The Howard Years goes behind the scenes to present the inside story of the Howard Government and examine the legacy of his time in office. The series is told through the words of the key players including John Howard, Peter Costello, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Peter Reith, Alexander Downer, as well as key advisors and public servants.
Fresh from scraping home in the 1998 election, John Howard entered his second term determined to secure his 20-year vision of tax reform. But in his victory speech, the seeds of discontent with his Treasurer were sown and, over the next nine years, would continue to grow.
While he would battle with a hostile Senate over the GST, it was conflict overseas that took Howard's leadership into unchartered territory and brought Australia to the brink of war. Former Indonesian President, B.J. Habibie, reveals how a letter from John Howard spurred him to make a radical decision about the future of East Timor.
Emerging triumphant from the Interfet operation with a new found reputation abroad, at home tensions emerged with his heir apparent, Peter Costello, culminating in the destructive Shane Stone memo.
John Howard demonstrated his acute political antenna by responding to his Government's increasing unpopularity and dramatically changed economic policy to win back disgruntled voters.
Then controversy erupted over the Tampa incident and in a dramatic final twist, we hear for the first time how the Pacific solution was born.
