Yes, the Hawke-Keating era introduced some major reforms that set the foundation for Australia's improved economic performance. But we see nothing of that courage and conviction in today's Labor, which is why I don't anticipate another unexpected victory in September.

Rhian,
what was the national debt when Howard took over ?

Yep, I’ll admit that debt was not one of Keating’s strong points. Net debt peaked at 18.1% of GDP in 1995-96. In dollar terms this was just shy of $100b. It is much higher now in dollars terms (over $140b) but less as a percentage of GDP.

http://www.budget.gov.au/2012-13/content/bp1/download/bp1_bst10.pdf

In Keating’s defence, debt to GDP was comparatively modest by OECD standards, and the country had just come through its worst recession since WW2.

Howard succeeded in bringing debt down sharply, though this was mainly through asset sales with the contribution of surpluses quite modest, so I’m guessing net financial worth would have improved much less than net debt (I can only find net worth estimates back to 1999-00)