Whether it was protecting his hero Don Bradman’s name from exploitation or preventing same sex couples from accessing IVF, John Howard often injected much of his own values into policymaking during 2000.
The 2000 cabinet papers released on Friday by the National Archives of Australia reveal a number of captain’s calls that were quintessentially Howard.
Among them was the then-prime minister’s decision to take an unprecedented step toward protecting Bradman’s name using the corporations law.
At the time, the Australian cricketing great had taken legal action against companies trying to register his name. In Adelaide he was fighting an adult bookshop on the newly named Sir Donald Bradman Drive from trying to rename itself as “Erotica on Bradman”.
Howard, Bradman’s No 1 fan, stepped in to propose an amendment to the corporations law to put the matter beyond doubt.
Some words were already protected by corporations regulations – Anzac, United Nations, Red Cross and Bank, among them – to stop the unscrupulous cashing in by alleging a connection that was not there.
But this was the first time a person’s name had been added, and it reflected Howard’s adulation for his sporting hero. Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint, has since been similarly protected.
During 2000 the Howard government also explored ways to limit IVF treatment and protect the right of religious organisations to insist employees shared their values.
The Federal Sex Discrimination Act, passed in 1984, was increasingly being used to attack discriminatory practices.
In July 2000, Justice Sundberg of the federal court of Australia ruled in McBain v Victoria that Victorian laws restricting in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment to married couples were invalid because they were inconsistent with section 22 of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
Late 1999
Unauthorised arrivals of asylum seekers by boat rise sharply.
January
Australian troops return from then-East Timor (now Timor-Leste).
February
East Timor edges toward self-government. The United Nations provides administration and defence.
February
Revelations that residents at Melbourne's Riverside nursing home were given kerosene baths sparks an aged care scandal.
April
The commonwealth strikes an agreement with the Northern Territory on mandatory sentencing.
24 May
Joint counter-terrorism exercise Ring True conducted to test security for upcoming Olympic Games in Sydney.
28 May
250,000 people walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of reconciliation with Indigenous Australians.
29 May
The government of Fiji is overthrown in a coup.
5 June
The Solomon Islands prime minister is taken hostage in a coup.
8 June
Nearly 500 asylum seekers escape from Woomera detention centre. More unrest in other centres follows.
1 July
The GST is introduced in Australia.
September
The World Economic Forum is held in Melbourne.
15 September
The Sydney Olympic Games begin.
November
Floods in NSW force the evacuation of 600 people.
November/December
COP 6 climate talks held at The Hague.
The case had been brought by Dr John McBain, a Melbourne gynaecologist specialising in reproductive technology, who had been consulted by Leesa Meldrum, a single woman wishing to conceive through IVF using donor sperm. He had been forced to refuse her.
The case sparked nationwide controversy. Howard requested options from the attorney general about what could be done. Cabinet agreed that “the outcome of the case was inconsistent with the power of state governments passing legislation to protect the fundamental right of a child to a reasonable expectation of being cared for by both a mother and father”.
“We do take the view that, all things being equal, children are entitled to the opportunity of both a mother and a father,” Howard said at the time.
But the cabinet was also advised that the prospects of a successful appeal by the commonwealth were remote. Instead, it began investigating amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act to preserve the right of states to restrict IVF treatments.
The issue soon became heated. Some states restricted IVF to married couples. Some restricted single women and gay couples from getting treatment.
In August cabinet met again and agreed that the changes be drafted to allow “bonafide de facto couples” to receive IVF treatment. The bill was headed to a Senate inquiry, so cabinet decided to establish a joint parliamentary inquiry, presumably hoping for a better outcome.
The issue would remain controversial for several years. In 2001 Howard refused Liberals a conscience vote on the IVF exemption.
In August 2000 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission released draft guidelines about the use of religious values as criteria in employment
of staff in church-based agencies.
The commission noted the growth in government services being provided by religious organisations in areas such as employment, and growing complaints to the commission alleging discrimination because job criteria required compliance with particular religious values.
“The complaints highlighted a need for greater clarity concerning
the requirements in this area,” the commission said.
But the guidelines caused consternation within cabinet. After legal advice suggested there could be problems, cabinet asked the attorney general to approach the president of the commission, Professor Alice Ahr Soon Tay, to withdraw the guidelines.
The cabinet also discussed at length the increasing interest by various UN committees in Australia’s human rights record, particularly in its treatment of asylum seekers and Indigenous Australians.
