John Howard

The Honourable John Howard OM AC SSI
Howard in 2001
25th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governors‑General	Sir William Deane Peter Hollingworth Michael Jeffery
Deputy	Tim Fischer John Anderson Mark Vaile
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Kevin Rudd
Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 January 1995 – 11 March 1996
Deputy	Peter Costello
Preceded by	Alexander Downer
Succeeded by	Kim Beazley
In office 5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989
Deputy	Neil Brown Andrew Peacock
Preceded by	Andrew Peacock
Succeeded by	Andrew Peacock
Party Leadership Leader of the Liberal Party In office 30 January 1995 – 29 November 2007 Deputy Peter Costello Preceded by Alexander Downer Succeeded by Brendan Nelson In office 5 September 1985 – 9 May 1989 Deputy Neil Brown Andrew Peacock Preceded by Andrew Peacock Succeeded by Andrew Peacock Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party In office 8 April 1982 – 5 September 1985 Leader Malcolm Fraser Andrew Peacock Preceded by Phillip Lynch Succeeded by Neil Brown
Ministerial Offices Manager of Opposition Business In office 7 April 1993 – 31 January 1995 Leader John Hewson Preceded by Warwick Smith Succeeded by Peter Reith Treasurer of Australia In office 19 November 1977 – 11 March 1983 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser Preceded by Phillip Lynch Succeeded by Paul Keating Minister for Special Trade Negotiations In office 17 July 1977 – 20 December 1977 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Victor Garland Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs In office 22 December 1975 – 17 July 1977 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser Preceded by Sir Bob Cotton Succeeded by Wal Fife
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bennelong
In office 18 May 1974 – 24 November 2007
Preceded by	John Cramer
Succeeded by	Maxine McKew
Chair of the International Democrat Union
In office 10 June 2002 – 21 November 2014
Preceded by	William Hague
Succeeded by	John Key
Personal details
Born	John Winston Howard (1939-07-26) 26 July 1939 (age 85) Earlwood, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Liberal
Other political affiliations	Coalition
Spouse	Janette Parker ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	3
Parents	Lyall Howard (father) Mona McKell (mother)
Relatives	Bob Howard (brother)
Residence(s)	Wollstonecraft, New South Wales[1]
Education	Canterbury Boys' High School
Alma mater	University of Sydney (LLB)
Occupation	Lawyer Politician Author
Signature
John Howard's voice Howard speaking after his meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton Recorded 20 November 1996

This article is part of a series about John Howard
Early life Member for Bennelong (1974–2007) Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs Minister for Special Trade Negotiations Treasurer of Australia Early 1980s recession 1983 Liberal Party leadership election 1985 Liberal Party leadership spill Joh for Canberra debacle 1987 Liberal Party leadership spill One Australia 1989 Liberal Party leadership spill Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations 1993 Liberal Party leadership spill 1995 Liberal Party leadership spill Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1996–2007) Gun control Workplace Relations Act 1996 1996 Parliament House riot Wik Peoples v Queensland Waterfront dispute Native Title Amendment Act 1998 Work for the Dole scheme 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention Republic referendum Australian intervention in East Timor GST and taxation Tampa affair The Pacific Solution Australian involvement in the War in Afghanistan Australian involvement in the Iraq War Marriage Amendment Act 2004 WorkChoices Northern Territory intervention Ministries First Ministry Second Ministry Third Ministry Fourth Ministry Elections 1987 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 Lazarus Rising
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John Winston Howard OM AC SSI (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Bennelong from 1974 to 2007. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history, behind only Sir Robert Menzies. Howard has also been the oldest living Australian former prime minister since the death of Bob Hawke in May 2019.

Howard was born in Sydney and studied law at the University of Sydney. He was a commercial lawyer before entering parliament. A former federal president of the Young Liberals, he first stood for office at the 1968 New South Wales state election, but lost narrowly. At the 1974 federal election, Howard was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Bennelong. He was promoted to cabinet in 1977, and later in the year replaced Phillip Lynch as treasurer of Australia, remaining in that position until the defeat of Malcolm Fraser's government at the 1983 election. In 1985, Howard was elected leader of the Liberal Party for the first time, thus replacing Andrew Peacock as Leader of the Opposition. He led the Liberal–National coalition to the 1987 federal election, but lost to Bob Hawke's Labor government, and was removed from the leadership in 1989. Remaining a key figure in the party, Howard was re-elected leader in 1995, replacing Alexander Downer, and subsequently led the Coalition to a landslide victory at the 1996 federal election.

In his first term, Howard introduced reformed gun laws in response to the Port Arthur massacre, and controversially implemented a nationwide value-added tax, breaking a pre-election promise. The Howard government called a snap election for October 1998, which they won, albeit with a greatly reduced majority. Going into the 2001 election, the Coalition trailed behind Labor in opinion polling. However, in a campaign dominated by national security, Howard introduced changes to Australia's immigration system to deter asylum seekers from entering the country, and pledged military assistance to the United States following the September 11 attacks. Due to this, Howard won widespread support, and his government would be narrowly re-elected.

In Howard's third term in office, Australia contributed troops to the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, and led the International Force for East Timor. The Coalition would be re-elected once more at the 2004 federal election. In his final term in office, his government introduced industrial relations reforms known as WorkChoices, which proved controversial and unpopular with the public. The Howard government was defeated at the 2007 federal election, with the Labor Party's Kevin Rudd succeeding him as prime minister. Howard also lost his own seat of Bennelong at the election to Maxine McKew, becoming only the second prime minister to do so, after Stanley Bruce at the 1929 election. Following this loss, Howard retired from politics, but has remained active in political discourse.

Howard's government presided over a sustained period of economic growth and a large "mining boom", and significantly reduced government debt by the time he left office. He was known for his broad appeal to voters across the political spectrum, and commanded a diverse base of supporters, colloquially referred to as his "battlers".^[2][3] Retrospectively, ratings of Howard's premiership have been polarised. His critics have admonished him for involving Australia in the Iraq War, his policies regarding asylum seekers, and his economic agenda.^[4][5][6] Nonetheless, he has been frequently ranked within the upper-tier of Australian prime ministers by political experts and the general public.^[7][8][9]