Editing Paul Keating (section)

===Macroeconomic reforms===
[[File:ABC Dollar Float.ogv|thumb|right|[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] report on the first day of trading with a floating Australian dollar]]
Keating used the authority and relative autonomy provided to him by Hawke to become one of the major driving forces behind the various extensive [[macroeconomic]] reforms of the Government.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cart Before the Horse? Australian Exchange Rate Policy and Economic Reform in the 1980s|first=Kieron|last=Toner|publisher=Earlybrave Publications|date=2000}}</ref> In December 1983, Hawke and Keating approved the [[Floating exchange rate|floating]] of the [[Australian dollar]], disregarding advice from the [[Department of the Treasury (Australia)|Treasury Secretary]] [[John Stone (Australian politician)|John Stone]] to retain the fixed currency framework.<ref>{{cite news|title=The dollar floats free|work=[[The Age]]|first1=Russell|last1=Barton|first2=Simon|last2=Holberton|date=10 December 1983|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Why we had to float the dollar|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=10 December 1983|page=12}}</ref> The success of the move, which was lauded by economic and media commentators, gave confidence to Keating to pursue even more reforms.<ref>{{cite news|title=Keen observers of the dollar's float|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=J.N.|last=Pierce|date=15 December 1983|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/jericho-floating-the-dollar-was-worth-the-pain/5118028|title=Floating the dollar was worth the pain|work=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|first=Greg|last=Jericho|date=28 November 2013|access-date=1 December 2013|archive-date=1 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131201071505/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/jericho-floating-the-dollar-was-worth-the-pain/5118028|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-long-road-that-led-to-the-floating-of-the-australian-dollar-20141121-11ra30|title=The long road that led to the floating of the Australian dollar|work=[[Australian Financial Review]]|first=Selwyn|last=Cornish|date=21 November 2014|access-date=27 November 2014|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116185737/https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-long-road-that-led-to-the-floating-of-the-australian-dollar-20141121-11ra30|url-status=live}}</ref> Over the Hawke government's first and second terms, Keating oversaw the gradual elimination of [[tariff]]s on imports,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-day-that-protectionism-died-in-australia-20031206-gdwvtc.html|title=The day that protectionism died in Australia|newspaper=[[The Age]]|date=6 December 2003|access-date=12 January 2014|archive-date=23 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323200439/http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-day-that-protectionism-died-in-australia-20031206-gdwvtc.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the privatisation of several state-owned companies such as [[Qantas]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cabinet-archives-199293-keatings-department-wanted-to-sell-royal-australian-mint-20161228-gtirvw.html|title=Cabinet archives 1992-93: Paul Keating's department wanted to sell Royal Australian Mint|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Markus|last=Mannheim|date=1 January 2017|access-date=3 January 2017|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916125527/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cabinet-archives-199293-keatings-department-wanted-to-sell-royal-australian-mint-20161228-gtirvw.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[CSL Limited]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/DP4_8.pdf|title=The privatisation of CSL Limited|publisher=[[The Australia Institute]]|first1=Clive|last1=Hamilton|first2=John|last2=Quiggin|date=June 1995|access-date=16 September 2021|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220003336/https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/DP4_8.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Commonwealth Bank]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Otchere|first1=Isaac|last2=Chan|first2=Janus|date=2003|title=Intra-industry effects of bank privatization: A clinical analysis of the privatization of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia|journal=Journal of Banking & Finance|volume=27|issue=5|pages=949–975|doi=10.1016/S0378-4266(02)00242-X}}</ref> the deregulation of significant sections of the banking system (including allowing for numerous foreign-owned banks to begin operating in Australia for the first time) and the granting of autonomy on decision-making to the [[Reserve Bank of Australia]].

Keating was also instrumental in establishing the Hawke government's signature industrial relations and wages policy, the [[Prices and Incomes Accord]]. This was an agreement directly between the [[Australian Council of Trade Unions]] (ACTU) and the Government to guarantee a reduction in demands for wage increases, in exchange for the Government providing a significant increase in social programmes, including the introduction of [[Medicare (Australia)|Medicare]] and the Family Assistance Scheme; in so doing, the Government was able to reduce inflation and unemployment over the decade.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hawke government: A Critical Retrospective|first1=Susan|last1=Ryan|first2=Troy|last2=Bramston|publisher=Pluto Press Australia|date=2003}}</ref> Keating's management of the Accord, and the close working relationship he developed with ACTU Secretary [[Bill Kelty]], became a source of significant political power for Keating, who negotiated multiple versions of the Accord with Kelty throughout the Hawke government. Through the power given to him, Keating was often able to bypass the Cabinet altogether, notably in exercising monetary policy, and he was regularly referred to as "the most powerful Treasurer in modern times".<ref name="Kelly-1994">{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Kelly (journalist)|title=The End of Certainty: Power, Politics, and Business in Australia|year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKXBgmYeO2QC|access-date=5 October 2007|publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]]|isbn=1-86373-757-X|archive-date=20 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220054908/https://books.google.com/books?id=EKXBgmYeO2QC|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the wake of the raft of macroeconomic reforms introduced by Keating throughout the first term of the Hawke government in particular, in 1984 he was awarded the [[Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europeanspeakers.com/orateurs-keating.htm |title=SPEAKER ORATEUR: HON. PAUL J KEATING |publisher=European Speakers Bureau |access-date=2007-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205013103/http://www.europeanspeakers.com//orateurs-keating.htm |archive-date=2008-12-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref> an award which became colloquially known in Australia as the "World's Greatest Treasurer", becoming the first Australian treasurer to be presented with the award.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/let-the-gongs-sound-for-the-worlds-greatest-treasurer-20090615-casq.html|title=Let the gongs sound for the world's greatest treasurer|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Alex|last=Millmow|date=16 June 2009|access-date=12 July 2012|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916125527/https://www.smh.com.au/business/let-the-gongs-sound-for-the-worlds-greatest-treasurer-20090615-casq.html|url-status=live}}</ref>