Our Key Achievements

The Australian Labor Party formed the first National Labor Government in the world more than 100 years ago. Labor Governments have a proud history of reform.

The following timeline outlines the major achievements of each of the Labor Governments.

Watson Labor Government April 1904 – August 1904

First National Labor Government in the world (lasted 4 months), demonstrating that Labor could govern as a party.
Initiated a Royal Commission into coastal navigation which led to significant reforms to and improvements in the working conditions of Australian seamen.

Fisher Labor Government 1908-1909, 1910-1913, 1914-1915

First Federal Labor Government to win an election in its own right.
Legislated for a Commonwealth Bank and issued Australia’s first national banknotes.
Expanded and increased the old age pension.
Introduced a payment to mothers on the birth of a child.
Began the planning of the national capital.
Created the jurisdiction of the Northern Territory.
Began planning of the transcontinental railway.
Formed the Royal Australian Navy.
Legislated for a national worker’s compensation act.
Passed 113 acts in just three years.

Scullin Labor Government 1929-1931

Appointed the first Australian born Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs.
Labor's first native born Prime Minister.
The first Catholic Prime Minister.
Suspended compulsory military training for the first time since World War I.
Increased social service payments for people facing the Great Depression.
Negotiated for the British to reduce Australia's annual interest payments in the Great Depression by £1.6 million, protected jobs.

Curtin Labor Government 1941-1945

Governed Australia during the Second World War, helping secure victory over the Axis forces in Europe and the Pacific.
Achieved full employment for the first time in Australia in order to fight the war.
Laid the basis for the ANZUS relationship by reaching out to the United States during the Second World War.
Introduced the first national system of widows’ pensions and expanded the child endowment.
Increased pensions for invalids.
Began funding public hospitals for the first time.
Increased soldier’s pay and allowances.
Introduced a centralised and uniform income tax system.
Laid the foundations of Australia’s post-war reconstruction policies.

Chifley Labor Government 1945-1949

Opened Australia to a new wave of immigration, significantly boosting Australia’s population.
Secured a major change in the Commonwealth Constitution to give the Federal Government power over social services.
Introduced legislation to create a public health system, paving the way for the creation of Medibank and subsequently Medicare in the 1970s and 1980s.
Created a government owned Airline ‘Trans Australian airlines’.
Began building the Snowy Hydro Electricity Scheme.
Legislated for the construction of the Australian National University.
Created a fully independent Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Assisted many former Asian colonies achieve independence through the United Nations.
Played a major role in writing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the efforts of then UN President HV Evatt.
Invested in the creation of the Holden motor company, Australia’s first car company.
Significantly invested in affordable housing for returned soldiers and the less fortunate.
Increased investment in education and social security.
Waged a campaign to rid Australia of Tuberculosis.

Whitlam Labor Government 1972-1975

Withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam and ended conscription of Australian youths.
Legislated for free and universal tertiary education.
Legislated for the introduction of Medibank, a precursor to a universal public health system.
Invested in urban infrastructure providing sewerage and running water to many Australian homes.
Introduced the Commonwealth Land Rights Act, which gave Indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and the power of veto over mining and development on those lands.
Opened Australian relations with China.
Dissolved the White Australia policy and expanded Australia’s program of immigration.
Formally protested against the South African apartheid regime.
Increased the aged pension.
Introduced the Racial Discrimination Act.
Greatly increased the rights for women and minority groups in Australia.

Hawke Labor Government 1983 - 1991

Legislated for a universal public health system known as Medicare.
Reformed Australia’s industrial relations, trade and fiscal systems, opening Australia to competition on the world stage.
Created the Prices and Incomes Accord with the trade union movement to reform the economy whilst maintaining Australia’s high standard of living.
Increased the investment into housing, health and education of indigenous Australians.
Intervened in Tasmania to protect the Franklin River from damming, transforming the way governments perceived environmental issues.
Played an activist role in foreign affair, including a major role in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Led international efforts to protect Antarctica from mining and exploitation.
Reformed the tertiary education system, making it accessible to many Australians.
Introduced the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, providing security for women in the workforce and paving the way for further anti-discrimination legislation.

Keating Labor Government 1991 - 1996

Set Australia on the path towards reconciliation with its indigenous population.
Promoted the cause of Aboriginal land rights and reconciliation.
Continued the economic reforms begun under the Hawke Government.
Helped to create the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum (APEC).
Introduced Australia's national superannuation scheme which has secured retirement savings for millions of Australians and is recognised as one of the best savings schemes in the world.
Created Australia's first national training authority ensuring greater consistency in Australia's skills qualifications and assisting to modenrise the economy.
Recognised native title through the historic Mabo legislation.
Pushed for a republic so that an Australian could become the head of state and Australia could continue down the path of an independent nation.
Improved Sex Discrimination provisions and boosted legislative protections for Australia's unique endangered species.

Rudd Labor Government November 2007 - Current

Over the last 2 years, the Rudd Government has been working hard to build Australia’s future. Here are some highlights.

Acting decisively to support jobs, tradespeople and small businesses during the worst global recession in 75 years;
Investing in more than 28,000 nation-building infrastructure projects that are underway now – supporting jobs today while building the infrastructure we need for tomorrow, including rail, roads, ports, broadband, clean energy projects and the largest school building program in Australia’s history;
Funding a 35 percent increase in GP training places to address a shortage of GPs, especially in regional and rural areas;
Funding 1000 new nurse training places nationwide to ensure patients get the care they deserve;
Investing in new cancer research and treatment centres;
Building Trades Training Centres in our high schools;
Creating 130,000 new training places;
Granting 290,000 new computers for schools;
Abolishing WorkChoices and replacing it with the Fair Work Act to build a fair and balanced industrial relations system for all Australians;
Taking action on climate change by: ratifying the Kyoto Protocol; supporting investment in solar, wind and alternative energy sources; and developing a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that puts a cap on carbon pollution, that will make polluters pay and that compensates working families and helps them to become more energy efficient and save money;
Establishing a single national school curriculum with a focus on the basics: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic;
Withdrawing troops from Iraq;
Tax cuts for working families;
Maintaining strong Government finances with Australia retaining its AAA Credit Rating;
Helping secure our urban water supplies by providing funding to help build desalination, water recycling & stormwater harvesting projects in our major cities & towns;
To restore the health of the Murray-Darling Water System we are implementing the Water for the Future Plan, including the first ever purchase of water entitlements by the Federal Government;
Establishing a 50 percent tax refund for working families on key educational expenses like laptops, stationery and school text books; and
Building a National Broadband Network to ensure Australian businesses have the communication infrastructure necessary to compete with other countries in our region which have broadband – NBN will deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of homes, schools and workplaces.