Lazarus Rising. John Howard

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СКАЧАТЬ as time passed, many staunch Liberals who had gone to the barricades for him in 1975 deeply resented his regular attacks on my Government during our time in office.

      Although I had commenced my ministerial career with anything but a strong commitment to economic rationalism, I had, by the time of the Fraser Government’s defeat in 1983, gone through something of an epiphany. The influences on me had been many and varied, most particularly the experience of administering the Treasury portfolio. In opposition I was to develop my views even further, especially in respect of industrial relations policy.

      In retrospect it was clear during the 1980s that Australia needed broad economic reforms to taxation, the labour market, industry protection and the financial system. As well, governments had to be taken out of the ownership of business undertakings. The economic story of the ensuing 25 years was how both Coalition and Labor governments contributed to that reform task, and how in opposition the Coalition also gave crucial support to ALP reforms — a gesture never reciprocated when the ALP was in opposition. I was a major player in that saga, from both government and opposition, and many of the pages which follow contain a detailed account of that economic journey which did so much to ensure that when the global financial crisis of 2008 hit, our nation was better placed than most to withstand its ravages.

       Picture Section 1

      Plate 1

      My parents married on 11 July 1925 at Marrickville in Sydney. They devoted their lives to the welfare and future of their four sons.

      My father ‘somewhere on the Western Front’. A gas attack damaged his lungs, which contributed to his death at age 59.

      Plate 2

      It was a short walk from home to Earlwood Primary School. Here I am aged six, sixth from the left in the third row. World War II ended the year before.

      Dad’s garage in 1954, just after going ‘one brand’. It was at the corner of Wardell Road and Ewart Street, Dulwich Hill, Sydney. I loved working there.

      Plate 3

      The Canterbury Boys High School debating team of 1956 (second from the left, front row). Debating gave the priceless discipline of marshalling arguments.

      I played in the CBHS Second XI in 1956 (second from the right, front row). Captain Ian Sharpe, on my right, later a professor of economics, was a good leg spinner.

      Plate 4

      Before a family wedding early in 1955. Dad’s health was failing; he died nine months later. The Howard brothers (from left to right): Stan, John, Bob and Wal.

      With Mum at my law graduation early in 1961. My hearing problem made university quite taxing. It also meant I could not go to the bar.

      Plate 5

      A safe federal seat: Janette and I show elation after the Liberals picked me for Bennelong in December 1973. It was a marathon day.

      Plate 6

      Our wedding day at St Peter’s, Watsons Bay, 4 April 1971.

      A polling booth at Gladesville Public School on election day, October 1980. Fraser’s retreat on taxation would later disappoint me.

      Plate 7

      This family photo was taken after Richard’s birth in September 1980. Melanie, looking cute, is aged six. I am holding Tim, approaching three.

      Plate 8

      Late 1975 with Melanie and Janette on the front lawn of our Wollstonecraft home, the scene of many news conferences in the 1970s and ’80s.

      Family photos from the 1980s. Weekends were filled with the children’s activities. There was always sport.

      I loved reading to them as well.

      Plate 9

      I became leader of the Liberal Party in September 1985 in amazing circumstances. The euphoria soon faded.

      The Liberal campaign launch for the election of 1987 struck a real chord, but ‘Joh for PM’ made victory impossible. We didn’t pick up enough speed to win.

      Plate 10

      Janette and I on election night 1987. Despite a 1 per cent swing to us, Hawke won four seats.

      On the verandah at Wollstonecraft in 1988. Future Directions was launched later that year. It was a clear statement of my philosophical beliefs.

      Plate 11

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