The thirty year rule prohibiting access to Cabinet Documents should be abolished so Australians can better Judge John Howard's (and other ministers) performance before we heap undeserved credit on their record of deceit.

If AWB directors are to face prosecution for their misdeeds it is only fair and Just that the actions of Government ministers involving deliberate deception of the electorate be held accountable rather than rewarded with generous retirement benefits and false accolades.

Yet another academic bleating about the alleged Howard economic success story. John Howard was the most divisive prime minister we have ever had. His economic 'success' largely consisted of balancing the budget - easy to do if nothing is spent and capital assets are sold off. His alleged inflation control relied almost totally on the on-going falling prices of chinese imports; he gutted the universities and research and development; and as far as I recall after more than a decade in power there are no major government funded projects on the go anywhere. He introduced a 'never ever' grossly unfair GST which flooded the federal coffers with cash, and gave tax rebates with the money that should have been utilised in education and health. Churches, particularly of the American evangelical style, did very well via educational assistence and the unemployment industry. He introduced racism into day-to day australian politics and remains one of the few senior public figures to have never condemned the ridiculous and uninformed jingoism expressed by Pauline Hanson. The worst prime minister ever - thankfully now gone in a cloud of justly deserved humiliation

Forget the 30 year rule - his biographer will write he was the greatest PM this country ever suffered ! There was absolutely no transparancy whilst JWH reigned, and I for one applaud his abrupt dumping especially from an ex ABC journalist with no political nous which exacerbates the significance he wasn't that much of a fearless Leader ? That he manipulated the electorate is without doubt his greatest achievement - with a Government surplus, and billion's in the war chest, he pork-barreled his way on two other elections to gain a majority in the Senate. In hindesight, people got wise to his strategy, and gave him unselfishly the old heave-ho - not before time. Toughness doesn't have to come in a pinstripe suit. His severly tarnished image will rue the day, and importantly he will have to live his forced retirement contemplating how unsufferable the 2007 Elections turned out. After Oz's largest Public relations spectacle amounting to billion's of taxpayer's dollars was squandered in a supreme effort to win public sentiment. That through his own (one man band) masterly, manoevering unequivocally went awry ? In the end, what counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - but the size of the fight in the dog in the fight !! Caio Mr Teflon man .

Forget the 30 year rule - his biographer will write he was the greatest PM this country ever suffered ! There was absolutely no transparancy whilst JWH reigned, and I for one applaud his abrupt dumping especially from an ex ABC journalist with no political nous which exacerbates the significance he wasn't that much of a fearless Leader ? That he manipulated the electorate is without doubt his greatest achievement - with a Government surplus, and billion's in the war chest, he pork-barreled his way on two other elections to gain a majority in the Senate. In hindesight, people got wise to his strategy, and gave him unselfishly the old heave-ho - not before time. Toughness doesn't have to come in a pinstripe suit. His severly tarnished image will rue the day, and importantly he will have to live his forced retirement contemplating how unsufferable the 2007 Elections turned out after Oz's largest Public relations spectacle amounting to billion's of taxpayer's dollars was squandered in a supreme effort to win public sentiment that through his own masterly manoevering unequivocally went awry ? In the end, what counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - but the size of the fight in the dog in the fight !! Cai mister teflon man.

The author says that as an early advocate of microeconomic reform "there is no doubt.....that he(howard) played a major role in pushing the Hawke-Keating government in that direction.

As I've said a few times on OLO Howard will be seen as the hands-down winner in the economic argument during his public career.

The ALP has remade itself in the last 30 years, whilst the Howard of 2007 was substantially the same man with the same arguments in 1977. It is Labor that has in this time, jettisoned any ideas of itself as a Socialist party and is now proudly more economically conservative than the Libs. And remember that it was a Labor govt. that introduced enterprise bargaining which effectively sidelined Unions in many instances.

For the churlish who want to insist that Howard was the most divisive ever- does it never occur to you that for the other half of the electorate Keating did and does still hold that title?

As a retired farmer, reckon the worst case of Media Muzzlement and Separation of Power abuse under Howard, was the case two years ago of the landing of foot and mouth suspected carcase meat landed in New South Wales which George Negus made a revealing case of through SBS.

When I complained to SBS as a meat producer, was simply told that the case was ordered to be closed down.

It is also so disgusting that Online Opinion must have had similar orders also, because no matter how hard we tried to get our OLO's interested, they too remained in quietude.

A Queensland free-lance reporter also rang me full of anger, telling how the case was given the hush-hush all over Australia.

Before the Howard-managed Bi-Lateral Agreement with the US, we were said to have the safest Bio-Security laws in the world.

But certainly not no more after the above......?

Regards - BB, WA.