With the entrance to The Lodge turning into something of a revolving door since prime minister-elect Rudd bestrode the victory stage a decade ago today on 24 November 2007 there is no question the Howard years are remembered by many Australians as a golden age of political stability. It does not require a pang of misty-eyed nostalgia, however, to realise that the country, by any reckoning, was served by a remarkably effective period of governance under a conservative yet reforming prime minister whose term came to an end a decade ago.