Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, from 1991 to 1996.
He came to prominence as the reformist Treasurer in the Hawke government from 1983. As Prime Minister, he is noted for his many legislative achievements, and his victory in the 1993 federal election, which many had considered "unwinnable"for Labor. In his second term, howe'ver, his "big picture"policies failed to impress an electorate that was increasingly concerned about economic issues.
Keating was defeated at the 1996 federal election by the conservative Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, led by John Howard.
Keating grew up in Bankstown, a working-class suburb of Sydney. He was one of four children of Matthew Keating, a boilermaker and trade union representative of Irish-Catholic descent, and his wife, Minnie.
Keating was educated at Catholic schools; he was the first practising Catholic Labor Prime Minister since James Scullin left office in 1932.
Leaving De La Salle College Bankstown (now LaSalle Catholic College) at 15, Keating worked as a clerk and then as a research assistant for a trade union. He joined the Labor Party as soon as he was eligible. In 1966, he became President of the ALP's Youth Council.
Through the unions and the NSW Young Labor Council, Keating met other Labor luminaries such as Laurie Brereton, Graham Richardson and Bob Carr, and developed a friendship with former New South Wales Labor Premier Jack Lang, then in his 90s.
Keating met Lang to discuss politics on a weekly basis for some time, and in 1971 succeeded in having Lang re-admitted to the Labor party.
Using his extensive contacts, Keating gained Labor endorsement for the federal seat of Blaxland in the western suburbs of Sydney, and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1969 election, at the age of 25.
Keating was a backbencher for most of the tenure of the Whitlam Labor government (December 1972 - November 1975), and briefly became Minister for Northern Australia in October 1975, one of the youngest ministers in Australian history.
After Labors defeat in 1975, Keating became an opposition frontbencher, and in 1981 he became president of the New South Wales branch of the party, and thus leader of the dominant right-wing faction.
As opposition spokesperson on energy, his parliamentary style was that of an aggressive debater. He initially supported Bill Hayden against Bob Hawkes leadership challenges, partly because he hoped to succeed Hayden himself; but by the end of 1982, he accepted that Hawke would become leader.
In 1975, Keating married Annita van Iersel, a Dutch flight attendant for Alitalia. The Keatings had four children, who spent some of their teenage years in the Lodge, the Prime Ministers official residence in Canberra. They separated in late November 1998. Keatings daughter, Katherine, was a former adviser to former New South Wales Minister Craig Knowles.
Keatings interests include collecting French antique clocks, and the music of Mahler. Keating is a resident of Potts Point, Sydney.
Hawkes undoing had been the policy package unveiled by the new Liberal leader, Dr John Hewson. Known as Fightback!, it was centred around a GST and included massive industrial relations reforms, sweeping cuts to personal income tax and cuts to government spending, particularly in areas of health and education.
Hawke and his new Treasurer, John Kerin, had been unable to counter the renewed energy of the opposition, which was invigorated by a policy package it perceived as a vote winner. Keating, howe'ver, severely damaged Hewsons credibility in a series of set-piece parliamentary encounters.
Nevertheless, the view of most commentators was that the 1993 election was "unwinnable"for Labor. The government had been in power for 10 years, the pace of economic recovery was sluggish, and some voters perceived Keating as arrogant. Howe'ver, Keating succeeded in winning back the electorate with a strong campaign opposing Fightback, memorable for Keatings reference to Hewsons proposed GST as "15% on this, 15% on that", and a focus on creating jobs to reduce unemployment.
Keating led Labor to an unexpected election victory, and his memorable "true believers"victory speech has entered Australian political folklore as one of the great Australian political speeches. After Keating, some of the reforms of Fightback were implemented under the centre-right coalition government of John Howard.
As Prime Minister, Keatings interests and public perception broadened from that of the narrowly focused Treasurer. His agenda included items such as making Australia a republic, achieving reconciliation with Australias indigenous population, and further economic and cultural engagement with Asia.
These issues, which came to be known as Keatings "big picture,"were highly popular with the tertiary-educated middle class, but failed to capture the aspirations of rural and outer-suburban voters.
As well as this agenda, Keating embarked on a comprehensive legislative program. He established the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), reviewed the Sex Discrimination Act, and legislated for the native title rights of Australias indigenous people following the historic High Court decision in Mabo.
He developed bilateral links with Australias neighbours, primarily Australia's largest neighbour Indonesia. Keating also took an active role in the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), and initiated the yearly leaders meeting. One of Keatings far-reaching legislative achievements was the introduction of a national superannuation scheme, implemented to address low national savings.
Concerning East Timor, Paul Keating received some criticism from Human Rights groups and Nobel Peace Prize winner Josà Ramos-Horta over his friendship with President Suharto, and the Keating governments policy of aiding the Indonesian military in their occupation of East Timor.
East Timor had gained a higher profile in Australia and Internationally after the Dili massacre. Keating was criticised for his close ties with Suharto and the signing of the Timor Gap Treaty over human rights concerns.
Keating has recently become involved in the debate over Sydneys development as a city. In May 2007, he suggested that Sydney should be the capital of Australia, not Canberra saying that:
John Howard has already effectively moved the Parliament here. Cabinet meets in Philip Street in Sydney, and when they do go to Canberra, they fly down to the bush capital, and everybody flies out on Friday. There is an air of unreality about Canberra. If Parliament sat in Sydney, they would have a better understanding of the problems being faced by their constituents. These real things are camouflaged from Canberra.
Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, responded by saying "the administrative capital of Australia is Canberra, thats where Parliament is. It would be terrific if we could pull it off, but I cant see that happening."The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Jon Stanhope described Keatings idea as "puerile".
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, from 1991 to 1996.
He came to prominence as the reformist Treasurer in the Hawke government from 1983. As Prime Minister, he is noted for his many legislative achievements, and his victory in the 1993 federal election, which many had considered "unwinnable"for Labor. In his second term, howe'ver, his "big picture"policies failed to impress an electorate that was increasingly concerned about economic issues.
Keating was defeated at the 1996 federal election by the conservative Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, led by John Howard.
Keating grew up in Bankstown, a working-class suburb of Sydney. He was one of four children of Matthew Keating, a boilermaker and trade union representative of Irish-Catholic descent, and his wife, Minnie.
Keating was educated at Catholic schools; he was the first practising Catholic Labor Prime Minister since James Scullin left office in 1932.
Leaving De La Salle College Bankstown (now LaSalle Catholic College) at 15, Keating worked as a clerk and then as a research assistant for a trade union. He joined the Labor Party as soon as he was eligible. In 1966, he became President of the ALP's Youth Council.
Through the unions and the NSW Young Labor Council, Keating met other Labor luminaries such as Laurie Brereton, Graham Richardson and Bob Carr, and developed a friendship with former New South Wales Labor Premier Jack Lang, then in his 90s.
Keating met Lang to discuss politics on a weekly basis for some time, and in 1971 succeeded in having Lang re-admitted to the Labor party.
Using his extensive contacts, Keating gained Labor endorsement for the federal seat of Blaxland in the western suburbs of Sydney, and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1969 election, at the age of 25.
Keating was a backbencher for most of the tenure of the Whitlam Labor government (December 1972 - November 1975), and briefly became Minister for Northern Australia in October 1975, one of the youngest ministers in Australian history.
After Labors defeat in 1975, Keating became an opposition frontbencher, and in 1981 he became president of the New South Wales branch of the party, and thus leader of the dominant right-wing faction.
As opposition spokesperson on energy, his parliamentary style was that of an aggressive debater. He initially supported Bill Hayden against Bob Hawkes leadership challenges, partly because he hoped to succeed Hayden himself; but by the end of 1982, he accepted that Hawke would become leader.
In 1975, Keating married Annita van Iersel, a Dutch flight attendant for Alitalia. The Keatings had four children, who spent some of their teenage years in the Lodge, the Prime Ministers official residence in Canberra. They separated in late November 1998. Keatings daughter, Katherine, was a former adviser to former New South Wales Minister Craig Knowles.
Keatings interests include collecting French antique clocks, and the music of Mahler. Keating is a resident of Potts Point, Sydney.
Hawkes undoing had been the policy package unveiled by the new Liberal leader, Dr John Hewson. Known as Fightback!, it was centred around a GST and included massive industrial relations reforms, sweeping cuts to personal income tax and cuts to government spending, particularly in areas of health and education.
Hawke and his new Treasurer, John Kerin, had been unable to counter the renewed energy of the opposition, which was invigorated by a policy package it perceived as a vote winner. Keating, howe'ver, severely damaged Hewsons credibility in a series of set-piece parliamentary encounters.
Nevertheless, the view of most commentators was that the 1993 election was "unwinnable"for Labor. The government had been in power for 10 years, the pace of economic recovery was sluggish, and some voters perceived Keating as arrogant. Howe'ver, Keating succeeded in winning back the electorate with a strong campaign opposing Fightback, memorable for Keatings reference to Hewsons proposed GST as "15% on this, 15% on that", and a focus on creating jobs to reduce unemployment.
Keating led Labor to an unexpected election victory, and his memorable "true believers"victory speech has entered Australian political folklore as one of the great Australian political speeches. After Keating, some of the reforms of Fightback were implemented under the centre-right coalition government of John Howard.
As Prime Minister, Keatings interests and public perception broadened from that of the narrowly focused Treasurer. His agenda included items such as making Australia a republic, achieving reconciliation with Australias indigenous population, and further economic and cultural engagement with Asia.
These issues, which came to be known as Keatings "big picture,"were highly popular with the tertiary-educated middle class, but failed to capture the aspirations of rural and outer-suburban voters.
As well as this agenda, Keating embarked on a comprehensive legislative program. He established the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), reviewed the Sex Discrimination Act, and legislated for the native title rights of Australias indigenous people following the historic High Court decision in Mabo.
He developed bilateral links with Australias neighbours, primarily Australia's largest neighbour Indonesia. Keating also took an active role in the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), and initiated the yearly leaders meeting. One of Keatings far-reaching legislative achievements was the introduction of a national superannuation scheme, implemented to address low national savings.
Concerning East Timor, Paul Keating received some criticism from Human Rights groups and Nobel Peace Prize winner Josà Ramos-Horta over his friendship with President Suharto, and the Keating governments policy of aiding the Indonesian military in their occupation of East Timor.
East Timor had gained a higher profile in Australia and Internationally after the Dili massacre. Keating was criticised for his close ties with Suharto and the signing of the Timor Gap Treaty over human rights concerns.
Keating has recently become involved in the debate over Sydneys development as a city. In May 2007, he suggested that Sydney should be the capital of Australia, not Canberra saying that:
John Howard has already effectively moved the Parliament here. Cabinet meets in Philip Street in Sydney, and when they do go to Canberra, they fly down to the bush capital, and everybody flies out on Friday. There is an air of unreality about Canberra. If Parliament sat in Sydney, they would have a better understanding of the problems being faced by their constituents. These real things are camouflaged from Canberra.
Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, responded by saying "the administrative capital of Australia is Canberra, thats where Parliament is. It would be terrific if we could pull it off, but I cant see that happening."The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Jon Stanhope described Keatings idea as "puerile".
