Is John Howard A Prime Minister of Australia for Life?

[jankren]

Seriously, this dude John Howard as far as I remember was already the Prime Minister when I was a little kid. And now about 20 years later he is still holding the throne of Australia. So is he some kind of Australian Il Duce or what?

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

Seriously, this dude John Howard as far as I remember was already the Prime Minister when I was a little kid. And now about 20 years later he is still holding the throne of Australia. So is he some kind of Australian Il Duce or what?

Umm, he's been Prime Minister since 1996. That means he's only been PM for 11 years. That makes him the second longest serving PM in Australian history (after Bob Menzies - PM for 16 years) but he's hardly been a PM for life. He's won four consecutive elections largely thanks to (i) racist scare campaigns, (ii) incompetent opposition leaders and (iii) pure luck. In 2001 he was set to be utterly defeated until 9/11 came along and he milked the "Muslims under the bed" angle enough to squeak over the line.

IF he wins the election this weekend he says he'll retire 18 months into his term, so that will mean he'll be PM for 12.5 years. The way the polls and the campaign are looking, however, there's a very good chance the voters will kick him into the gutter in two days time. There's even a chance he'll not only lose the election but will also lose his own seat.

Now that would be an fitting end to the career of an amoral lying political rat!

[demos]

I would say something, but the good bloke above's summed it up pretty accurately, as always

The only thing that could save the scumbag now is a terrorist attack on australian soil, and even that might not be enough, considering that many people are putting two and two together and realising that invading iraq didn't exactly decrease the amount of terrorist activity we're exposed to...

[jankren]

Well apparently my memory is wrong. But still 11 years is a long time. What is the term limit for a Prime Minister in Australia?

[sapi]

There is none, as the PM is not an executive office per se but the leader of the majority party in parliament.

[Erebus Pasha]

The thing I'll remember most about John Howard is his face when he handed over the Rugby World Cup Trophy to Martin Johnson in 2003. Now that was funny.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

The thing I'll remember most about John Howard is his face when he handed over the Rugby World Cup Trophy to Martin Johnson in 2003. Now that was funny.

Yep - a gracious loser is one of many things that the Lying Rodent is not. Wait until you see his face on Saturday night ...

[Exarch]

ur rite on the money thunder,
i wont be votin libs come tomorrow thats for sure,
that work choices crap really took the cake, he's bascially sold australia's soul for the sake of big bizness. he's been trying to turn oz into another america with all of its crappy working cond'ns etc

[Last Roman]

america with all of its crappy working cond'ns etc

crappy working conditions? I have no real complaints.

[jankren]

By the way, can you be a Prime Minister For Life in Britain, too?

And this is very off topic but can you not be an English and become a British Prime Minister?

[Medicus]

God, I can only hope not...

If Howard wins again, I'm going into solitary confinement, with only a computer and internet access, and I'll emerge three years lately to a hopefully Labor government.

[removeduser_487563287433]

What a bitterly ironic thread.

[Tom Paine]

What a bitterly ironic thread.

Irony is the perfect term, yes.

I mean come on. Bad timing...

Mr Howard, who had been bidding for a fifth term in office, conceded the national election and accepted it was "very likely" he would also be defeated in his Bennelong constituency.

If unseated, the 68-year-old would be only the second prime minister in Australia's history to suffer such a fate.

[Exarch]

will john howard be PM for life?
we'll soon see tomorrow^_^
in fact come sunday/monday afterwards i'm thinking of enjoying a beer outside kirribilli house while he packs his :wub: face outta the compound
any1 in?

[LoZz]

no term limit in OZ?

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

no term limit in OZ?

No. Any party can continue to govern so long as they have a majority in the House of Representatives and their leader has been asked to form a Government by the Governor General. The Prime Minister is simply the leader of the party that forms Government. So just as there's no limit on the number of times a party can form Government, there's no limit on how long a PM can stay PM. So long as his party still wants him, the leader of the party in power stays PM.

This is a cobbled together solution to the fact that the office of Prime Minister isn't even mentioned in the Australian Constitution. That's yet another reason why that antiquated document needs to be brought up to date, which we'll do when we get rid of the Monarchy and other Constitutional anachronisms.

[Exarch]

john howard is now a nobody
serves him right

[Medicus]

john howard is now a nobody
serves him right

A nobody? He was PM for 11 and a half years, as well as suffering one of the worst election defeats in this nation's history. Gotta love Australia.

[Exarch]

he's a nobody now cuz he's also lsot his eat at bennelong
his career in politics is over in the most humiliating way
ah, schadenfreude is good in this case; a PM who's found justification in lying to the oz ppl-wtf is a non-core promise?!, a PM who's benefited from keating economic policies and claimed credit for them

[Icefrisco]

Yay! Howard is gone!