2nd Mar 2016, 4:37 PM – Senate Motions — Howard Government

The majority voted against Labor senator Anne McEwen's motion that the Senate remember the legacy of the Liberal Howard Government, which she described negatively. The Liberal senator Scott Ryan opposed the motion, saying that the Howard Government's legacy was good.

Wording of the motion

That the Senate—

(a) notes that 2 March 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the election of the Howard Government in 1996;

(b) recalls the record of the Howard Government, including:

(i) dogs on the waterfront,

(ii) the false claim that children of asylum seekers had been thrown overboard,

(iii) committing Australia to the war in Iraq on a false premise,

(iv) refusing to sign the Kyoto protocol,

(v) regional rorts,

(vi) wheat for weapons,

(vii) the absence of economic reform,

(viii) failing to support the transition of Australia to a republic,

(ix) refusing to say sorry to Indigenous Australians for past wrongs,

(x) its 10 point plan to amend native title legislation following the Wik decision,

(xi) spending over $1 billion on government advertising,

(xii) WorkChoices, and

(xiii) the erosion of decent standards in our public affairs; and

(c) calls on all Australians not to forget the legacy of the Howard Government and its contribution to public policy in this country.