Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

The Australian party system
responsive to the needs of the broader electorate and not just those affiliated with
the trade unions.
This approach was adopted by the next Labor prime minister, Bob Hawke,
who led the party to government in 1983. Among the Hawke government’s policy
achievements was the Prices and Incomes Accord, which sought to constrain wage
growth in return for government spending on the ‘social wage’ – which included
education and health programs – and promised price restraint. Significant reforms
included floating the Australian dollar, a shift towards privatising previously stateowned
entities, such as Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank, and ensuring that
the level of government spending would not exceed the national economy’s growth
rate. Hawke was replaced as prime minister by his treasurer, Paul Keating, in 1991.
The Keating government emphasised a number of issues that were prioritised
by Prime Minister Paul Keating. In particular, Indigenous affairs, Australia’s
relationship with Asia and moves towards a republic were prominent during this
government’s time in office. The Keating government lost the 1996 election,
marking the end of Labor’s longest period in government. Labor would not return
to government until 2007.
Between 2007 and 2013, the Rudd and Gillard governments were marred by
internal instability. Kevin Rudd became prime minister in 2007 but was replaced
by Julia Gillard – who became Australia’s first female prime minister – in 2010.
Gillard was replaced by Rudd once again in the lead-up to the 2013 election. This
period of government implemented significant reforms, such as the introduction of
the National Disability Insurance Scheme and a short-lived mechanism for carbon
pricing.
The Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is the latest in the line of non-Labor parties that have existed
in Australia since 1901. In the years following Federation, non-Labor parties were
either Free Traders, many of whom were from New South Wales (NSW), or Protectionists
who hailed from Victoria. These groups were brittle and loosely organised
coalitions of individual parliamentarians who, unlike Labor, did not have an extraparliamentary
wing from which to draw support. This instability motivated non-
Labor politicians to find ways of creating a stronger organisational framework to
support their parliamentary campaigns. 31
Their efforts were strengthened in the aftermath of the first split in the Labor
Party. William Morris Hughes and his colleagues from Labor joined the opposition
to create the Nationalist Party. The party won the 1917 federal election and
remained in government until 1929. During that time, the Nationalists entered into
a coalition agreement with the Country Party for support in parliament.
31 See Errington 2015.
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