Posted on 03/05/2006 8:18:22 PM PST by RWR8189
SYDNEY--Australia celebrated 10 years of conservative government this week under its seemingly indestructible prime minister, John Howard. Amid a flurry of tributes, toasts and spotlights that blanketed the nightly news here, Mr. Howard did little more than say he's "still surprised" to be in office, and smile. Somewhere, Ronald Reagan is smiling along with him.
Like the Gipper, Mr. Howard has fundamentally reshaped Australian society through economic reform. When elected in March 1996, the plain-talking Aussie pledged lower taxes, privatization and labor market change. A political veteran who'd been defeated in national votes before, he vowed his government wouldn't "be a pale imitation" of the Labor leadership it replaced. What an understatement.
As a result, the Lucky Country is, well, luckier today than it's ever been. Over Mr. Howard's tenure, Australia has experienced an enormously stable and robust economic boom. The Sydney stock market's capitalization has swung skyward. The central bank was granted independence and promptly brought average inflation down to around 2.5%. Employment picked up. Australians now feel a renewed confidence that strongly echoes America's vibes under Mr. Reagan in the boisterous 1980s.
All of this wealth creation has come from common sense, something Aussies seem to acquire at birth. If you give businesses the freedom to make decisions about wages, prices and employment, they'll respond rationally, Mr. Howard's government reasoned. If you encourage healthy competition among firms, only the best will prosper. If you make your citizens shareholders, they'll have a personal stake in companies' success, and productivity will soar. More Australians today own stock than are members of labor unions, thanks to Mr. Howard's reforms. That's what I'd call an ownership society, and that's why Australia's economic success is likely to continue after Mr. Howard has left office.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
10 years of John Howard - and the best is yet to come!
Hey AD do you think John Howard go does as Aussie greatest PM or am I pushing here LOL!
I think he goes down Austraila version of President Reagan one that turn his political party around LOL!
John Howard is far and away our best ever PM.
It's not a stretch to describe him as the Antipodean Ronald Reagan: they used to laugh at both. "They" were proved very, very wrong.
I think John Howard go does not as your country greatest PM but probably main leaders on war on terror when history is written
Dubya going be visonary
Blair going be couregous
I think John Howard goes down like those two men
Going be Team of Howard, Blair and Bush you hear in future history books when final history written for 21th century war on terror
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