A Kirribilli agreement (or Kirribilli deal), in
Australian politics, is an agreement, typically confidential, between a leader and their deputy for the handing over of power on the satisfaction of an agreed precondition.
HawkeKeating
The term was first used to describe an
agreement made in November 1988 between
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 ...
, and his
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 ...
, which was effected at
Kirribilli House
Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the prime minister of Australia. Located in the Northern Sydney suburb of , New South Wales, the cottage and its associated grounds are located at the far eastern end of Kirribilli Avenue. ...
. Hawke agreed that he would resign in favour of Keating at an unspecified time after the
1990 election but before the subsequent election. On Keating's insistence, this undertaking was witnessed by
ACTU Secretary Bill Kelty and businessman
Sir Peter Abeles; both were mutual friends of Hawke and Keating. After securing a fourth term in March 1990, Hawke
reneged on the agreement in January 1991 following a "treacherous" speech by Keating, called the ''
Placido Domingo Placido may refer to:
People Surname
*José Plácido de Castro (1873–1908), Brazilian soldier and politician
*Michele Placido, (born 1946) Italian actor and director
* Plácido Vega y Daza, (1830-1878) 19th century Mexican general and politician ...
speech'', delivered to the
National Press Club in December 1990 which belittled Hawke's leadership. Keating resigned as Treasurer in June 1991 and challenged Hawke for the
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 ...
ship. Although this initial challenge failed, he challenged Hawke a second time in December 1991 and won.
HowardCostello
Whilst still in opposition,
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
reached a similar agreement with
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...
in December 1994 which was witnessed by the Liberal MP
Ian McLachlan. McLachlan reported that Howard agreed, if
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
resigned and Howard became leader and subsequently Prime Minister after 1996, that he would hand over the leadership to Costello after one and a half terms. Howard reported that the meeting took place but that no exact deal was struck. After Howard became Prime Minister, approaching his 64th birthday and after two and a half terms in 2003, he asserted his intention to stay on as leader. Costello made several public statements that did little to hide his distemper at the decision.
After the
2004 election, Costello did not exercise his right to challenge for the leadership. Speculation throughout 2005 saw multiple
cabinet ministers begin to be mentioned as possible successors to Howard, including
Brendan Nelson
Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is an Australian business leader, physician and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European ...
,
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
,
Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
and
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
; of the four, Downer had already been Liberal leader and the remaining three would all serve as Liberal leader in the future. Costello fuelled speculation that he would challenge Howard for the leadership in 2006, but Howard ultimately remained Prime Minister and Costello Treasurer up to the
2007 election, where Howard lost his seat of
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813) was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia. Bennelong served as an interlocutor between ...
and his government was defeated. Costello declined to assume the leadership, even after Howard endorsed him as his successor.
Other usage
The term has also been applied in various
Australian state
The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...
political environments including with
Colin Barnett and
Troy Buswell and with
Mike Nahan and
Liza Harvey in
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
; with
Peter Beattie and
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...
in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
; and in sport.
[
]
See also
* Granita pact, a similar deal between Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
and Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
for the prime ministership of the United Kingdom
References
{{Politics of Australia, state=autocollapse
Political terminology in Australia
Howard government
Bob Hawke
Keating government
Kirribilli