Peter Costello - the right time

Peter Costello, while arguably being one of the strongest on the political field, only ever managed to come in second place. It's just a matter of right place, wrong time.

He may be remembered for his book, smug smile, leadership fights with John Howard (and Malcolm Turnbull) but I will remember him for being "all tip and no iceberg" (Paul Keating). While that quip may be funny and true in a sense, I also think that it is a bit sad. Maybe instead of not having an iceberg, people just didn't see it or take notice of it.

The praise for being the longest serving treasurer, having a massive surplus, setting up the Australian economy to withstand the credit crisis blah blah blah blah.......etc goes on (and will appear to go on) forever. But while there also seems to be as many people who will not sing his praises, Peter manages to come out of this debacle relatively unscathed. It is one of the qualities that I think many people overlook.

Peter never managed to get into the leadership position he wanted, not because he wasn't a good politician, but because he was there at the wrong time. Costello managed to use Downer as a pedestal to position himself as deputy to John Howard, but that was a dead end. Howard, political bias aside, was a true politician. He held a safe seat, led a strong coherent party and was the second longest serving PM of Australia. But Costello could never challenge that massive support that Howard had, even if he wanted to. The Liberal party was fully behind Howard, and so was Costello. But towards the end when the political sands started to change, the Liberal party and politicians didn't, and so they lost. Costello was prepared to change (and held his own views which he later published in his memoirs), but didn't, and rightly couldn't challenge, when he didn't have the support for it. A classic case of being in the right place, at the wrong time.

By the time the Liberal Party crumbled, Costello could see that he himself could not pick up the pieces, and rightly didn't want to be the Liberal party maid. But when someone picked up the sharp and raw pieces instead (and managed to hemorrhage off the political sphere - Brendon Nelson) it reassembled in a way that would be difficult for Costello to gain a support in, similar to Kevin Rudd's (or even Howard's). And even if he did take Leader of the Opposition, the chances that he would take office as the PM would have been very slim. Kevin Rudd has massive support, Costello was tied to a very unpopular leader, and the Liberal Party still didn't appear to be coherent enough on certain policies to gain greater public confidence, which was previously lost. Another case of right place, wrong time.

So I think it is good that Peter now chooses to step out of the political sphere. He made policies that greatly helped our economy, and was prepared to back policies and ideas that would have helped out economy even more. He made valuable contributions to Australia through international forums, and was widely respected in academic circles.

So my hat is off to Peter Costello. Wayne Swan I thought said the best true words about Peter Costello - "while we may have almost always had robust disagreements...I think I'm going to miss him" Peter, I hope that you get to your right place the right time.

LINKS
All Tip and No Iceberg - The Age
Peter Costello - Wikipedia
Peter Costello won't contest another election - The Age