John Howard has appeared on television, reflecting on his time in office and offering some advice to the Liberal leaders of today.
Twenty years ago today, John Howard's Coalition team defeated the Hawke-Keating Labor government after 13 years in power.
"I am very conscious of the enormous responsibility that has been placed upon me and upon my colleagues by the verdict of the Australian people today." (cheering ...)
Shortly after the election came one of Mr Howard's most famous victories in government.
He introduced strict gun-control laws after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, making enemies of some of his core constituents in the process.
In 1999, Mr Howard and then-treasurer Peter Costello succeeded in introducing the Goods and Services Tax.
There were challenges and controversies, too, like the 2001 Tampa crisis and the Howard Government's decision to follow the United States into war after September 11.
Further controversy around his WorkChoices reform package was a major factor that led to his eventual defeat in 2007.
The former prime minister has told the ABC's 7:30 program industrial relations is an area that needs revisiting.
(Howard:) "At some point, this country has to return to industrial-relations reform. The problem with the Australian economy at the moment is that it's very sluggish on the supply side. We need more activity in areas of competition."
(Interviewer:) "How disappointed are you that the Coalition has not, in now three years in office, been prepared to tackle that in a substantial manner?"
(Howard:) "Well, my disappointment is mild. These days, I don't get furiously disappointed about these things. It's something that we have to return to."
Mr Howard would not be drawn on the ongoing tension between today's Liberal leaders.
"I don't want to get into the debate between Turnbull and Abbott. I'm not in the parliamentary party. My view is that Tony Abbott had my strong support while he was there, and, now that Malcolm Turnbull's there, he will have my strong support. My operating principle is to keep the Labor Party in opposition, and I remind all Liberal supporters of the validity of that operating principle."
Asked whether he supported the Turnbull Government's proposed Senate voting reforms, Mr Howard said he thought they were "okay".
Analysts have said the changes would likely hand more Senate seats to the Coalition at the next election.
But Mr Howard says it is the bill's other supporters who stand to gain the most.
"People shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the principal beneficiary of these changes is probably the Australian Greens, and that is why the Australian Greens are so strongly in favour."
Mr Howard lost his former seat of Bennelong in the 2007 election.
The 76-year-old will mark 60 years as a member of the Liberal Party next year.
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