When Peta Credlin ‘stole’ Joe Hockey’s budget thunder

TWO nights after Joe Hockey’s first budget, the Treasurer called together for drinks all the staff and ministers who had worked on it.

TWO nights after Joe Hockey’s first budget last May, the Treasurer called together for drinks all the staff and ministers who had worked on it.

Tony Abbott walked into the room in Parliament House, Canberra, as did Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and several staffers. They gathered near the cabinet room for the traditional post-budget drinks. Most treasurers have used such events to thank staff and give them a pep talk. But this time, something odd happened. Before Mr Hockey could say anything, someone clinked a glass — it was Peta Credlin, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. She began a speech: “I stand by every measure in the budget.”

An unknowing passer-by may well have assumed the nation’s first female treasurer was thanking her staff, including Mr Abbott, Mr Hockey and Senator Cormann who stood behind her. Ms Credlin, 43, then handed over to Mr Hockey, but he’d been trumped. So surprised was one staffer that he wrote down Ms Credlin’s quote. Mr Abbott has allowed Ms Credlin to place herself at the centre of government. Until the recent backbench revolt, she would sit in on expenditure review committee meetings. According to one official who attended the meetings, while Mr Abbott was nominally the chair, sometimes he would sit quietly and allow Ms Credlin to run the meeting. An investigation by The Weekend Australian has found she may well be the most powerful woman ever seen in Australian public life.