Costello At His Arrogant Best

This post I started a week ago. Old news in the finest tradition of "The Pigs."

It's been suggested that Peter Costello, rather than planning to leave parliament, will lie low for 18 months or so before challenging the Liberal Party leadership. Batteries recharged, he will take what he's always regarded as rightfully his.

I feel this is far fetched. If he'd really thought that way he'd have displayed some bottle and challenged Howard for the leadership two years ago.

Skepticism aside, I hope he eventually does take the opposition leadership, as it will go a long way to ensure another term for the Labor government. I base this assumption on an extraordinary interview he had with Virginia Trioli on ABC's Lateline last Friday night.

The transcripts are here, but to get the full delusional feel you should watch the videoed version.

A few snippets follow ...

When you look at Labor, Labor didn't run on policy at all. All Labor ran on was that you could have some kind of continuity with a fresh face at the top and that was their strategy.

Was he awake during the campaign? I'd have thought that Work Choices and climate change were two major areas of difference.

[Rudd] didn't put forward any substantive policy differences in my view, and we could have muted that appeal of Labor if we'd had a fresher face, but we didn't.

Read 'fresher face' as 'my' face. Pity the polls didn't back this assumption.

When you think of the announcements that we made, huge announcements like the Murray Darling basin, we cut tax in the Budget, we had federal intervention in the Northern Territory, these are huge announcements.

But, and the public by and large agreed with them, overwhelmingly agreed with them. But they just weren't in the mood for hearing new policies from a Government which they regarded as having been in office for so long.

These comments prove just how out of touch the Conservatives were regarding the mood of the electorate. They thought that the usual bribes and a big announcement would get them over the line, while the electorate's attention was firmly focussed on the long term consequences of Work Choices.

The Murray Darling announcement was bold. Pity it was thought up by Howard in the holiday season, without consultation with anyone, and was costed on the back of a fag packet. The public had well and truly moved on by the time the negotiations with the States were taking place.

Unfortunately, the Labor party was spooked into matching the Liberal's tax policy. Voters were thinking that the good times wouldn't last for ever, and it was about time the government started banking some of the proceeds of the mining boom. I think they could have promised to bank half of Howard's tax cuts and still have won the election.

By the way, it's not going to be nearly as big a majority as was first thought, but I wanted to see the Government return. I think it's in Australia's interests, I always will.

I wonder what Costello thinks is a comprehensive defeat? Obviously not a 16 seat majority into a 20 seat deficit.

Well we weren't going to take [Work Choices] any further, that was just a complete Labor furphy in the campaign.

But, yes, there were people that were genuinely scared by a very good PR campaign. But I never saw masses of people on the TV who had been put out of work by our IR laws.

That voters would take a long term view would be surprising to a political party that always aimed policy at the baser instincts of the electorate.

The end of the interview was telling, when Trioli tried to get Costello to state his long term intentions ...

VIRGINIA TRIOLI: I'm going to want to hear the never ever, ever line here from you, Mr Costello.

(Peter Costello laughs)

Take you time Peter. Put the feet up for a year or so. Feel free to challenge when ready. Labor needs you!