There’s no turn-on like genuine lack of interest, as they say, and Peter Costello’s silence this year has proved utterly bewitching. Modern chick-lit is full of advice about what to do when the man of your dreams doesn’t call. Sick with yearning for Costello, some Liberals have resorted to fantasy in recent months. Some journalists, too.
Peter Costello said that he was considering some options outside politics, but would remain in parliament as a back bencher for the time being. “I’ll continue to serve my constituents,” the former treasurer said in an interview. “If I get to the point where I feel I’m no longer able to do that … I’ll make an announcement then.”
According to his own memoirs, Peter Costello thinks he could have won the last election. He says John Howard should have stood aside, let him lead and, because he was younger, and not so reviled, he would have beaten Kevin Rudd. As Costello must in some part of his heart know, this simply isn’t true.
Brendan Nelson issued a veiled warning to Malcolm Turnbull and other potential challengers today that he will fight them for the leadership. Mr Turnbull is overseas on holidays and has not yet commented on the furore triggered by Peter Costello’s memoirs and his declaration that he really is leaving politics and will not seek the leadership.
Peter Costello has all but ruled out running for the Liberal leadership. “I’m not seeking the Liberal Party leadership,” the former treasurer said in an interview. “They say: ‘Oh we’ve had a bad week, better bring Costello back.’ I think that’s basically what happened. And I said: ‘No, I’m not seeking the leadership, I don’t want the leadership.’
Despite securing the backing of conservative Liberal MPs led by Nick Minchin and Tony Abbott in the last leadership ballot, many conservatives are angered by Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson’s push to introduce federal reform of the party and believe he’s too weak to lead them to victory at the next election.
The former treasurer’s co-author and father-in-law Peter Coleman declared this morning that Mr. Costello was “the greatest prime minister we never had” but predicted that the Member for Higgins’ memoirs could be read as both an apologia for the past and a platform for the future. The book carefully avoids answering the question of whether Mr. Costello plans to retire from politics.
After begging Peter Costello to reclaim a leadership role, senior Liberals have complained privately the red carpet has been rolled out for him but he won’t make up his mind. Frontbencher Tony Abbott has also told ABC radio that a string of bad polls has “dismayed” the party but is also the fate of any newly minted opposition.
Peter Costello’s tribute dinner on Friday night was one of the more bizarre political events I have attended in more than 20 years of covering federal politics. It reminded me of a mass demonstration of the Stockholm syndrome, whereby prisoners begin to identify with their captors rather than their potential saviours.
This week was a time for new beginnings. In the US, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party nomination, while Republican John McCain the little-known Sarah Palin as his running mate. In Australia, the Liberal leadership speculation entered an even more confusing stage, while the Labor Party outlined a number of new policies.