Labour Prime Minister Research Articles

Changing by landslide: The 1996 Australian federal election

The extent of the Liberal‐National Coalition victory in the 1996 General Election in Australia surprised many commentators and signalled the loss of popular support of a government that was managing some key policy issues with apparent success. The election marked the completion of the process in which the electorate tired of the modern Labor approach and became sceptical of its claims of success. Defeat for prime minister Paul Keating was the final evidence of dwindling electoral popularity for the Labor Party's approach which began with the party's loss of control of the state governments it had secured before or during the 13 years of Labor federal government. The Liberal‐National Coalition of John Howard was able to capitalize on the failure of the Labor government to deliver promised economic reforms and the apparent indifference of the Labor prime minister to the economic plight of middle Australia. A realignment of traditional Labor votes benefited the Australian Democrats, which became the third‐l...

Education, Training and Economic Change

For most writers in the UK, the opening gambit in contemporary discussions about education and the economy is James Callaghan's Ruskin speech in October, 1976. As Labour Prime Minister, Callaghan launched the 'great debate' on education in response to growing criticism of educational standards, school organisation and a failure to meet the 'needs' of industry. The book edited by Williams, Daugherty and Banks was produced to mark the fifteenth anniversary of this debate. It begins with reflections on the intervening period from (now) Lord Callaghan and the Conservative former Secretary of State for Education and

Closing a branch office of empire: Australian foreign policy and the UK at century's end

The recent publicity surrounding moves within Australia, led by the Labor prime minister Paul Keating, to end the constitutional links between Australia and Britain, has both drawn attention to and distorted views of the current state of, and future prospects for, the relationship between the former imperial power and its former colony. In this article Richard Higgott takes a more considered and broader look at this relationship, examining it in the context of Australia's international economic and political relations since the Second World War and in particular its increasingly important links with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing an analogy between Australia's stance towards the region and Britain's stance towards the European Community, he points out both the limitations and the enduring significance of the ties between the two states.*

Lessons of Thatcherism: Education Policy in England and Wales 1979-88

Twelve years after it was announced by James Callaghan, the Great Education Debate is happening. Indeed, it may already have happened. Or seen from another perspective, it may not have been a debate at all. The educational manifestation of the crisis in social democracy was marked most clearly by Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan's speech at Ruskin College, Oxford, in October 1976. His expression of concern about progressive tendencies in education and of education's poor performance in meeting the needs of industry represented the first major landmark in the move towards the dismantling of the education system created by the Education Act 1944. It represented an acceptance, if not a total endorsement, of the critique of state education which had been offered by a number of right-wing educationists in the 'Black Papers', the first of which was published in 1969.1 The main themes of Callaghan's initiative were talk of a national core curriculum and a desire for education to become more responsive to the demands of industry. A third theme was highlighted at this time by the crisis at William Tyndale Junior School in Islington, London, when a group of parents and governors lost confidence in the progressive teaching approaches employed by the staff. This affair received massive press coverage and led to a quasi-judicial inquiry which together had the effect of legitimating the notion that teachers had too much autonomy and were pursuing disruptive if not subversive ends.2 Overarching these three themes was a concern, again much promoted in the tabloid press, about supposed 'falling standards' in education.3

About this book

BY THE MIDDLE of 1972 three things, of very unequal importance, seemed clear: twentythree years of Liberal-Country Party rule in Australia was likely to come to an end in the forthcoming election; a much larger proportion of people than is usual was excited about the election, involved in it, and thought the outcome would make a real difference to their lives; and no academics seemed to be organising a national survey. Journalists were more enterprising. There were rumours about plans by a number of them. Laurie Oakes and David Solomon's excellent The making of an Australian prime minister, published by Cheshire and launched by Gough Whitlam, the new Labor prime minister, in early February 1973, was one result. As a consecutive story and as background that book is indispensable. In general, Labor to Power does not set out to compete with it but is aimed at a somewhat different readership. The two books are, clearly, best read together. Not having the money or the ability to organise a national survey, I was yet determined, by the end of August 1972, to have the election recorded in some way which would go beyond the obvious standard academic symposium published years after the event. Could there be a book which, however imperfectly, reflected the fact that so many people from so many walks of life were involved in so many different ways? Academic teachers and students of politics in Australia and New Zealand belong to a body known as APSA—the Australasian Political Studies Association. APSA also has some journalists, advertising agents and politicians, plus interested ordinary voters among its members. It publishes a biannual journal, always on the verge of bankruptcy, called Politics. APSA has been kind enough to give me a pretty free hand as editor. So why not have a special issue on the elections? Why not try to involve people from all over Australia and from outside the universities? Given the sense of excitement, one should be able to attract some new writers. There would, of course, be established academic contributions. But the world of academia in my field in Australia tends to be rather too oysterlike. So I set out to look for new talent from some of the smaller universities, from colleges of advanced education and institutes of technology. But, even more, I wanted papers from people who are nearly always too busy to bang the typewriter and yet have their own contribution to make: people in advertising who were sweating over refurbishing the party and leader images; people in the polling agencies who might be willing to work over and release some new data; people in the party machines and secretariats; activists and rank-and-file party members; members of the fast-growing Women's Electoral Lobby . . .

La crise constitutionnelie australienne

The crisis which arose in Australia in October-November 1975 led to the dismissal of the Labour Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General Sir John Kerr, the formation of a caretaker Government by the opposition leader Malcolm Fraser and the simultaneous dissolution of the Houses of the Federal Parliament.The constitutional issues involved in that crisis are studied. The opinion is maintained that the rational coherence of the parliamentary system require an effective head of State with the responsibility of acting personally in unusual circumstances, rather than the strict law definitely lapsed and the issue even then ruled by the «constitutional conventions» of Cabinet government.

The Crisis in British Socialism

RITISH SOCIALISM iS today in the throes of a profound internal crisis. If we are to believe what we read in the American newspapers, Aneurin Bevan's strength is growing daily among the British trade unions, and no less an authority than the New York Times highlighted the recent Labor Party Conference at Morecambe as a Bevan victory. Some experts on British socialism even tell us that Aneurin Bevan will be the next Labor Prime Minister. In short, we are led to believe that the extremists are virtually in command of the Labor Party. It is the purpose of this analysis to demonstrate that these prophets of gloom are mistaken, that their analyses are based on inadequate knowledge of both the internal organization of the Labor Party and of the political process in general, and finally that the real nature of the Bevanite threat is quite different from that suggested above. In fact, it is here submitted that Aneurin Bevan can never capture the Labor Party as it is now constituted, but he can ruin it. To put the point precisely, the Bevanites may make it impossible for the British Labor Party to win another election, which in political terms is to condemn the party to death by slow strangulation. British socialism has not been an ideology in the Continental sense; it has been a concrete bid for political power. Thus, if the pragmatic and thoroughly nondialectical average British socialist decides that the Labor Party is destined to be a permanent minority, he may well take his political business elsewhere. The leaders of British socialism are on the horns of a horrible dilemma. On one extreme stand the powerful trade union bureaucrats who would destroy the party sooner than have it fall into Bevan's hands, while on the other, stand Bevan and his associates who cripple the party's power to win elections. The major bone of contention is