Hawke, Keating, economic reform and the republic debate, 1983 to 1999 (QCE Modern History Unit 3, Australia since 1901)

What this topic is asking

Unit 3 "Australia since 1901" is a topic, and your school chooses the aspect to study. The final part of the period supports the "concluding study" in the syllabus, which asks how past events connect to the present and what legacies they left. The official syllabus is at qcaa.qld.edu.au.

The Hawke government, 1983 to 1991

Bob Hawke won the election of March 1983 during a recession and inflation. Labor and the Australian Council of Trade Unions had agreed the Prices and Incomes Accord before the 1983 election, and the Hawke government put it into effect. It traded wage restraint for social benefits and a more consensus-based approach to economic management. In December 1983 the government floated the Australian dollar and removed controls on foreign exchange, and it later allowed foreign banks to operate in Australia. Over the following years it cut tariffs, which exposed local industry to competition, and it privatised some government businesses. Medicare, a universal health insurance system, began in February 1984. The government also strengthened ties with Asia, and Hawke helped to start the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 1989.

The Keating government, 1991 to 1996

Paul Keating, who had been Treasurer, became prime minister in December 1991 during a severe recession. Keating won the 1993 election, which many had expected him to lose, against a Coalition campaign built on a goods and services tax. His government supported a stronger Asia-Pacific focus and a compulsory superannuation system, and it responded to the High Court's Mabo decision with the Native Title Act 1993. In December 1992 Keating gave the Redfern speech, which acknowledged the dispossession of Aboriginal people and called for reconciliation. He also supported a republic and set up an advisory committee in 1993.

The Howard government and the 1999 referendum

John Howard won the election of March 1996 and held a Constitutional Convention on the republic in 1998. On 6 November 1999 a referendum asked voters to replace the Queen and the Governor-General with a president appointed by a two-thirds majority of Parliament. It was defeated, with roughly 55 percent voting no and no state returning a majority for yes. Analysts commonly argue that the result reflected a split among republicans over how a president should be chosen, and that many voters were cautious about changing the Constitution.

Interpretation

• Reformist view. The Hawke and Keating reforms made Australia more competitive and set up long economic growth.
• Critical view. Tariff cuts and deregulation harmed some regions and workers and widened inequality.
• Continuity view. The reforms continued the long tradition of state involvement, because the Accord and Medicare were typical of Labor's tradition of combining markets with social protection.

Practice questions

1. Identify two economic reforms introduced by the Hawke government.

Model answer: It floated the Australian dollar in December 1983 and began to reduce tariffs. It also negotiated the Accord with the unions.

2. Explain why the 1999 republic referendum failed.

Model answer: Analysts commonly argue that republicans disagreed about whether the president should be elected by the people or chosen by Parliament, and that some supporters of a republic voted no. Many other voters preferred to keep the existing system.

3. Evaluate the legacy of the Hawke and Keating governments for contemporary Australia.

Model answer: The economic reforms, Medicare and compulsory superannuation remain central to Australian life, and engagement with Asia and recognition of native title shaped later policy. However, debates about inequality and about a republic and Indigenous recognition remain unresolved, as the 2023 Voice referendum showed. A balanced judgement says the legacy is large but contested.