Is John Howard the greatest Australian national hero?

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FFS what's with the names?

Definitely not. We are now beginning to feel the bite of the legacy of Howard's years in office ~ a national infrastructure groaning under the weight of years of neglect, a politicised public service, a fundamental change in the way Australians think about each other, a society rift by divisions ...

Just yesterday my nephew was explaining that the university he attends is closing down a campus rather than spend the necessary amount to repair it. So much for a clever country ~ our kids can't get an education because they can't pay? So where do my taxes go ... oh year, the war on Iraq :-(

All our public services are the same ... run down so much that it will be hard to save them, and who will pay?

Yep, you guessed it ... muggins the taxpayer, while Howard swans around the world on a speaking circuit telling everyone what a great bloke he is, and his private sector mates get richer by the minute.

I am not an anti-Lib, but I am an anti-Howard and would oppose any sort of recognition of him as a 'hero' although I suppose Geoffrey Blainey or Keith Windschuttle will write some sort of revisionist history showing him as Caesar Howard, lol.

Cheers :-)

redoneovakynd

Howard was a suck to the American president as was the English prime minister.

as far as I am concerned he was a weasel and ti was a big mistake to suck up the asses of the politician's in the USA

petedavo

Weary Dunlop is the greatest ANH.

As for the ADF, I think Malcolm Fraser was the last Liberal PM that the ADF would probably say did anything great for them and that was really down to Peter Shack as Minister for Defense.

I think it was Labor PM Hawke who brought the ADF up to the date with F18's and Leopard Tanks at the time. PM Howard only ever bought crap for them like the refurbished sea hawk helicopter.

As for flexing the ADF's muscle. That's debatable, sure we went to the Solomons, Timor Leste, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. But is that really scaring potentially hostile countries in Asia?

As for AUD currency, well we all use plastic credit cards, or debit cards now, so none of us ever get to see the currency, so it doesn't matter who they bung on it now-a-days.

Kevin

No, no, and more no. I'm glad that little monkey man is gone. Let's hope Rudd doesn't suck up to Georgie Bush like Johnny did.

Big Waz from Oz

No he didnt make the economy strong he made it brittle.
No he didnt flex the miltitary... we do have some very good soldiers but not a lot of them.
No he won't be remembered as a hero, he has been forgotten by many already.
No he wont be on our currency.

In Australia you are only ever as good as your last mistake. Johnny got beaten in his last election so he will be remebered as a "loser". Sad but true.

The Silver Foo Dog

If you want a national hero have a look at Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop and the living hell that he went through as a POW on the Burma Railway. Or Nancy Drew and the effort she put in to delaying and beating the Nazi's in WW2. Or General Montash and the rats of Trobrok in hold the (until then) unbeatable Nazi army in Africa for 9 MONTHS.

They are national hero, granted John Howard did some good things to strengthen Australia but he also fu*ked up a lot too. I have more respect of John Curtin and what he did to make sure Australia was not invaded by Japan then I do for John Howard(who I think is a back stabbing little so and so).

To Keade - Rudd has only been in a very short time and so a opinion has yet to be formed but he has made a good start that is true.

FORKY

I'll remember him as a RAT ,a man who put our troops in a place that has nothing to do with us,a man who crawled up Americas Ar$e,a man who lied time and time again and who attacked the Australian working class and other with his IR laws,a man who neglected the environment and gave us the GST..................i say good riddance

strong economy yeah but interest rates at nearly 10% and thousands of people losing their homes what a champ!

insighthere

No he isn't. Firstly he didn't make the economy strong, we did that and we were able to do it thanks to the reforms carried out by the Labor Governments, despite Howard introducing the GST which is a tax on pensioners.
Secondly anyone who trivialises the plight of an indigenous people is not a hero but a coward.
Thirdly Australia wasted billions on crappy aircraft made in the USA because of Howard sucking up to Bush, when we could have had got much better fighter jets elsewhere.
I thank the voters everyday for getting rid of the maniac before he did any more damage.

Catherine

NO!

and his eye brows wont even fit on any money.

jennifer h

Oh dear. Are you Australian ???
He did work hard to achieve personal goals. But he didn't listen to the people,hence he never made it back. The Price of Gold is very high which helps our economy I don't think he achieved that one .He will go down in history as one of our Prime ministers. One who admired President Bush and his policies. Maybe he was a hero in a few peoples minds but I wouldn't think he would ever be known as a national hero or be on our currency.

wotzthepoint?

thanks for the April Fools Gag!

Howard a hero? methinks not!

Hopefully he will slink back under that rock that he crawled out from and never be heard of again!

miss schlonky

Only in his own twisted and egomaniacal geriatric mind could he ever be remembered as a hero.

Yes... he could be remembered on Australian currency - on the final mint production of the 5 cent coin. The 5 cent coin is close to being obsolete, rejected as legal tender in machines, soon to be phased out altogether and the desperately poor still need to save them in their piggy banks. That would be most fitting for him.

Elizabeth

No, in my opinion, John Howard is definitely not the greatest Australian national hero.

If you want to know the truth, he turned the ADF (the Australian military) into a shadow of it's former self.

There are many, many Australians who could claim that title well before John Howard.

molly

No he is a hero in America instead of thanking those that voted for him all those years the first time we see him after the election is in USA attacking the government that we the Australian people choose effectively attacking us can't get much more un-Australian than that.

Also you should study his economic history he was treasurer when interest rates started to rise then Paul Keating set Australia up for economic recovery Howard just reaped the rewards and then spent all the money trying to stay elected.

Spy Guy

NO!! He raised intrest rates, he refused to say sorry to the aboriginals, he was planning to build nuclear plants, he was one of the people to agree with the immigration of Lebanese into Australia, which has caused heaps of racial problems (eg Cronulla Riots) and crime (lebo gangs). Need I say more?

kaede

Kevin Rudd is a good Prime Minister.

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