Sometimes politicians overstay their welcome, and that seems to have been the case with John Howard. The Australian leader lost the premiership Saturday and, if projections are right, he may suffer the further ignominy of losing his seat in Parliament. It’s an embarrassing shove into retirement for a leader who, in 11 1/2 years in office, has revived his country’s economy and enhanced its place in the world.
At home, the Howard government reformed welfare, balanced the national budget, trimmed taxes, freed labor markets, privatized the national telecom provider, and confirmed the central bank’s independence. Unemployment is now at 33-year lows, and growth remained steady through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the SARS panic and the recent credit crunch. The economy is forecast to grow by more than 4% this year. Business investment remains strong.
…On Saturday, his Liberals suffered one of the biggest incumbent defeats since World War II. Voters in democracies sometimes tire of even popular and successful leaders — think Churchill after the war — and Australians will now get the chance to see if the “change” they’ve endorsed is for the better.
<more>
Recent Comments