The Australian government has seemed to be in trouble over the last few years.
For those outside Australia for many decades the politics of Australia went very much unnoticed, but over the last few years the Aussie power struggles and personality clash has brought a lot more attention to the government of those Down Under.
Let’s take a look at those who have been in charge since the year 2000.
John Howard was Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007.
In January 2008, Howard signed with a prominent speaking agency called the Washington Speakers Bureau, joining Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and others. The Australian and New Zealand cricket boards unsuccessfully nominated Howard as their candidate for president of the International Cricket Council.Howard is currently the chairman of the International Democrat Union, a body of international conservative political parties and in 2008 was appointed a director of the foundation established to preserve the legacy of Donald Bradman.
Howard’s autobiography Lazarus Rising: A Personal and Political Autobiography was released on 26 October 2010
Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010
n 23 June 2010, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Rudd’s Chief of Staff, Alister Jordan, had talked to over half of the Labor caucus to gauge the level of Rudd’s support within the party. This followed significant media speculation that his deputy, Julia Gillard, would challenge him for the leadership. Late that evening, after it became clear that Rudd had lost the support of a large number of Labor MPs, Gillard publicly requested that Rudd hold a leadership election as soon as possible. Rudd subsequently announced a leadership election for 24 June, saying that he would stand.
Julia Goddard was Prime Minister from 2010 to 2013
Following her defeat in the leadership vote on 26 June 2013, Gillard congratulated the winner Kevin Rudd and announced that she would immediately tender her resignation as Prime Minister to the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce.] She also announced, in keeping with her pledge before the leadership vote, that she would not re-contest her seat of Lalor at the upcoming election, and thus would retire from politics. Her resignation as Prime Minister took effect the following day, upon the swearing in of Rudd
Kevin Rudd was back again as Prime Minister from 2013 for three months.
Tony Abbot was Prime Minister from 2013 to 2015
On 14 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull, the Minister for Communications, resigned and stated his intention to challenge the Liberal Party leadership in a leadership spill. Turnbull stated that Abbott “was not capable of providing the economic leadership we need” and that the Liberal Party needs a “style of leadership that respects the people’s intelligence”.A party-room meeting held that evening saw Abbott defeated by Turnbull on a 54-44 vote.
Abbott’s final speech as Prime Minister on 15 September did not address his political future.[165] However, he announced the next day that he would remain in Parliament
Malcolm Turnbull is the new Prime Minister of Australia as of posting.