<P> In 1990, Victoria's Pyramid Building Society collapsed with debts in excess of $2 billion . With Victoria deeply in debt, Labor Premier John Cain resigned and Joan Kirner was elevated to the post of Premier of Victoria . Melbourne businessman Christopher Skase's business empire crashed spectacularly and he fled to Majorca in Spain . The Liberal - National Coalition, led by Jeff Kennett was swept into office in a 1992 landslide victory and commenced a wide ranging program of expenditure cuts, privatisation of public assets, and economic reform to reduced government debt and rejuvenate the economy . </P> <P> The State Bank of South Australia, owned by the Government of South Australia, collapsed in 1991 . The bank had been a beneficiary of the commercial property boom of the 1980s, but by February 1991 the Bannon Labor Government had to launch a $970 million bailout due to its bad debts, and the bank's debts soon reached $3 billion . Premier Bannon resigned after appearing at a Royal Commission into the affair . </P> <P> With Western Australia suffering at the end of the 1980s boom, the Labor Party replaced Premier Brian Burke firstly with Peter Dowding and then Carmen Lawrence; the subsequent WA Inc investigation saw Burke jailed . West Australian high flying businessman Alan Bond was declared bankrupt in 1992 and jailed in 1997 for corporate fraud . </P> <P> The Opposition Liberal Party of Australia turned to economist John Hewson as its new leader . Hewson argued that the nation was in economic crisis . He said the Hawke - Keating government had increased the severity of the recession by initially encouraging the economy to boom post-stock crash as elections were approaching, which necessitated higher interest rates and tighter monetary policy than would otherwise have been necessary . Hewson called for a radical reform program and formulated a package which included a consumption tax policy and industrial relations reform to address the poor economic situation . The Fightback! policy was launched in November 1991 . The comprehensive plan further destabilised Hawke's leadership . </P>

When was the recession we had to have