Ten Years

It will soon be exactly ten years since the beginning of John Winston Howard's prime ministership. Yes, an entire decade. Today's Weekend Australian is full of articles and columns about the Howard years. And so I thought that I too would acknowledge this achievement.

I recall being very happy when John Howard defeated Paul Keating in 1996. I was only nine years old at the time, with really no clue about the differences between Liberal and Labor policy. But I do remember linking the Labor Party to the image of the builder with the beer can and blue singlet, whilst connecting the Liberals with the image of the businessman with his briefcase. I knew most of my family members and our friends were Coalition voters at that time, and I naturally developed the same preference. This remained the case for years. I wanted a Howard win in 1998, which I got. And, though perhaps not as passionately so, I wanted a Howard win in 2001. Which I got. I can remember laughing watching Kim Beazley's concession speech, joking about his efforts to force a smile.

Just over four years later, here I am. Once proudly politically conservative (but, admittedly, without firm reason), I now carry a strong disdain for our government and other right-wing parties around the world. The prospect of me siding with Labor, Democrats and Greens over the Libs and Nats was so recently unimaginable. I think I first began to seriously turn against this Prime Minister in 2002, when I could begin to see the nauseatingly close relationship he had built with a certain Texan named George. The 'Honest John' nickname had also worn deservedly thin, and I began to resent the deceitful approach he'd adopted. Of course, today, there is very little I agree with him on.

Ten years of leadership is, nonetheless, a considerable achievement, and one to be admired by any ambitious future politician. A lot of changes have occurred during that time. Those changes created national debate and sparked some hardfelt opposition to the PM and his everchanging cabinet. Gun laws, GST, the referendum, wars, IR changes and so on. Each and very one brought about division, and each and every one went Howard's way.

I remain disillusioned over the way the Prime Minister has been able to get away with so many lies, and so much betrayal of the trust that we might have assumed was held in him by the Australian people. I am also disgusted by the transformation of Australia into a lapdog, just as we were on the way to becoming a nation with our own brain and our own spine.

What we have is an arrogant, mendacious prime minister, leading a lazy society that, nowadays, accepts arrogance and mendaciousness as inevitable traits in elected representatives.

But ten years it has been. Congratulations.