The commonly held view among political junkies like myself is that the racy bits of ‘The Costello Memoirs’ have already been published in the papers. John Howard did it in the library with the candlestick. So why bother shelling out $55 to read what amounts to 380 pages of filler?

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.

The former treasurer has not spoken publicly about his future since the day after the November 24 election, and is not expected to make a public announcement until his memoirs are published on September 15. Mr Costello’s publisher, Melbourne University Press, is delighted with the publicity the speculation is generating.