I believe Brad Ruting's assessment of John Howard and his rhetoric is spot on. He has written a balanced article which compares Howard's conservative ideals with the actual social impact of his political ideology and political strategies which caused so much division in Australian society.

It was an ideology formed in the political ferment that existed post war and through to the 70s in reaction to the perceived threat of Marxist influence in so many institutions, including trade unions, academic institutions etc with its spin off into labor politics. Howard saw it as his mission particularly to destroy unionism, both as industrial force and as a funding source for the ALP.

He pursued this outcome and from his perspective the need to retain his political power as a necessary corollary, with an intensity and narrow mindedness that damaged much of the Australian political fabric. He did this by his use of wedge politics over issues such as refugees, detention practices, his development of the outrageous Pacific Solution, and his politicisation of the bureaucracy and his mis-use of the military for his political purposes.