It was 25 years ago on March 2 that John Howard defeated the Labor government in a landslide election. He went on to become the nation’s second-longest serving prime minister and helped set the scene for the longest economic boom since the gold rushes of the 19th century.

To grasp the impact of Howard’s government, it is necessary to recall Australia’s condition in the early-to-mid 1990s. It was a time of Paul Keating’s “recession we had to have”, double-digit unemployment, 17 per cent interest rates, record-high budget deficits and a $96 billion national debt.