leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply a spill) is a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (leader and deputy leader in ...

of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP), the party of government in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

, was held on 19 December 1991, the second spill in a year. Backbencher and former

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

defeated

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

, who had led Labor for eight and a half years.

Background

Bob Hawke had been leader of the Labor Party since 3 February 1983, and

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

since the 1983 election, with Labor winning a record four elections under his leadership. The unexpectedly close win at the 1990 election, coupled with the deepening

economic recession An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, fuelled tensions within the government over economic policy, resulting in a breakdown of Hawke and Keating's previous "close cooperation". A re-energised Liberal opposition led by

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson w ...

, a qualified economist, gained ground in the opinion polls. Hawke had alienated key NSW Right powerbroker

Graham Richardson Graham Frederick Richardson (born 27 September 1949) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a Cabinet Minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He is c ...

in late 1990 by denying him the transport and communications portfolio, causing Richardson to support Keating as a leadership alternative, before bluntly telling Hawke he no longer had the support of the Right. He also reneged on an agreement with Paul Keating, known as the Kirribilli agreement, that he would hand over the leadership to him following the 1990 election. On 3 June 1991, Keating challenged for the leadership, but lost in a 66-44 vote and moved to the

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

. By late 1991, Hawke's public support continued to decline as the Australian economy showed no signs of recovering from the recession and the opposition Liberals launched their Fightback! economic policy, without strong response from Hawke. The final straw was when Hawke sacked Keating's successor as treasurer,

John Kerin John Charles Kerin (21 November 1937 – 29 March 2023) was an Australian economist and Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial r ...

for his perceived communication weaknesses in early December. Keating supporters began a campaign to undermine Hawke's leadership.

Candidates

, incumbent leader,

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

, member for Wills *

, former

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

, former

, member for Blaxland

Result

The following table gives the ballot results: Keating's second challenge was a success: he defeated Hawke by 56 votes to 51. Keating said Hawke had gone missing for four of his eight years as prime minister and had to be propped up by him. Foreign Minister Gareth Evans was unable to attend the second ballot as he was overseas. Evans, a Hawke supporter, was one of three Caucus members who could not vote on this spill. The others were another Hawke supporter

Con Sciacca Concetto Antonio Sciacca (13 June 1947 – 21 June 2017) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party and member of the Australian House of Representatives from July 1987 to March 1996 and again from October 1998 to October 2004 ...

, as he was with his dying son, and Keating supporter Jim Snow.Kelly, Paul (1992), The End of Certainty: The story of the 1980s (paperback), Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin Therefore if all three were in attendance Keating would still have won but with a vote of 57-53.

Aftermath

Hawke resigned from Parliament shortly after losing the leadership, which resulted in Labor losing his seat to an Independent at the following

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1991 12 Australian Labor Party leadership spill Australian Labor Party leadership spills Keating government Australian Labor Party leadership spill Labor Party leadership spill Labor Party leadership spill

Background

Candidates

Result

Aftermath

See also

References