Howard was a member of the House of Representatives from 1974 to 2007, representing the Division of Bennelong, New South Wales. He served as Treasurer in the Fraser government of from 1977 to 1983. He was Leader of the Liberal Party and Coalition Opposition from 1985 to 1989, which included the 1987 federal election against Bob Hawke. He was re-elected as Leader of the Opposition in 1995.

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SunWorth Development Group, a joint venture between Bestsun (Baichuan) Energy Group and Southworth International unveiled the master plan of the 30 square kilometer, technologically advanced eco/green city that is located just south of Beijing’s 7th Ring Road near Langfang, China.

SunWorth received approval from the Chinese government for the unprecedented city development, including a world-class theme park and luxury goods exhibition center. The exhibition center is designed as the world’s largest, having over 1.3 million square meters and will accommodate up to 1 million visitors per day when it is fully functional. The government has invested billions of dollars toward regional infrastructure in Hebei province in recent years. The region, referred to as the Beijing-Tianjin Growth Corridor is part of an aggressive government agenda to accommodate the anticipated population transition of nearly 300 million people from poverty to middle class over the next 20 years.

Mr. Howard stated, “I am very pleased that Langfang is taking a leadership position in developing smart city technology. This is an outstanding opportunity to build a new city from the ground-up with wired and eco-green technology that will pave the way for cities of the future around the world.”

Strategically located just outside Beijing, the new city is approximately four miles from the site of the new Capital Airport currently being built to accommodate the growing air traffic in Beijing. When completed in 2016, the new airport will be the largest international airport in the world with eight active runways, bringing travelers within two hours flying time to most major regional markets such as Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai. An existing high-speed train crosses the eastern boundary of the city as it runs from Beijing to Tianjin. A complete transportation hub including subway, train, bus and airport shuttles will connect Wei Lai with Beijing and Tianjin, providing easy commuter access.

About SunWorth

SunWorth Development Group is a joint venture of Bestsun Energy Group, a privately held natural gas transmission company located in Langfang, China, and Southworth International, a global investment company with offices in Salt Lake City, Utah and China.

Source http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-howard-former-prime-minister-of-australia-speaks-at-unveiling-of-worlds-most-technologically-advanced-eco-green-city-in-langfang-china-122219583.html

When Howard became Prime Minister, he worked on a number of policies including:

A government legislation restricting indigenous’ people’s access to leasehold lands and  authenticate leaseholder title.

A legislation replacing industry-wide agreements on work conditions and wages with agreements between employers and individual workers.

The ‘work for dole’ scheme which linked a recipient’s willingness to work and his unemployment relief.

The establishment of a part-elected, part-appointed convention on the subject of Australia being converted to a republic. The body then submitted a referendum about the subject in November of 1999. The referendum, however, together with a proposal to add a Preamble to the country’s constitution, was not approved.

Environmental protection funding by privatizing Telstra, a communications corporation partially owned by the government. In June 1999, the Senate approved the sale of 49.9% of the said company.

Taxation system reform via the introduction of consumption tax, also known as GST or ‘Goods and Services’ Tax. This legislation was then accepted by the senate in June of 1999.

A focus on regional and domestic security which included an increased funding for aviation, border security, maritime security and intelligence agencies.

Free trade agreement negotiations with the U.S. I 2004, as well as the pursuit of a more close economic agreement with Asia Pacific countries.

Establishment of government bodies to work on resolving the problem of prolonged and severe drought in the country.

Howard’s position as Prime Minister ended in the election of November 2007, when the Labor Party (under the leadership of Kevin Rudd) defeated Howard’s Coalition.

John Howard’s government career started after being elected into the House of Representatives in the 1974 elections. Following his election, he then became a Liberal member for the Bennelong Sidney seat. In December of 1975, Howard became a Minister for the first time, and took responsibility for consumers affairs and business. He held the position for two years and then changed job responsibilities when he served as the  Prime Minister’s assistant. He later became the Minister for Special Trade Negotiation and Treasurer. He serves as Treasurer for over five years until 1983.

In the next 13 years, Howard worked under the shadow ministry. For 2 years, he served as Deputy Leader for the Liberal Party and Shadow Treasurer. He then replaced Andrew Peacock as the Opposition’s Leader on September 1985.  Because of the change in the opposition’s leadership, as well as the  rivalry between Peacock and Howard,  the rise of a new group of supporters began. These supporters believed in the ‘economic rationalist’ philosophy (‘dry’ ideology) within the Liberal Party. It came to a point where these ‘dry’ ideology supporters became more dominant than those who were supporters of the ‘wet’ ideology (group of people who were more focused on issues like social justice and other minor liberal concerns).

Howard led the Liberal political party in the 1987 election, where they lost. He continued to be in that position for 2 more years, then was replaced by Peacock in 1989. In 1995, at a time when the Liberal party was in disorder, Howard became Leader again. Under his leadership, the opposition began a campaign on a promise of significantly reducing the heavy debt carried by the Commonwealth.

But if they were to move amongst us and talk to us they would find some things that were very familiar. They would find that we were still a federation, and that what they gifted us in the constitutional sense had worked. They would find that some of those fundamental values that helped cement the federation remain. They would find that we were still an egalitarian society. They would find that we were still a nation that sought to give basic national standards for all of our citizens. They would find that we were a nation that pulled together in time of adversity and that we had a great volunteer spirit. and they would hear wonderful stories of how the volunteers did us proud at the Sydney Olympic Games.

They would find as we were in the 19th Century an innovative, can-do society. And they would find that over the last 100 years creating a climate where individuals could strive and achieve and where the family unit was the most cohesive element in our society, had remained true and constant.

And perhaps this commonality of values amidst a sea of change in other areas gives us a clue about the next 100 years. We cannot imagine what will come the way of this nation over the next 100 years. We have no way of knowing. We can of course predict though that the application of the values that have served this country well over the last 100 years are likely to produce better outcomes than otherwise.

We know that we face a world which is increasingly borderless, a globalised world. We know that we face a society where medical science presents us with not only great ethical challenges but also enormous opportunities. We carry, as did the people of the last 100 years, a great responsibility to nurture and strengthen those constant Australian values. Only by preserving egalitarianism, only by preserving a society in which individuals can work hard and achieve, and where the family is honoured as a great national institution can we dare to hope to respond effectively to the challenges of the next 100 years.

The great challenge ahead of the Australian nation is to remain true to those values which Barton and Deakin would have identified amidst a world and a changed environment that would have been beyond their comprehension.

Source: http://australianpolitics.com/2001/05/09/howard-speech-to-ceremonial-federation-sitting.html

Howard said although there was strong support for the existing policy, the government would take the opportunity to see it was administered more fairly, flexibly and in a timely manner. He said the Migration Act would be amended to allow families seeking asylum to be released from detention centres.

For detailed information read the full article http://australianpolitics.com/2005/06/17/howard-announces-changes-to-detention-policy.html

Howard said: “This catastrophe has brought the world closer together in a spirit of common humanity. It has been a brutal reminder of the force of nature but also of the inspiring capacity of mankind to ease the suffering of others in their hour of need.”

Read the full article http://australianpolitics.com/2005/01/09/howard-address-to-nation-on-tsunami.html