Apologies to Holt, McMahon, McEwen, Gorton & Gillard....Abbott also excluded from poll due to short time in office.

John Fucking Howard.

You bet.
John FUCKING! Howard

Ben Chifley

13 Jul 1945
16th Prime Minister
New Prime Minister Ben Chifley was sworn in after being chosen the day before as the new leader of the Labor Party.

Ben Chifley

06 Aug 1945
Hiroshima
The first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On 15 August Japan surrendered, ending the war in the Pacific.

Ben Chifley

17 Oct 1945
Peace time intelligence
The Commonwealth Investigation Service was formed. It combined the wartime Security Service and the Investigation Branch.

Ben Chifley

10 Jul 1946
Parliament at home
Proceedings in the House of Representatives were broadcast for the first time. Legislation required the ABC to relay the parliamentary sessions on the interstate radio network. Senate broadcasts began a week later.

Ben Chifley

15 Aug 1946
Coal Board
Under an agreement with the New South Wales government, a Joint Coal Board was established. It enabled the government to continue the regulation of coal production, distribution and prices managed during the war by the Commonwealth Coal Commissioner. Coal production tripled in the next 25 years. In 2002 the Board was replaced by a private company, Coal Services Pty Ltd.

Ben Chifley

28 Sep 1946
National social security
A referendum to alter Section 51 of the Constitution was successful. It granted the Commonwealth power to provide maternity allowances, widows pensions, child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services, and student and family allowances. Two further proposals related to marketing and industrial employment were not carried. The referendum was held with the 18th federal election.

Ben Chifley

28 Sep 1946
18th federal election
74 House of Representatives seats and 19 Senate seats

Ben Chifley

13 Dec 1946
Papua New Guinea
The United Nations granted Australia trusteeship of New Guinea and Papua. The two regions were administered jointly, with the capital at Port Moresby.

Ben Chifley

11 Mar 1947
12th Governor-General
Sir William McKell served as Governor-General until 8 May 1953. Lord Northcote was acting Governor-General from 19 July to 14 December 1951.

Ben Chifley

01 Apr 1947
Woomera
The Woomera rocket range was established as a joint facility for testing British and Australian short and long-range missiles. The range was sited within the 127,000 square kilometre Woomera Prohibited Area in the northwest of South Australia. From 1957 the facility has also been used for Australia’s space program.

Ben Chifley

01 Jul 1947
Good news
At 7 pm, the first ABC news broadcast under amendments to the Broadcasting Act was aired. The changes aimed at removing bias by requiring all news to be produced by ABC journalists, rather than gathered from commercial sources.

Ben Chifley

21 Jul 1947
Displaced persons accepted
Australia’s Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell signed an agreement with the United Nations Refugee organisation to accept displaced persons from European countries ravaged by war.

Ben Chifley

18 Nov 1947
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Australia applied the reduced tariffs under the GATT, signed in Geneva that year. The agreement established an international forum to encourage free trade between members by reducing tariffs on traded goods and by providing a means for resolving trade disputes.

Ben Chifley

26 Dec 1947
Antarctic territories
Britain transferred Heard and MacDonald Islands in Antarctica to Australia. The Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) was established in August. Scientific stations were set up on Heard Island in December, and on Macquarie Island the following May, using the small vessel Wyatt Earp.

Ben Chifley

01 Jan 1948
40-hour week
Workers covered by Commonwealth awards began the reduced 40-hour week. The date for the change had been set by the Conciliation and Arbitration Court in September 1947.

Ben Chifley

29 May 1948
Referendum
A proposal to give the Commonwealth Parliament ongoing power to make laws with respect to rents and prices was not carried.

Ben Chifley

24 Jun 1948
National sea and air lines
The Qantas Empire Airways Act meant Australia’s only overseas airline was now publicly owned. In 1948 the government also re-established a Commonwealth shipping line.

Ben Chifley

21 Sep 1948
United Nations president
Australia’s Minister for External Affairs, HV Evatt, was elected president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ben Chifley

29 Nov 1948
First Holden
Prime Minister Ben Chifley launched the first Holden ‘family motor car’ off the assembly line. Ten years later, 500,000 Holdens had been produced.

Ben Chifley

26 Jan 1949
Australia’s first citizens
The Nationality and Citizenship Act came into operation, creating Australian citizenship. Although Australians remained British subjects, they were now citizens of their own country as well. The Act retained the definition of ‘aliens’ as those not British subjects. Irish citizens and ‘protected persons’ within the British Commonwealth were excepted.

Ben Chifley

16 Mar 1949
ASIO established
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation was established to protect the Commonwealth from espionage, sabotage and subversion.

Ben Chifley

11 May 1949
More seats in parliament
The 1948 Representation Act was enacted. It increased the the House of Representatives from 75 to 122 seats, including a new member for the Australian Capital Territory, and the Senate from 36 to 60 seats. The Commonwealth Electoral Act introduced proportional representation for Senate elections.

Ben Chifley

12 Sep 1949
Planting the national garden
Prime Minister Ben Chifley planted a eucalypt at the entrance of the National Botanic Gardens during a visit by international foresters. The gardens had been established at Black Mountain in Canberra four years before.

Ben Chifley

17 Oct 1949
Snowy scheme
Work began on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme to divert water from the upper Snowy River through tunnels and dams. The scheme aimed to generate electricity for New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, and provide water for irrigation along the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. This major postwar development project employed many immigrant workers and was completed in 1974.

Ben Chifley

10 Dec 1949
19th federal election
House of Representatives and 42 Senate seats

http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx

Robert Menzies

19 Dec 1949
Prime Minister for the 2nd time
Robert Menzies became Prime Minister for the second time, starting a 16-year term that set a record in Australian politics. The Liberal/Country Party coalition had been convincingly returned at the federal election on 10 December.

Robert Menzies

27 Dec 1949
Independence for Indonesia
The independent Republic of the United States of Indonesia was established. This ended five years of revolution and military struggle with the Dutch authorities. Nationalist forces had unilaterally declared independence on 17 August 1945 after almost 350 years of Dutch rule.

Robert Menzies

09 Jan 1950
Colombo Plan
The idea of a network of developing and donor countries was raised at a conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). A 5-year scheme commenced in 1951 and was repeated until 1980. The Colombo Plan then became a permanent resource for development and education in East and Southeast Asian countries.

Robert Menzies

23 Jun 1950
Communist Party ban
The Communist Party Dissolution Bill was passed by parliament. After it was enacted in October, the law was challenged in the High Court and, on 9 March 1951, was held to be unconstitutional. The Court ruled that parliament could not invoke its defence powers to rule an association unlawful when the nation was not at war.

Robert Menzies

26 Jul 1950
Australia joins Korean War
The government announced Australia would send troops to fight in Korea. This was part of the United Nations response to the invasion of South Korea by North Korea on 25 June. The frontline moved into North Korea and the war continued for three years.

Robert Menzies

01 Jan 1951
Commonwealth Jubilee
Celebrations began throughout Australia to mark the 50th anniversary of Federation.

Robert Menzies

19 Mar 1951
Parliament dissolved
The Governor-General granted a double dissolution of both houses of parliament. He held that the Senate’s action in referring the Commonwealth Bank Bill to committee was a ‘failure to pass’ the Bill. This was only the second double dissolution of the parliament, the first being in 1914.

Robert Menzies

12 Apr 1951
National Service begins
The first call-up notice was issued under the National Service Act. The Act provided for compulsory military training of 18-year-old men, who were then to remain on the Reserve of the Commonwealth Military Forces for five years. Between 1951 and 1960 when the scheme ended, over 500,000 men had registered, 52 intakes were organised and some 227,000 men were trained.

Robert Menzies

28 Apr 1951
20th federal election
House of Representatives and 60 Senate seats

Robert Menzies

09 Sep 1951
Peace Treaty signed
At San Francisco, 49 nations signed the peace treaty with Japan, agreeing to the binding terms of the war settlement.

Robert Menzies

22 Sep 1951
Referendum on Communism
A referendum to alter the Constitution so as to grant parliament the power to outlaw Communism was lost narrowly.

Robert Menzies

06 Feb 1952
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen after the death of her father, King George VI. The Queen was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.

Robert Menzies

29 Apr 1952
ANZUS Treaty
The security treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, signed in Canberra on 1 September 1951, came into force. Aimed at maintaining peace in the Pacific, the ANZUS Treaty endured until 1986. The United States suspended their agreement with New Zealand after the ban on nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed US Navy ships in New Zealand waters.

Robert Menzies

03 Oct 1952
Montebello atomic tests
The first British atomic tests were held in the Montebello Islands, 120 km northwest of Dampier, Western Australia. Tests were then moved to Emu Field in northwestern South Australia.

Robert Menzies

08 May 1953
13th Governor-General
Sir William Slim served as Governor-General until 2 February 1960. Lord Northcote was acting Governor-General from 30 July to 22 October 1956 and Sir Dallas Brooks was acting Governor-General from 8 to 16 January 1959.

Robert Menzies

27 Jul 1953
Korean War over
The United Nations and North Korea signed the agreement ending three years of war on 27 July 1953. Relations between the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north remained strained. Australia did not establish diplomatic relations with North Korea until 1974.

Robert Menzies

03 Feb 1954
The Queen in Australia
Queen Elizabeth arrived in Sydney aboard the royal yacht Gothic. The first reigning monarch to visit Australia, the Queen and Prince Phillip covered 10,000 miles by air and 2000 miles on the ground by the time they left Australia on 1 April.

Robert Menzies

13 Feb 1954
Mawson Station
Australia’s first permanent station in Antarctica was established. The Kista Dan was used to convey men and materials. Davis, the second station, was established in 1957 as part of Australia’s contribution to the International Geophysical Year.

Robert Menzies

20 Apr 1954
The Petrovs defect
A week after the defection of Vladimir Petrov, Evdokia Petrov also appealed for political asylum in a dramatic scene at Darwin airport. Based on evidence provided by the two Soviet Embassy cipher officers, a Royal Commission on Espionage was held. After the Commission reported on October 1955, the Petrovs became Melbourne suburbanites Sven and Maria Allyson.

Robert Menzies

29 May 1954
21st federal election
House of Representatives and Senate seats

Robert Menzies

08 Sep 1954
SEATO established
The formation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, a defence alliance of countries in southeast Asia and part of the southwest Pacific, was aimed at containing Communism. Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan (until 1973), the Philippines, Thailand and the United States were members. SEATO was disbanded in 1977.

Robert Menzies

11 Jun 1955
Privilege of parliament
Newspapermen Frank Browne and Raymond Fitzpatrick were charged in the House of Representatives with breaching parliamentary privilege. In the only such case in the 20th century, they served three months in gaol on the order of Cabinet.

Robert Menzies

23 Oct 1955
Cocos (Keeling) Islands on board
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands became Commonwealth territory with the proclamation of the Cocos (Keeling) Island Act. The 27 coral islands in two atolls are in the Indian Ocean, some 2800 kilometres northwest of Perth.

Robert Menzies

10 Dec 1955
22nd federal election
House of Representatives and 30 Senate seats

Robert Menzies

16 May 1956
Maralinga atomic tests
The first nuclear tests took place at Maralinga, South Australia. This was developed as a permanent test site in response to a request from the British government after the first tests at Montebello and Emu Field in 1953 and 1954. The tests conducted at Maralinga until 1963 were the subject of a Royal Commission in 1984.

Robert Menzies

14 Aug 1956
Boilermakers Case
The Conciliation and Arbitration Court was replaced by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and the Commonwealth Industrial Court. This was made necessary by the High Court ruling in the 1956 ‘separation of powers’ Boilermakers Case. The High Court held that judicial matters must be dealt with by a body separate from one dealing with the non-judicial prevention and settlement of industrial disputes.

Robert Menzies

22 Nov 1956
Melbourne Olympic Games
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, opened Australia’s first Olympic Games in Melbourne. The Games were held during the international Suez crisis and the Hungarian Revolution. Television was introduced into Australia to make these the first Olympic Games televised.

Robert Menzies

13 Dec 1956
ASIO Act
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act made ASIO a statutory authority. ASIO had been established by government directive in 1949.

Robert Menzies

27 Aug 1957
Labor Party split
The Democratic Labor Party formed in a breakaway of anti-Communist groups from the Australian Labor Party.

Robert Menzies

10 Oct 1957
Constructing Lake Burley Griffin
The National Capital Development Commission started work on the coordinated planning and development of the national capital. Among elements of the city’s original design implemented was the construction of Lake Burley Griffin. On 31 January 1989 the National Capital Planning Authority replaced the Commission.

Robert Menzies

26 Jan 1958
Nuclear startup
The Australian Atomic Energy Commission’s nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights near Sydney began operation. The research facility was established in 1955 after the Commission was set up under the Atomic Energy Act in 1953. It was renamed the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation in 1987.

Robert Menzies

05 Feb 1958
Historic British guest
Harold Macmillan became the first British Prime Minister to visit Australia. His visit was six years after the first visit by the reigning monarch.

Robert Menzies

24 May 1958
A new Commonwealth Day
Empire Day became Commonwealth Day and was no longer celebrated as a public holiday. This anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birthday had been a public holiday since 1905.

Robert Menzies

01 Oct 1958
Christmas Island territory
The proclamation of the Christmas Island Act made an Australian territory located in the Indian Ocean, 2623 kilometres northwest of Perth. Initially the island was administered by an ‘official representative’ of the Australian government. From 1968 an Administrator reporting to the Minister for Territories took this role.

Robert Menzies

22 Nov 1958
23rd federal election
House of Representatives and 32 Senate seats

Robert Menzies

01 Dec 1959
Antarctic Treaty
Australia signed the treaty which came into force on 23 June 1961. It established the legal framework for the management of Antarctica and promoted international cooperation in Antarctic scientific research.

Robert Menzies

14 Jan 1960
A Reserve Bank
The proclamation of the Commonwealth Banks Act and the Reserve Bank Act split the Commonwealth Bank of Australia into the Commonwealth Banking Corporation and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Robert Menzies

02 Feb 1960
14th Governor-General
Lord Dunrossil served as Governor-General until 3 February 1961. Sir Dallas Brooks was acting Governor-General from 3 February to 3 August 1961.

Robert Menzies

25 Feb 1960
US space tracking
Australia signed an agreement to allow the United States to establish satellite tracking stations. These were located in the Australian Capital Territory at Orroral Creek, Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla.

Robert Menzies

01 Mar 1960
Good news at the chemist
A new pharmaceutical benefits scheme commenced, with a wider range of prescribed medicines subsidised by the government.

Robert Menzies

16 Nov 1960
Credit squeeze
The government’s response to accelerating inflation and falling wool prices led to a recession. This was the first postwar pitfall for the energetic building industry, eager car salesmen and committed consumers.

Robert Menzies

13 Dec 1960
New security law
Amendments to the Crimes Act introduced tougher definitions and penalties for espionage, sabotage and treason, and identified a new crime of treachery.

Robert Menzies

01 Feb 1961
‘No fault’ divorce
The Matrimonial Causes Act came into operation. It established a uniform basis for divorce law throughout Australia and recognised a specified period of separation as sufficient grounds to end marriage.

Robert Menzies

17 Jul 1961
Bonegilla riot
Migrants from eastern Europe staged a violent protest against conditions at the migrant hostel at Bonegilla in Victoria.

Robert Menzies

03 Aug 1961
15th Governor-General
Lord De L’Isle served as Governor-General until 22 September 1965.

Robert Menzies

31 Oct 1961
National Astronomical Observatory
The 64-metre radio telescope at Parkes in western New South Wales was opened. It was one of the two largest telescopes in the world for radio observations of the southern sky.

Robert Menzies

03 Dec 1961
The Moonie field
Oil was discovered in explorations at Moonie in southern Queensland. This became Australia’s first commercial oilfield. A pipeline to Brisbane opened on 8 April 1964.

Robert Menzies

09 Dec 1961
24th federal election
House of Representatives and 31 Senate seats

Robert Menzies

09 Apr 1962
Interstate direct dial
A coaxial cable linking Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne was completed. It enabled a caller to dial numbers at exchanges on the other end of the trunk lines, rather than needing an operator to make the connection. The broadband link also enabled data transmission. The last telegram transmitted by Morse Code was sent on 13 December that year.

Robert Menzies

02 Nov 1962
Swan Lake
The first performance of the Australian Ballet in Sydney was a triumph, not only for the new company, but for those in the government who saw supporting national arts initiatives as a move towards greater cultural independence from Britain.

Robert Menzies

01 May 1963
Glorious New Guinea
Indonesia annexed the former Dutch province of western New Guinea and named it Irian Jaya, which means 'Glorious New Guinea'. After Indonesia held a controversial ‘free choice’ vote on self-determination in 1969, the United Nations recognised Irian Jaya as an Indonesian state. An independence movement has continued to protest Indonesian rule.

Robert Menzies

14 Aug 1963
Bark petitions
Yolngu people petitioned the House of Representatives after the government excised land from the Arnhem Land reserve on 13 March, without consulting the traditional owners. When bauxite mining at Yirrkala went ahead, the Yolngu took their case against the Nabalco mining company to the Northern Territory Supreme Court. In its 1971 decision, the court did not recognise their claim.

Robert Menzies

01 Nov 1963
A national franchise achieved
Indigenous people throughout Australia won the suffrage on the same basis as other electors when an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act became law. The 1963 election was the first federal election for Indigenous people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Those in the other States had won voting rights in 1949.

Robert Menzies

30 Nov 1963
25th federal election
House of Representatives

Robert Menzies

03 Dec 1963
International direct dial
International dialling became possible with the opening of COMPAC, the Commonwealth Pacific cable. This was part of a scheme to connect the British Commonwealth by telephone. The cable was re-routed after South Africa’s decision to leave the Commonwealth. The COMPAC cable had 80 telephone circuits, each able to carry 22 telegraph circuits.

Robert Menzies

10 Feb 1964
Naval disaster
The destroyer HMAS Voyager sank off Jervis Bay, New South Wales after a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. Two Royal Commissions were held to investigate the cause of the disaster in which 81 sailors died.

Robert Menzies

20 Aug 1964
Australia joins INTELSAT
Australia became part of the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium. INTELSAT was established to develop a global system of commercial satellite links.

Robert Menzies

05 Nov 1964
National Service lottery
Cabinet decided to re-introduce compulsory military service, which had ended in 1960. The National Service Act enabled government to conscript men for a two-year term with a further three years in the Reserve. Marbles denoting birth dates were drawn from a lottery barrel to select those who would be called up. Between the first ballot in 1965 and the last in1972, some 63,000 men were conscripted.

Robert Menzies

28 Apr 1965
War in Vietnam
Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australian troops would be sent to Vietnam to support United States forces. The first battalion arrived in Vietnam the following month. After March 1966, National Servicemen were sent to Vietnam to fight in units of the Australian Regular Army. Some 19,000 conscripts were sent in the next four years.

Robert Menzies

22 Sep 1965
16th Governor-General
Lord Casey served as Governor-General until 30 April 1969.

Robert Menzies

01 Oct 1965
Rhodesia sanctioned
The government followed Britain in imposing economic sanctions on Southern Rhodesia. When Britain refused to grant independence, the Ian Smith government had declared self-government. It suppressed groups such as the Zimbabwe African National Union. On 18 April 1980 Southern Rhodesia became the independent republic of Zimbabwe. The leader of the Union was its first Prime Minister.

http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx

he is certainly unlikely to contest a second term at this rate....

Gough Whitlam

05 Dec 1972
21st Prime Minister
Labor was elected to government for the first time in 23 years. Gough Whitlam and deputy Lance Barnard were sworn in to comprise the first ministry until a Cabinet was chosen.

Gough Whitlam

19 Dec 1972
Department of Aboriginal Affairs
One of the early reforms of the new Whitlam government was upgrading the Office of Aboriginal Affairs to ministerial level. This fulfilled an election promise designed to meet the responsibilities allocated by the 1967 Referendum.

Gough Whitlam

19 Oct 1973
Queen of Australia
The Royal Style and Titles Act altered the formal title of Queen Elizabeth II to refer specifically to Australia. This was one of the few Bills of the Australian parliament enacted by the monarch personally, rather than by the Governor-General as vice-regal authority. Queen Elizabeth signed her assent during the Royal Tour for the opening of the Sydney Opera House.

Gough Whitlam

31 Oct 1973
Whitlam in China
The first visit of an Australian Prime Minister to China marked Australia’s trade agreement with the People's Republic of China. Gough Whitlam had visited China in 1971, as part of a Labor Party delegation, a month before United States President Nixon made his historic visit.

Gough Whitlam

04 Dec 1973
Governing the continental shelf
The Sea and Submerged Lands Act extended Australian territorial seas from three to twelve miles. This gave the Commonwealth sovereignty of the sea and sovereign rights to resources to the extent of the continental shelf. Australia was a signatory to United Nations Conventions in 1958 and 1964 recognising national rights to territorial seas beyond the three-mile limit, mainly to enable member nations to protect their fishing grounds.

Gough Whitlam

08 Dec 1973
Referendum
At this referendum two proposals were rejected by voters. One sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws with respect to prices, and the second with respect to incomes.

Gough Whitlam

23 Feb 1974
Saturday closing
Official post offices ended Saturday opening. On 1 July 1975 Saturday mail deliveries ceased. On the same date two statutory corporations, the Australian Postal Commission and the Australian Telecommunications Commission were established, replacing the Postmaster-General's Department.

Gough Whitlam

18 May 1974
29th federal election - House of Representatives and Senate (all 60 seats - double dissolution)
Labor under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam retained government.

Gough Whitlam

18 May 1974
Referendum
Australian voters rejected four proposals related to simultaneous elections in the House and Senate, allowing electors in territories to vote at referendums, determining the average size of electorates in each state, and giving the Commonwealth Parliament powers to borrow money for any local government body.

Gough Whitlam

11 Jul 1974
18th Governor-General
Sir John Kerr served as Governor-General until 8 December 1977.

Gough Whitlam

05 Aug 1974
Territories get Senate seats
The Senate was expanded to 64 seats when two Senate seats each were assigned to the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. This legislation was challenged in the High Court, and upheld.

Gough Whitlam

24 Dec 1974
Cyclone Tracy
On Christmas Eve 65 people lost their lives when a cyclone destroyed 90 per cent of homes in Darwin. Residents were without shelter, power, transport or water and sewerage services. Acting Prime Minister Jim Cairns ordered the evacuation of the population.

Gough Whitlam

31 Dec 1974
Diplomatic relations with North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea opened an embassy in Australia. The following April an Australian embassy opened in North Korea. On 30 October 1975, North Korea withdrew its embassy from Canberra and on 6 November expelled the staff of the Australian embassy in Pyongyang.

Gough Whitlam

14 Feb 1975
Order of Australia
Queen Elizabeth signs Letters Patent establishing an Australian Honours system to replace British Honours for Australians.

Gough Whitlam

13 Mar 1975
Conservation
Enactment of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act

Gough Whitlam

30 Apr 1975
Evacuation of Saigon
North Vietnamese troops occupied Saigon and remaining Australian and United States personnel were evacuated. Under the new regime, North and South Vietnam were unified. Saigon, the southern capital became Ho Chi Minh City.

Gough Whitlam

11 Jun 1975
Law rules
The Racial Discrimination Act enacted, outlawing discrimination on the grounds of race.

Gough Whitlam

12 Jun 1975
Federal family law
Enactment of the Family Law Act provides for a Family Court of Australia. The new Court came into operation on 6 January 1976.

Gough Whitlam

01 Jul 1975
Medibank begins
The government introduced Medibank, Australia’s first national health insurance scheme.

Gough Whitlam

16 Aug 1975
Handover at Wattie Creek
At Daguragu in the Northern Territory, Vincent Lingiari of the Gurindji people formally accepted from Prime Minister Gough Whitlam title deeds to a part of their traditional lands.

Gough Whitlam

16 Sep 1975
Independence Day
Papua New Guinea became independent, ending remaining Australian responsibilities in the self-governing country.

http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx

Malcolm Fraser

11 Nov 1975
22nd Prime Minister
After the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the Labor government, Malcolm Fraser became ‘caretaker’ Prime Minister pending a general election.

Malcolm Fraser

13 Dec 1975
30th federal election - House of Representatives and Senate seats (all 64 seats – double dissolution)
Coalition under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser retained government.

Malcolm Fraser

16 Jun 1976
Treaty of Friendship
The Australia-Japan Treaty of Friendship was signed, confirming the important trade relations between the two nations. By 1970 Japan had become Australia’s main overseas customer, with some 19.4 per cent of export trade while Britain’s share fell to 13.4 per cent.

Malcolm Fraser

16 Dec 1976
Land rights
Enactment of Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act

Malcolm Fraser

02 Feb 1977
A federal court
The first judges of the Federal Court were sworn in by the Attorney-General. The jurisdiction of the Court included the areas previously covered by the Industrial Court and the Bankruptcy Court. It also heard appeals from State and Territory courts in specific federal matters. The Federal Court is subject only to the High Court of Australia.

Malcolm Fraser

07 Mar 1977
Royal tourists
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh spent three weeks in Australia on a tour to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Queen’s reign.

Malcolm Fraser

21 May 1977
Referendum
Of the four proposals put to voters at this referendum, only three were carried. These related to Senate casual vacancies, giving residents of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory the right to vote in constitutional elections, and retirement of federal judges. The rejected fourth proposal related to the introduction of simultaneous elections.

Malcolm Fraser

15 Jun 1977
Gleneagles agreement
At a meeting in Scotland, Commonwealth countries affirmed opposition to racial discrimination in sport and insisted that South Africa must lift apartheid to compete in the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Edmonton in Canada that year.

Malcolm Fraser

01 Jul 1977
Ombudsman
The first Commonwealth Ombudsman took office. The Ombudsman has responsibility to investigate complaints about administrative decisions and make recommendations for remedy.

Malcolm Fraser

23 Aug 1977
Uranium
The Fraser government approves the mining and export of uranium.

Malcolm Fraser

08 Dec 1977
19th Governor-General
Sir Zelman Cowen served as Governor-General until 29 July 1982.

Malcolm Fraser

10 Dec 1977
31st federal election - House of Representatives and 34 Senate seats
Coalition under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser retained government.

Malcolm Fraser

01 Jan 1978
SBS begins
The Special Broadcasting Service came into operation under the Broadcasting and Television Amendment Act. It was established to provide multilingual broadcasting and television services. Regular transmissions began on 24 October 1980.

Malcolm Fraser

20 Jan 1978
Irian Jaya
Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock’s recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor made Australia the sole country to accept Indonesia’s military takeover in 1976.

Malcolm Fraser

26 Jan 1978
Land rights in the Northern Territory
The proclamation of the Northern Territory Land Rights Act in 1976 enabled traditional owners to claim unalienated land. The Act provided for a Commission to hear claims and with power to grant a limited title. This was the first Australian law enabling claims to traditional ownership to be judged.

Malcolm Fraser

01 Jul 1978
Northern Territory self-government
The Northern Territory achieved limited self-government, with a fully elected Legislative Assembly. This followed 67 years of federal administration, after 50 years of government by South Australia.

Malcolm Fraser

05 Apr 1979
Protecting our environment
An area of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory proclaimed the Kakadu National Park. In October the first stage of the Great Barrier Reef marine park proclaimed.

Malcolm Fraser

07 Oct 1979
Immigration advisors
An Australian Refugee Advisory Council was established. Its role was to advise the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs on the settlement of refugees. Large numbers of Indo-Chinese refugees had become a challenge for receiving countries like Australia.

Malcolm Fraser

19 Oct 1979
Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police force was formed. The AFP combined the Commonwealth Police, the Australian Capital Territory Police and the Federal Narcotics Bureau.

Malcolm Fraser

26 Jan 1980
Australian Institute of Sport
The Minister for Home Affairs announced the establishment of a national institute of sport. It began as a public company with 95 per cent funding from the government. In January 1987 the Institute became a statutory authority under the Department of Sport, Recreation and Tourism.

Malcolm Fraser

29 May 1980
Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act
The Commonwealth returned control of coastal waters to the States. The federal government had taken control of these waters in 1973.

Malcolm Fraser

06 Jun 1980
Saving the whale
Enactment of a Whale Protection Act, following strong lobbying for the end of whaling in Australian waters.

Malcolm Fraser

18 Oct 1980
32nd federal election - House of Representatives and 34 Senate seats
Coalition under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser retained government.

Malcolm Fraser

01 Jan 1981
The desktop computer
The first personal computers went on sale. Thirty years earlier the first mainframe computer, UNIVAC, had come into use.

Malcolm Fraser

14 Apr 1981
Human rights
Human Rights Commission Act enacted, providing for a body to promote and protect human rights in line with all United Nations instruments ratified by Australia. Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and later the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 are also covered by the Commission, renamed the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 1986.

Malcolm Fraser

30 Apr 1981
Razor Gang report
The final report of a committee set up to review government function recommended the abolition of a number of agencies and reduction of others.

Malcolm Fraser

09 Mar 1982
Open information
Enactment of Australia’s first Freedom of Information Act

Malcolm Fraser

29 Jun 1982
Falklands War
Australia lifted a ban on imports from Argentina after Britain defeated Argentina in the 3-month war in the Falklands Islands.

Malcolm Fraser

29 Jul 1982
20th Governor-General
Sir Ninian Stephen served as Governor-General until 15 February 1989.

Malcolm Fraser

01 Jan 1983
TCP/IP enables the birth of the Internet
Adoption of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) standard enabled the development of a supranational Internet. The first network of computers, ARPANET, had emerged in the United States in 1969.

Malcolm Fraser

03 Feb 1983
Double dissolution
Malcolm Fraser announced a double dissolution of parliament. The same day Bob Hawke was elected leader of the Labor Party after Bill Hayden resigned.

Malcolm Fraser

05 Mar 1983
33rd federal election - House of Representatives and Senate (all 64 seats - double dissolution)
Coalition under Prime Fraser Malcolm Fraser lost government.

http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx

It certainly won't be Malcolm Turnbull.

Thread needs more love for the man abducted by aliens IMO. Harold Holt 4 lyf

I'm not old enough to remember anything pre-Hawke but IMO that government of Hawke as PM and Keating as Treasurer was the best government in terms of reforming things. Without the changes made then we wouldn't have had 20 years of continuous economic growth.

Can't vote for Keating as PM even though he's my favourite politician, mainly because he wasn't PM for long enough.

Hawke/Keating was so successful that John Howard has this poll in the bag.

Very astute post =d>

You have to admire what Gough achieved though, even if he did spend a hell of a lot of money.

No love for Menzies....

Hawke.

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None whatsoever, despite his magnificent economic record, seeing Australia into prosperity.

PITT THE ELDER!

Gotta love Bob Hawke. Even the staunchest of Liberal voters surely have a soft spot for the guy.

LORD PALMERSTON!

You keep telling yourself that. :lol:

Most Libs do. It's a shame labor voters can't reciprocate the sentiment for john Howard, who was arguably more successful. They are so madly envious of any successful Liberal PM, they will deny it to the death, and in the most extreme cases they will even try to claim credit for its success. The problem is they are driven my their mawkish ideology rather than unvarnished facts and pragmatism, which is the domain of the liberals.

Absolutely. In fact, Hawke was so successful because he took the party's economic policy a long way to the right from the Whitlamesque leftie free for all spendathon of his predecessors. And that includes that waste of space Malcolm Fraser.

But then Keating gave us the "recession we had to have" before Howard and Costello fixed the mess.

Rudd and Gillard left the country in an economic mess and now it's Abbott's turn to fix things.

And so on it goes.

Economic mess? You mean the mess that survived the GFC the rest of the world copped?

This is lies talked up by the Libs so they can bring in all their cuts, saying we need to save, etc. Its actually as simple as paying for the Carbon and Mining taxes they are abolishing. At least don't pretend what this about. Labor asked Liberal how they intended to pay to cut those taxes pre-election and they were very quiet on how they intended to do it.

Lol, there's a tin foil hat you can get on eBay.

Really? Whats conspiracy here? I'm simply saying they are losing revenue from taking away those taxes. Isn't it logic that they need to make up for them in other ways? If we are in such a mess financially why wouldn't you keep those taxes?

Howard was certainly very effective, I won't begrudge that. He was easily the most dominant political figure in my adult lifetime, and there's no doubt he was able to implement what he wanted to do pretty successfully.

I just hated what he stood for. Economically the times were strong, but I really feel like a lot of the proceeds were wasted on middle class welfare and tax cuts. After that massive era of growth, we still had crap broadband, ill-equipped public schools, the pacific highway still not finished... etc. Socially I just couldn't stand the guy, he was a neanderthal (on stuff like gay rights and saying sorry to Aboriginal people), and in foreign policy we got way too cozy to the Americans.

Personally, although I have a big soft spot for Whitlam and Keating (now there were some strong bastards who knew how to get stuff done and kick liberal ass while doing it), I think Hawke ran the most effective government.

The accord and tarriff reductions helped fix the economy and set it up for 20-plus years of growth. At the same time we got an absolute truckload of social policy reform (medicare, family payments, anti-discrimination laws, anti-AIDS campaigns, much better education system). Plus it was the first government that really tried to protect the environment in a serious way (Franklin Dam, Daintree, etc).

It wasn't difficult for Australia to survive the GFC, almost all of the countries who had low debt net did well, whilst those who had high net debt did poorly. Given we had negative net debt (ie cash at bank) We were in a prime position to implement Keynesian fiscal policy (which the Libs supported) to stimulate the economy, and so we avoided recession. But the common denominator between almost all those countries who went into recession and those who didn't wasnt the stimulus spending, as almost all countries had invested in some sort of stimulus program, it was their respective debt positions prior to the GFC. Again those countries who had low debt did well (ie Australia) and those who did poor had high debt ( ie most of Europe and America). The flip side of Keynesian economics government should whenever possible run a balanced budget and deliver surpluses to pay down debt, but it appears labor have totally abandoned this school of thought and invented their own, one which arrogantly frowns on surpluses and believes it has unlimited access to debt to fund all the programs it knows it can't afford, and leaves to future generations to find a way to pay it off. This is why this budget will be so tough, and unpopular, but necessary to get Australia back to surplus and one the path to prosperity. Labor just want to win the popularity content with all their zany spending programs but it's liberals who have the balls to make the necessary cuts.

wasn't it PITT THE YOUNGER???

youngest prime minister of england??

Howard and Costello happened to govern in boom times, which came about as a result of decisions made by Hawke and Keating eg float the dollar, closer ties with Asia rather than Mother Britain, clever country ideology.

Costello then proceeded to piss it all down the toilet with baby bonuses, Family Tax benefits, milk and sandwich tax cuts, the dismantling of Medicare whilst simultaneously beefing up Private Health Insurers profits, the double-speaked "Future Fund", which everyone believes is money set aside for our kids but is in fact a fund to guarantee the defined benefits super payouts of public servants.

But one thing I will never forget is Howards and Ruddock's courageous and dogged determination to amend the most powerful area of law in the country The Family Law Act so that children are give a fair chance of shared parenting, despite the despicable opposition by Labor and Despoja and the Democrats. For this, the Libs get my vote for life, as shit as Abbot's Libs are.