The political career of Andrew Peacock, who passed away at his home in Austin, Texas on Friday night, will always be shadowed by the “unfulfilled promise” tag. From the moment the “Colt from Kooyong” won the blue-ribbon suburban Melbourne seat of retiring Liberal Party legend Robert Menzies at a 1966 byelection, Mr Peacock seemed destined to take up residence in The Lodge.

Mr Peacock’s prime ministerial ambitions fell partly victim to the Liberal’s leadership turmoil in the 1980s: Bob Hawke’s quip about ungovernable parties being unfit to rule resonated with voters. But the former opposition leader lost his best chance when, amid a recession, he failed to deny Labor a fourth term in the 1990 federal election. That marked his second election loss as opposition leader.