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Paul Keating loved politics. By the time he left Parliament in 1996 he had spent over half his life there. He began his parliamentary career at 25, one of the youngest federal politicians ever.
Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Treasurer for eight years. Only Arthur Fadden, a former Prime Minister, had been Treasurer longer.
Keating's initiatives as Prime Minister included establishment of the Republican Advisory Committee, the passage of indigenous land rights legislation and reform of vocational education and training.
Earlier, as Treasurer, he had pursued a radical policy of economic deregulation.
His particular achievements as Prime Minister included the passage of the Native Title Act, encouraging the process of reconciliation between Aboriginal and other Australians, the introduction of policies encouraging economic competitiveness, and debate over the possibility of an Australian republic.
Hon. Paul Keating was Prime Minister from 20 December 1991 to 11 March 1996.
Born: 18 January 1944 at Sydney, NSW.
Paul John Keating was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 18 January 1944. He married Anna ('Annita') von Iersel in 1975 and they have four children.
He is the first of the four children of Matt and Min Keating. He grew up in Bankstown, an industrial outer western suburb of Sydney. He attended a Catholic school, De La Salle College, and later studied at Belmore and Sydney Technical Colleges.
Keating left school at 15, the year he joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He worked in clerical jobs before joining the staff of the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees' Union, which is the trade union representing workers in local government. He became the union's industrial advocate (the officer responsible for arguing its claims before wage tribunals) and in his spare time managed a rock band, the Ramrods.
Paul Keating was elected to the House of Representatives for the Sydney seat of Blaxland at a general election on 25 October 1969. He held the seat through the next 10 general elections.
J.G. Gorton's Liberal-Country Party coalition retained government but with a severely reduced majority at the general election on 25 October 1969.
Keating first became a minister in E.G. Whitlam's ALP government,being appointed Minister for Northern Australia only three weeks before the Governor-General removed the government from office on 11 November 1975.
Australia experienced a political and constitutional crisis during October-November 1975, finishing up with the Governor-General's dismissal of the Whitlam government.
While in Opposition from 1975 to 1983 Paul Keating was the ALP spokesman for a series of portfolio areas - Agriculture (January 1976-March 1976), Minerals and Energy (March 1976-November 1980), National Development (December 1977-November 1980), Northern Australia (March 1980-November 1980), Resources and Energy (November 1980-January 1983) and Treasury (January 1983-March 1983). He also served as president of the ALP's New South Wales state branch from 1979 to 1983.
When R.J.L. Hawke led the ALP into government at the general election on 5 March 1983, Keating became Treasurer. He held the portfolio for the next 8 years and 3 months, the second longest time in the position after A.W. Fadden's periods as Treasurer 1940-41 and 1949-58, and a month longer than J.B. Chifley's time as Treasurer 1941-49.
The ALP was returned to government at the general election on 5 March 1983.
The government licensed the operation of foreign banks in Australia and floated the Australian dollar on international money markets in 1983 as the first step towards deregulating the national economy.
For pushing ahead with deregulation, Keating and Hawke were criticised for 'hijacking' the ALP, and promoting an 'economic rationalist' philosophy. This policy had been supported by former Liberal Treasurer John Howard but opposed by Prime Minister Fraser and leading National Party ministers.
Early in Keating's period as Treasurer, following his moves to deregulate Australia's economy, he won the praise of financial journalists and from the business sector. He was dubbed the 'World's Greatest Treasurer'. However, the recession of 1990-92, which followed the stock market crash of 1987, and the subsequent failure of several high profile corporations, tarnished the record of deregulation and indicated the need for more effective company laws. Keating's 1986 comment that Australia's economic difficulties were leading it to 'Banana Republic' status was criticised. Later, as Australia slipped into recession in 1991-92, he attracted further criticism for observing, 'this is the recession we had to have'.
The ALP won a record third term in office at the general election on 8 July 1987.
The New York stock market crash of October 1987 soon had 'ripple' effects in Australia, ending the speculative boom which had followed the government's moves to deregulate the economy.
Many high-profile business entrepreneurs who had emerged in the early 1980s saw their businesses crash.
As well as holding the Treasury portfolio, Keating served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Commonwealth-State Relations from April 1990-June 1991. This meant that he was responsible for dealings between federal and state governments. He held both positions until challenging Hawke for the ALP leadership on 3 June 1991. Losing the caucus vote on the leadership, he resigned his ministries and returned to the 'back-bench'.
In 1990-91 the Australian economy slid into recession. The lack of competitiveness of Australian exports on world markets was becoming evident. Crises in rural and manufacturing industries led to job losses, and unemployment reached 11% in 1992 - the highest level since 1932, the worst year of the Great Depression. Keating's comment that the recession was having a necessary corrective effect on the economy - 'This is the recession we had to have' - was widely criticised.
Keating became Prime Minister on 20 December 1991 after his second challenge to Hawke in six months. He was opposed by the 'Left' faction again, but this time he had the 'numbers' (ie sufficient supporters' votes) to win the ballot, a number of former opponents having switched sides since the first challenge. Even his opponents recognised that his sharp wit, talent for apt epigrams, forceful style of argument and confidence in leading parliamentary debate made him one of the ALP's chief assets.
P.J. Keating replaced R.J.L. Hawke as Prime Minister on 20 December 1991.
Despite some criticisms of his abrasive manner, the Caucus majority decided the ALP had a better chance of retaining government under Keating than under Hawke.
On 13 March 1993 Keating led the ALP to victory in a general election which most political commentators expected it to lose. Keating's own determined and effective campaigning against the 'goods and services' tax (a tax on general consumption) proposed by Opposition leader, John Hewson, was a key factor in the ALP's victory.
Confirmed as Prime Minister by popular vote rather than simply Caucus 'numbers', Keating tackled his Prime Ministerial task with renewed vigour, and promoted national causes to which he was deeply committed.
Keating's initiatives as Prime Minister included these:
In April 1993 he appointed a Republic Advisory Committee to report on options available to Australia for becoming a republic. Keating had personally become the nation's leading advocate for a republican form of government, deleting references to the monarchy from official documents and adopting a new national flag.
In January-February 1992 he established a Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. Following the High Court's Mabo decision in June 1992 he took a personal lead to secure social justice for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders by presenting to parliament two major items of legislation to give indigenous peoples access to land. These were the Native Title Bill (16 November 1993) and the Land Fund Bill (30 August 1994). In 1992-1994 he sought to strengthen Australia's links with its neighbours in the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) group, and worked to achieve closer regional economic cooperation through the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) organisation.
In May 1994 he presented to parliament a 'white paper' with the title Working Nation, setting out strategies for achieving employment expansion, particularly among the young, and for raising workforce skills. This became the basis for the government's employment policies.
In April 1995 he presided over the Premiers' conference which agreed on a program of opening state-owned monopolies in electricity, gas, water and transport to commercial competition, in order to make the provision of utilities more efficient.
After more than four years in office Keating took the nation to his second election as Prime Minister on 2 March 1996. By this time mounting foreign debt, high unemployment and high interest rates were causing widespread concern, and his government's ability to manage the economy was increasingly in question. Labor suffered a resounding defeat, the Liberal-National Party coalition under the Opposition leader, John Howard, winning convincingly. Keating immediately resigned as Labor leader and quit parliament. Kim Beasley, previously his Treasurer, then took over the Labor leadership and became Opposition leader. Keating retired from public life and devoted himself to developing business interests.
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