A Comfortable and Relaxed Past: John Howard and the Battle of History
Author(s)
Brawley, Sean
Abstract
History became a political issue in Australia in the 1990s. It began in 1992 when Prime Minister Paul Keating described members of the opposition Liberal Party as “relics of the past.” This initiated an extended period in which key events in the past were highlighted as achievements of either the Labor or Liberal Party. One debate was over who deserved the credit for abolishing the racist White Australia immigration policy. The Labor Party claimed the credit for Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1973. However, the Liberal Party held that Prime Minister Harold Holt abolished the policy in 1966. Labor further claimed that the Liberal Party had no real sense of history. The Liberal Party responded by defending the achievements of past Liberal governments. In particular, the long period in power of Prime Minister Robert Menzies was praised for its stability and many accomplishments.
