Editing Paul Keating (section)

===1993 and 1996 elections===
[[File:PaulKeating1993.jpg|thumb|upright|Keating at the [[White House]] in 1993]]

As prime minister, Keating maintained his aggressive debating style. When asked by [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Opposition Leader]] [[John Hewson]] why he would not call an early election, Keating replied, "because I want to do you slowly." He referred to the [[Australian Liberal Party|Liberal Party]] as "a motley, dishonest crew", and the [[Australian National Party|National Party]] as "dummies and dimwits; desperadoes". During an opposition debate that sought to censure Keating, he described being attacked by [[Peter Costello]] as "like being flogged with warm lettuce". Despite this renewed attack on the Opposition, and a busy legislative agenda, many commentators predicted that the [[1993 Australian federal election|1993 election]] was "unwinnable" for Labor.<ref>Dyster, B., & Meredith, D., ''Australia in the Global Economy'', Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 309</ref>

During the campaign, Keating focused a great amount of effort on attacking the Coalition's proposed [[Goods and Services Tax (Australia)|goods and services tax]] (GST), arguing that it would prove "a dead weight" on the economy, and stating that "every time you put your hand in your pocket, [[John Hewson|Dr. Hewson's]] will be in there with you". He was helped by Hewson struggling towards the end of the campaign to [[Birthday cake interview|explain exactly which products]] would have the GST levied on them, and which would not. Having begun the campaign far behind the Coalition in opinion polls, on 13 March Keating led Labor to an unexpected and record-breaking [[1993 Australian federal election|fifth consecutive election victory]], picking up a two-seat swing. The speech Keating delivered at the victory celebration has been described as one of the great Labor speeches.<ref>Bramston, Troy. (2012). ''For The True Believers: Great Labor Speeches that Shaped History''. Federation Press. {{ISBN|9781862878310}}.</ref><ref>Warhaft, Sarah. (7 August 2004). "The power of speech – Talking Point", ''The Age'', p8.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gordon|first=Michael|title=A True Believer: Paul Keating|year=1996|publisher=University of Queensland Press|isbn=0702229407|page=257}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Gahan|first=Peter|title=Solidarity Forever? The 1993 ACTU Congress|journal=The Journal of Industrial Relations|date=December 1993|volume=35|issue=4|page=607|doi=10.1177/002218569303500406|s2cid=153901163}}</ref> Opening with "This is a victory for the true believers; the men and women of Australia who, in difficult times, have kept the faith", the speech has been described as providing a source of inspiration for Labor Party faithful to the present day.<ref>[[Don Watson|Watson, Don]]. (6 May 2002) "[https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/05/1019441460858.html The Keating we never knew] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629074205/https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/05/1019441460858.html |date=29 June 2018 }}", ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 31 December 2014.</ref>

Like Hawke before him, Keating was able to benefit from disunity in the Liberal Party. Fourteen months after the March 1993 election, John Hewson was replaced as Liberal Leader by [[Alexander Downer]], whose leadership was quickly marred by gaffes and controversies within months. Keating routinely succeeded in outwitting Downer within Parliament, and in early 1995, Downer resigned to be replaced by [[John Howard]], who had previously led the Liberals from 1985 to 1989. Howard was able to give the Coalition renewed momentum after Labor lost the seat of [[Division of Canberra|Canberra]] in a [[1995 Canberra by-election|by-election]]. In contrast to Hewson, Howard adopted a "small target" campaign strategy for the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 election]], publicly committing to keep numerous Labor reforms such as [[Medicare (Australia)|Medicare]], and defusing the republic issue by promising to hold a [[Constitutional Convention (Australia)|constitutional convention]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/133338929?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FC%2Ftitle%2F11%2F1995%2F02%2F28%2Fpage%2F14181026%2Farticle%2F133338929|title=Dazzling Meteor That Disappeared|author=Norman Abjorensen|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=28 February 1995|access-date=28 June 2022|archive-date=1 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201113043/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/133338929?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FC%2Ftitle%2F11%2F1995%2F02%2F28%2Fpage%2F14181026%2Farticle%2F133338929|url-status=live}}</ref> This combined with a narrative of "time for a change" led to a heavy defeat for the Keating government on 2 March 1996, suffering a five percent [[two party preferred]] swing and losing 29 seats, making it the second-worst defeat of a sitting government in Australian history. Keating announced he would retire as Labor Leader and from Parliament, and tendered his resignation as prime minister on 11 March, 13 years to the day after [[Bob Hawke]] had first taken office.<ref name="naa_afteroffice">{{cite web |publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]] |url=https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/paul-keating/after-office |title=Paul Keating: after office |work=Australia's Prime Ministers |access-date=16 October 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201114716/https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/paul-keating/after-office |url-status=live }}</ref>