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The Howard effect: Australia’s sliding doors moment

It was March 2, 1996. After 13 years of Labor in power, Paul Keating’s government had been defeated in a landslide, closing the door on the Hawke-Keating era and opening another on a new political age.

John Howard’s victory marked the beginning of a prime ministership that would run for 11 years – redefining the Liberal Party, reshaping the economy, hardening the culture wars and changing the way power is exercised in Canberra.

In this three-part series, Amy Remeikis – contributing editor at The New Daily – takes us back to Howard’s years in power.

Remeikis has just released a new book on Howard, Where It All Went Wrong: The Case Against John Howard. In this series she traces his improbable rise to the prime ministership, the way he consolidated power, and how he reshaped the nation in his own image.

This is part one of a three-part series.

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