Contemporary Australian Politics

Manuscript Collections

NAA 001 - John Howard Collection
1974-2007; 73 boxes, 2 oversize

The Honourable John Winston Howard (26 July 1939-), OM, AC served as the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1996 to 2007 for three terms. Only Sir Robert Menzies served in the position longer. Howard entered Parliament in 1974, and was leader of the Liberal Party from 1985 to 1989 and from 1995 to 2007.

NAA 001 consists of John Howard's official government records, amassed by John Howard and staff as parliamentarian, transferred to the National Archives of Australia and housed by special arrangement at UNSW Canberra as the 'John Howard Collection' (under Section 64 of the Archives Act 1983). Although the records are predominantly official in nature, the archive includes some residual personal papers.
The first tranche of materials, made available in 2014, includes notes, personal papers, correspondence, early Commonwealth records, press clippings, transcripts of speeches and interviews, election pamphlets and other items covering the period from 1974-1996.


1974-2007; 317 boxes

The Honourable John Winston Howard (26 July 1939 - ), OM, AC served as the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1996 to 2007 for three terms. Only Sir Robert Menzies served in the position longer. Howard entered Parliament in 1974, and was leader of the Liberal Party from 1985 to 1989 and from 1995 to 2007.
 
JHL 001 consists of John Howard's personal papers, amassed and kept by John Howard in a private capacity, now belonging to The Howard Library and housed at UNSW Canberra. Although the papers are predominantly Howard's personal collection, the archive also includes some residual original and copied official records. This collection contains personal notes and papers, correspondence, early Commonwealth records, press clippings, transcripts of speeches and interviews, election pamphlets and other items covering the covering the period from 1974-1996.


1977-2001; 25 boxes

Peter Keaston Reith (1950-2022) was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and 1984 to 2001 representing the Division of Flinders. In the Howard Government, Reith served as Minister for Industrial Relations (1996–1997), Minister for Small Business (1997–2001), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations (1998–2001), and Minister for Defence from January 2001 until his retirement at the 2001 election. 

The archive comprises diaries, notebooks and travel diaries kept Peter Reith during his political career, many containing detailed entries.


1975-2014; 28 boxes

Born in 1941, David Alistair Kemp was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1990 to October 2004, representing the Division of Goldstein, Victoria, and a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1990–1996. He was Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister Assisting the Minister for Finance for Privatisation 1996–1997, before promotion to Cabinet as Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs 1997–1998 and Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs 1998–2001. He was Minister for Environment and Heritage from November 2001 to July 2004, before retiring at the 2004 election. 

A comprehensive archive spanning the length of Kemp’s political career. It includes correspondence, diaries, files, media releases, transcripts of speeches and other material, with the bulk of the collection relating to Kemp’s education portfolios.  


1950-2002; 2 boxes 2 oversize

Tim Fischer (1946-2019) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1984, and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1984 election, representing the Division of Farrer until his retirement in 2001. He replaced Charles Blunt as leader of the National Party in 1990, and in the Howard Government served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. After leaving politics, Fischer served as chairman of Tourism Australian from 2004 to 2007 and was Ambassador to the Holy See from 2009 to 2012.

The collection comprises newspaper clippings kept by Tim Fischer.


1993-2000; 3 boxes

Ian McLachlan served as a Liberal party member in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1998. He was Minister for Defence in the Howard Government from 1996 to 1998. 

The bulk of the collection relates to the 1990s Hindmarsh Island bridge legal and political controversy, concerning land sacred to the Ngarrindjeri people, when McLachlan was Shadow Minister for the Environment.


2001-2003; 1 folder

Haydn Swinbourn is an Anglican clergyman ordained in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 1992. He held several parish appointments in the Diocese before being seconded to the Australian Regular Army as a chaplain in 2002. As an Army chaplain Swinbourn was posted to the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Canberra, and deployed overseas three times: after the Bali Bombing (2002), Iraq (2003-04) and East Timor (2006). 

Notes, files, and other material kept by Army chaplain Haydn Swinbourn in the aftermath of the Bali Bombings.


1995-2013; 2 boxes

Daniel Clode studied Arts and Law and has performed roles across the political process from being a party office-bearer, to a director of a party machine, to working in the public service and serving as an adviser across the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments. After previously drawing cartoons for the federal Liberal Party during the 1995 Canberra by-election, he was enlisted to work at the Coalition Campaign Headquarters during the 1996 federal election campaign as the campaign cartoonist. In the 2001, 2004 and 2007 federal elections he worked at the Coalition Campaign Headquarters, shadowing the Opposition campaign and reprising his cartooning role.

The collection comprises correspondence, files, sketches and final artwork for Clode’s political cartoons.  


1929-2018; 298 boxes

Philip Ruddock is a retired Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives from 1973-2016. Ruddock served continuously in Cabinet during the Howard Government, including as as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs from 1996 to 2003, and Attorney-General from 2003 to 2007.

This extensive archive includes correspondence, diaries, files, media releases, transcripts of speeches, sound and video recordings, photographs, objects, publications and other material relating to Ruddock’s time in office.


1996-2007; 2 boxes

Tony O’Leary is a political consultant and a former press secretary to Prime Minister John Howard.

The material comprises papers, photos, newspapers and ephemera relating to O’Leary’s association with the Howard Government.


1999-2002; 2 boxes

Brigadier Brett Chaloner is Commander of 13th Brigade, an Army Reserve formation of the Australian Army. Headquartered in Perth, the Brigade has been tasked with the protection of Western Australia since 1988, and forms a vital component of Australia’s overall defence strategy.

The collection comprises objects relating to Brett Chaloner, including an army backpack.


1990s; 1 box

Lieutenant Colonel Mark O’Neill is a defence strategist in the Future Land Warfare Branch of Australian Army Headquarters. Amongst O’Neill’s high-profile appointments in a four decade career are Chief of Army Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Joint Operations Liaison Officer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and lecturer at the National Security College (ANU).


1996-2007; 1 box

This artificial collection of political ephemera comprises papers and objects collected by the Howard Library associated with Australian political history such as menus and memorabilia.


1990-2001; 2 folders

Founded in 1935 as Ansett Airways, the company was Australia’s second major airline for much of its existence. The Ansett Australia airline group collapsed in September 2001 leaving 16,000 people without jobs. Limited Ansett services resumed on 1 October following a Commonwealth guarantee with an agreement that businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox would purchase Ansett’s assets. They later withdrew when the Howard government declined to assist. Ansett ceased flying on 4 March 2002 and the company’s assets were sold.

This collection comprises ephemera relating to Ansett Australia, including tickets and models.


2005-2008; 4 boxes

Born in Perth in 1941, Richard Alston is an Australian businessman, politician and barrister. He served as a Liberal Party Senator for Victoria from 1986-2004. During the Howard Government he held several 
ministerial offices. He later served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2005-2008) and Federal President of the Liberal Party (2014-2017).  

This collection relates Alston’s diplomatic career. It includes diaries, files, newspaper clippings, programs and postcards relating to his time as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. 


1997-2005; 2 boxes

John Perrin joined the Howard Government staff as an advisor in 1997, working for nine years on its social policy agenda. Perrin assisted in driving many of the major social policy reforms including Tough on Drugs, welfare and Medicare improvements, Stronger Families and Communities, family relationship centres and Community Business Partnerships.

The collection includes booklets, notes, files, and other material kept by Perrin in his senior social policy adviser role. The notebooks contain details on meetings, to do lists, calls made, people met and question time predominately relating to social policy.

MSS 352 - Papers of Barry Cohen
1987-1997; 5 boxes

Barry Cohen (1935-2017) was an Australian Labor politician, who served as Federal Minister for Robertson (1969-1990). Under the Hawke Government, he served as Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment (1983-1984) and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Environment (1984-1987). Following his retirement from Federal politics in 1990, Cohen wrote extensively articles for The Bulletin and The Australian. He published several books of political satire, including Life with Gough (1996) and From Whitlam to Winston (1997).

MSS 352 comprises literary papers of Barry Cohen (mostly political satire), created principally during the 1990s but including some material from the late 1980s. Some material relates to Cohen’s newspaper articles which he largely published following his retirement from politics in 1990. The collection also includes drafts of Life with Gough (1996) and Whitlam to Winston (1997).

Oral Histories

The Australians at War Film Archive records the stories of 2,000 Australian war veterans across all theatres of conflict, as a permanent public archive for posterity. 

Tom Uren (AAWFA 001.728)
Interviewed on 11th August 2003    
Tom Uren AC was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party.
During World War 2, he was a prisoner of war on the Burma-Thai Railway.
Themes: World War II, Prisoners of War, Prisoners of the Japanese (including Thai/Burma, Changi, Sandakan, Japan etc)
Served with: 2/1st Heavy Battery, Prisoner of War [POW] Japanese WW2

Martin Hamilton-Smith (AAWFA 001.2021)
Interviewed on 2nd July 2004    
Martin Hamilton-Smith was a South Australian politician, who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Waite from the 1997 election until 2018, initially as a member of the Liberal Party but from 2014 as an Independent.
Before entering Parliament, Martin spent 23 years in the Army. His first command was as regimental commander at the 1st Commando Regiment in 1991 and 1992. He was Commanding Officer of peacekeepers in Egypt, serving as the Australian contingent of the multinational force and observers in Sinai in 1993.
Themes: RMC Duntroon all conflicts, MFO Sinai
Served with: 1 Commando Unit, SAS Counter Terrorism Squadron, Sinai Multinational Peacekeeping Force and Observers