
Where It All Went Wrong: Amy Remeikis on John Howard
From Fourth Estate by 2SER
March 13, 2026 · 1h 19m
About this episode
Amy Remeikis discusses her book challenging the legacy of John Howard's prime ministership and its impact on contemporary Australia.
For eleven years, John Howard dominated Australian politics, winning four elections and reshaping the country’s political and economic direction. To many supporters, he remains the careful economic manager with a plain-spoken style and an instinctive connection to suburban voters. But in her new book Where It All Went Wrong: The Case Against John Howard, journalist and political commentator Amy Remeikis sets out to challenge the mythology surrounding the Howard years, a narrative she argues is still perpetuated in sections of the media and political class today. In this episode of Fourth Estate, Remeikis joins Tina Quinn to revisit the Australia that elected Howard in 1996 after thirteen years of Labor governments under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, and to unpack why she believes many of the political and social dynamics shaping Australia today can be traced back to decisions made during his prime ministership. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at fourthestate@2ser.com or tweet us at @fourthestateau Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Tina Quinn
Guest: Amy Remeikis
Topics covered
- Australian politics
- John Howard
- political commentary
- economic management
- media narrative
Keywords
- Where It All Went Wrong
- political dynamics
- suburban voters
- Labor governments
- economic direction
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Where It All Went Wrong, The Case Against John Howard, Fourth Estate
Places: Australia
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