Book Details

The Howard Factor

A Decade that Changed the Nation

Edited by Nick Cater

The Hon. John Howard MP, Prime Minister of Australia launched The Howard Factor on 2nd March at Parliament House in Canberra.

Opinion

“From top political writers from across the country, this is the first book of its kind to chart the seismic shift in the politics, society, workplaces, culture, economy and trade under Howard.”
(Better Read Than Dead newsletter, March 2006)

“charts the vast yet largely undocumented revolution of the past 10 years led by a man who has become one of the Western world’s most successful politicians.”
(The Weekend Australian, 25/2/06)

About this Title

John Howard's federal election victory over Paul Keating in 1996 was the start of a quiet revolution that changed Australia forever.

His critics told us he was a white-picket-fence conservative, Little Johnnie, Lazarus with a triple bypass. Instead, Howard has driven a decade of reform, reinventing conservative politics and redefining the national debate.

In this long-overdue assessment of the Howard years, some of The Australian's leading commentators chart the seismic shift in politics, society, workplaces, culture, the economy, trade and foreign affairs. They describe how Howard has redrawn the political map, turning the conservatives into reformers and forcing the progressives to defend the status quo.

Contributors to the book include Paul Kelly, Steve Lewis, Glenn Milne, George Megalogenis, Christopher Pearson, Matt Price, Dennis Shanahan, Greg Sheridan, Mike Steketee, Alan Wood and cartoonist Bill Leak. Editor Nick Cater is a senior editorial executive at The Australian.

Table of Contents

Preface by NICK CATER

I INTRODUCTION
1. How Howard Governs PAUL KELLY
2. Culture Wars CHRISTOPHER PEARSON

II HOWARD’S WAY
3. Two Howards - DENNIS SHANAHAN
4. Purpose Driven - GLENN MILNE
5. Getting Personal - MATT PRICE

III PROSPERITY AND REFORM
6. The Golden Years - ALAN WOOD
7. The Carrot and the Stick - MIKE STEKETEE
8. Taxing Times - GEORGE MEGALOGENIS
9. Unfinished Business - BRAD NORINGTON

IV THE HOME FRONT
10. Please Explain - NICOLAS ROTHWELL
11. Mixed Race, Mixed Messages - GEORGE MEGALOGENIS
12. Beyond Sorry - STUART RINTOUL
13. The Doctrine of Choice - SAMANTHA MAIDEN
14. Jumping the White Picket Fence - KATE LEGGE

V HOWARD ABROAD
15. All the World's a Stage - GREG SHERIDAN
16. At War with Terror - PATRICK WALTERS
17. Team America - ROY ECCLESTON

VI HEARTS AND MINDS
18. Losing the Plot - STEVE LEWIS
19. Read My Lips - BILL LEAK
20. The Howard Idiom - IMRE SALUSINSZKY
21. Howard's South Park Conservatives - CAROLINE OVERINGTON

VII THE HOWARD DECADE
22. The Story So Far - REBECCA WEISER
23. Howard by Numbers - GEORGE MEGALOGENIS
24. Ten Years in 25 Pictures - PAUL BURSTON
Notes

About the Author

Nick Cater has been a senior editorial executive at The Australian since September 2004. He is a former deputy editor at The Sunday Telegraph and assistant editor at The Daily Telegraph. He has worked in the Canberra press gallery as a News Limited bureau chief and in Hong Kong as the group's Asia correspondent. He worked in the UK as a journalist with BBC TV.

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978-0-522-85284-4