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Airdate: The Howard Years

ABC's documentary on the Howard Government will air a year after he lost office.

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A documentary that caused a stoush between an SBS filmmaker and the ABC will have its airing next month.

The Howard Years is a four part series looking at the Liberal Government’s 11 year reign.

As previously reported, SBS has also been developing its own series, Liberal Rule. Independent producer Nick Torrens said the ABC agreed to sell archival footage in April last year, but later decided to put conditions on a sale to make sure that the SBS series is not screened before The Howard Years.

More than 50 interviews were conducted for the series, with John Howard giving 20 hours from his now more leisurely schedule.

Sneak Peek: The Howard Years

It airs at 8:30pm Monday November 17th.

Press Release:
During his 11 years as Prime Minister, John Howard led his government through a decade of monumental upheaval. Throughout it all, he proved himself to be the ultimate political master. Now, The Howard Years goes behind the scenes to present the inside story of the Howard Government and examine the legacy of his time in office.

Almost one year to the day after he lost government and his seat, John Howard speaks openly about the key moments that defined his Prime Ministership – among them the war on terror, East Timor, waterfront reform, the GST and his relationship with Peter Costello.

In the tradition of Labor In Power (the story of the Labor Government from 1983 – 1993) this four-part series is told through the words of the key players including John Howard, Peter Costello, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Peter Reith, Alexander Downer, as well as key advisors and public servants.

More than 50 interviews were conducted for the series, with John Howard giving 20 hours of his time for interviews with Fran Kelly as well as background briefings. All up, over 180 hours of interviews were recorded in Australia and overseas.

The definitive television record of the Howard Government, the series documents the life and times of Australia’s second longest serving Prime Minister and the key events, achievements and controversies of his government.

The Howard Years premieres on ABC1 with extended interviews and exclusive information available at http://abc.net.au/howardyears

7 Responses

  2. what a biased accounts on howard’s part. he wrecked the liberal party, didn’t he? don’t care what he tried to justify himself with. he was too arrogant and ignorant and power hungry to hand it to poor peter who would have been no doubt one of the best prime ministers australia ever got to have. so instead we now have Krudd. yuk! even ropert murdoch was right about howard should go. for a shrewd poly how can he be so dump.

  3. 1 show I will definitely not watch. I would rather be forced to watch the grass grow than anything to do with that man Howard.

    But generally ABC1 is fantastic. So this mistake in programming will be forgiven.

  6. The press release makes comparison with Labor In Power. Labor In Power was made when the then ALP Government was in office. The Howard Years in contrast will be screened a year after its defeat.

    It is too bad the ABC at the time did not think of making Labor In Power three years later as it would have been interesting to have seen what the programme would have make of the Keating Government’s last three years in office.

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