John Howard
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Winston Howard | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 11 March 1996 |
|
| Preceded by | Paul Keating |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
|
|
|
| Born | 26 July 1939 Sydney, New South Wales |
| Political party | Liberal |
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is the current and 25th Prime Minister of Australia. John Howard is a member of the Liberal Party. John Howard has been leader of Australia since he won an election in 1996 against Paul Keating of the Labor Party. John Howard has been the leader of Australia longer than anyone except Robert Menzies, who was also a Liberal.
John Howard was a lawyer before he became a politician. He has been in parliament since 1974. From 1977 to 1983 he was the Treasurer in Malcolm Fraser's government. Malcolm Fraser lost the 1983 election to Bob Hawke. Some people said this was because many people did not have jobs.
In 1995, he became Opposition Leader. The Prime Minister, Paul Keating, was not popular after 13 years of Labor government and in 1996 John Howard became Prime Minister of Australia. In 1998 John Howard's government held a referendum on whether Australia should become a republic and have a President instead of a Queen. However, John Howard did not support the referendum and told people to vote no.
Since the September 11 attacks, John Howard has focused on world issues. He is friends with Tony Blair, who is the leader of the United Kingdom, and with George W. Bush who is the leader of the United States. George Bush has called John Howard a "key ally". John Howard sent SAS troops to Afghanistan and Iraq to support the United States, and signed a free trade agreement with the United States. Despite this alliance, Australia has remained fairly neutral on Israel and Palestine.
Australia has been successful while John Howard has been leader. However, some people say he has not helped poor people, and has ignored global warming.
| Prime Ministers of Australia |  |
|---|---|
| Barton | Deakin | Watson | Reid | Fisher | Cook | Hughes | Bruce | Scullin | Lyons | Page | Menzies | Fadden | Curtin | Forde | Chifley | Holt | McEwen | Gorton | McMahon | Whitlam | Fraser | Hawke | Keating | Howard | |
