Costello's last word in delusion

THE political class has taken a long overdue whipping in NSW but, in Canberra, self-deluded self-flagellation is the torture of choice.

THE political class has taken a long overdue whipping in NSW but, in Canberra, self-deluded self-flagellation is the torture of choice. After months of marketing, the first extracts of former Coalition treasurer Peter Costello's memoirs show that he remains a creature of unfulfilled ambition. Sadly, perhaps, the publication of his book will almost certainly ensure that will remain so. An unhappy little chappy he is, to be sure, and though his Left-wing publisher Louise Adler, wife of Labor's favourite comic Max Gillies, is no doubt pleased with her coup from both a publishing and a political perspective, it has probably ended any faint hopes Costello and his dwindling band of supporters may have had for a political comeback. Costello has, of course, repeated his denials of any desire to seek higher office, first enunciated last November. They were not enough for some, who saw him as a possible future patron - and his possible candidacy for Liberal leadership remained a live issue with them and the idlers of the Canberra press gallery. While it is a shame that some of the oxygen from his book launch will be sucked up by the continuing scandals which beset the abysmal NSW Labor Government, there will no doubt be a large number of people who will buy the memoirs to feed their ingrained prejudices against former prime minister John Howard, just as Latham's words were lapped up by those eager to gain an insider's view of the Labor opposition. Seasoned political observers might wonder at someone of Costello's age - just 51 - penning a biographical work when, for many of the same age, life is just beginning. But after 18 years as the MP for Higgins, including seven in opposition, perhaps he does believe that enough is enough. At 51, Howard was enduring his seventh year in his second term in opposition. He became prime minister after 22 years in parliament, just eight years of which his party had been in government. He was opposition leader from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1995 until the Coalition won office in 1996, when he was almost 57. Costello's tone might smack of petulance or, worse, strike readers as embodying the same sense of entitlement that rankles with those who have watched the antics of Labor politicians, federally and in every state and territory. That sense of entitlement led Western Australian premier Alan Carpenter to launch his disastrous early election ploy and has seen unelected Labor premiers installed in every state, except South Australia, at this time. But there is a growing awareness among voters - and even former NSW treasurer Michael Costa - that the punters are being short-changed by MPs. The arrogance of Labor families - highlighted by the behaviour of Federal MP Belinda Neal and husband, NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca; Tanya Plibersek and husband, NSW Education Department Director-General Michael Coutts-Trotter; Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and wife, NSW Deputy Premier and Climate Change Minister Carmel Tebbutt; and so on - is starting to bite. Costello had no idea that graphic accounts of the distasteful frolics and indulgences of so many Labor MPs would emerge coincidentally with his book launch, but his account of unrequited aspirations will probably dovetail in the minds of many with the outrageous claims of entitlement made by disgraced Labor MPs. As former British PM Harold Macmillan so drily remarked, when asked what represented the greatest challenge for a political leader: "Events, my dear boy, events''. Indeed, as when reading so many books, it pays to have another reference handy and, in the case of Costello's memoirs, it pays to have Newspoll's numbers at the ready to see how his account accords with the reality of the time. As expected, Costello makes the claim - first publicly made for him by former defence minister Ian McLachlan - that he had a deal with Howard, made well before the 1996 election, which would see Costello assume the leadership; if the Coalition were to win not one but two elections. Costello claims that Howard always found reasons why he could not honour this somewhat doubtful proposition, even nominating Jeanette Howard's supposed reluctance to exit Kirribilli House. Newspoll surveys of the comparative popularity of Costello and Howard, however, would leave one with the view that it may well have been political suicide for the Coalition, had Howard exited in favour of his treasurer. In July 1998, 45 per cent preferred Howard as leader, with 26 per cent for Costello; in November 2002, Howard 66 per cent, Costello 16 per cent; in May 2003, Howard 68, Costello 18; in March 2004, Howard 63, Costello 20; in May 2005, Howard 61, Costello 23; in April 2006, Howard 62, Costello 24; and in July 2006, Howard 66, Costello 20. Even Latham was viewed as a better possible PM than Costello in December 2003 (Latham 43 per cent, Costello 33) and in March 2004, (Latham 52 per cent, Costello 28). Costello can take heart in Newspoll's finding last year that more than twice as many voters thought he was more capable of managing the economy than Wayne Swan (Costello 53 per cent, Swan 21), but 71 per cent thought, as late as last October, that it would make no difference to their vote if he were to replace Howard, should the Coalition win the 2007 election. As old rock'n'rollers used to say, things might have been different if Mama Cass had only shared that ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter. In Costello's case, such a share deal may well have been lethal.