before in December 1991, he called on another spill which Keating won 56–51.
Robert James Lee Hawke was an Australian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia, from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Previously he was 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.
Paul John Keating is an Australian former politician and trade unionist 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.
Kim Christian Beazley is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating governments. After leaving parliament, he served as ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2016 and governor of Western Australia from 2018 to 2022.
William George Hayden is 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.
John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election.
Lionel Frost BowenAC was an Australian politician and senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1990.
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 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 following lists events that happened during 1991 in Australia.
A Kirribilli agreement, in Australian politics, is an agreement, typically confidential, between a leader and their deputy for the handing over of power on the satisfaction of an agreed precondition.
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.
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 Kirribilli Agreement of 1988 was a secret meeting between the Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating. The two men met at Kirribilli House, the Prime Minister's official Sydney residence, to make an agreement as to when Hawke would hand over the leadership of the Australian Labor Party.
A leadership spill of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the party of government in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 19 December 1991, the second spill in a year. Backbencher and former Treasurer Paul Keating defeated Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who had led Labor for eight and a half years.
Two leadership spills of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the official opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, were held on 16 June 2003 and 2 December 2003, respectively. The Opposition Leader, Simon Crean, won the ballot in June against former opposition leader Kim Beazley, but resigned as leader in late November after losing support from his colleagues and did not contest the December ballot which Mark Latham won against Kim Beazley.
The early 1990s recession saw a period of economic downturn affect much of the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The economy of Australia suffered its worst recession since the Great Depression.
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.
A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, the party of opposition in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 27 January 1976, the date of the first Caucus meeting following the 1975 election.
