John Howard says he won't stay the full term if re-elected. What do we know about Peter Costello? Will he make a good Prime Minister if the Coalition should win the next election?

What say you?

The man, my dear, has the personality of a brick.

O.K. - name any Liberal Prime Minister that you think was charismatic?
Well, maybe Menzies - at a stretch? Or Holt? (the women liked him at least - right). But gee whiz, Gorton, McMahon, Fraser(?), Hewson,
now Howard... and Costello ...

Then on the other side - Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, Keating, - (whatever your politics - these men - you couldn't ignore).

So I guess it depends what you're looking for in a PM - the personality of a brick, or charisma? right?

Me - I'd settle for someone who could give a straight answer to a question and didn't lie to me.

I like his quick wit and acid tongue.A bit Keatingish perhaps,but Peter would detest that analogy.The women can't stand him which I find puzzling.One thing you can be sure of,he will run a tight ship and never let our economy crash as it did under Keating and Gough Whitlam

Foxy, I don't like much of what I've seen of him but suspect that he would do a good job. On some issues he has expressed differences of view to the current PM which I've agreed with.

Hard to see him winning an election as opposition leader but given time in the job he might convince us.

On the other hand how many would vote for a party with Julia Gillard as leader? She may need a similar scenario to prove herself.

R0bert

Foxy

“Will he make a good Prime Minister if the Coalition should win the next election?”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! !! !! !!

Mr Ludwig,

You've made me curious... Why not?

Alright let me see…why wouldn’t ol’ smirky Costalotello make a good PM?

Because he’s a pro-expansionist antisustainabilityist to the core.

Cos he’s shown scant knowledge, beyond economic management, of the very wide gamut of issues that we would expect a PM to have a handle on.

There is no indication that he would translate economic gains into improvements on the ground any better than Howard.

There is no indication that he gives the slightest hoot about environmental issues, except where they directly affect economic prosperity.

And most importantly, there is no indication that he sees any particular urgency in addressing peak oil, climate change or sustainability issues.

In short, I think that his type of political philosophy has had its day well and truly, and would be disastrous for Australia, in a time where some pretty radical changes in governance are needed.

Now hold on……..maybe he would be our saviour. If he continued with the same old economic rationalist style of Howard, perhaps he would galvanise the community, and opposition, into the right sort of action…. and come the next election, Labor would put up a much better platform than they have this time around, and kick him out of office and off to Mars or Pluto or somewhere like that befitting his march-of-the-lemmings-towards-the-cliff approach to the management of our nation! /:>|

We must take into account swings are rarely uniform across every seat John Howard is in for a very hard fight to win his seat.
Sunday the 25th could see Costello as PM.
How likely is it we would see a by election to let Howard back? no way.
Conservative may well like Peter he however will not bring lost voters back to his party leadership from him is going to fail.

John Howard has promised his party that if he is elected - he will stay for one, maybe two years as PM before handing over to Costello.

However, yesterday in the news - it was indicated that Howard will definitely not contest the 2010 election - (nominating Costello as his successor - then).
Does that mean that Howard will stay for the full term this time?

Can someone explain - who do we believe? Howard keeps changing his tune. He'll stay, he won't? Maybe? Who are people voting for this time around? Howard or Costello?

Foxy,

My 2 cents worth on the political arena:

- The liberal stance on the PM leaving sometimes and handing over aim to create a mind space amongst voters and also not to commit to anything specific to the public. For example, if Liberals are to lock on Costello, the next set of questions will be Costello's vision, plan, etc...which PC is not ready for.

- I am curious as to why do you believe that a good and talented treasurer will make a good prime minister? The man is a straight shooter but he lacks leadership. My personal hurdle to vote for liberals this time is that Costello never challenged the PM on the role and is rather waiting to be 'given' the job.

- On the ethics side liberals appeared to be as bad as Latham's campaign. Did you watch the scare campaign on TV lately? It tells me they are out of ideas and got nothing to sell.

Peace,

Here's what a well-placed Liberal Party member sent me back in May:

"If you are interested in returning the Coalition to power forward this to your local MP.

"WE CAN PULL SOMETHING OUT OF THE HAT!
The Polls are not looking good. John Howard, Peter Costello and Alexander Downer have all served excellently but the electorate sees them as too familiar there is no charisma no new thinking anymore.

"At the best the Coalition will win by a few seats. John Howard will hand over to Peter Costello or whoever is chosen because of the poor showing of the election, so John\ Howard’s stay will be short.

"At the worst the Coalition will lose. Why because they have run out of ideas and surprisingly they have said so. Would the present Ministers prefer to be in opposition or in power?

"For John Howard to hand over to Peter Costello at the moment will, I believe, actually decrease the vote.

"The Labor Party by 'circumstance' is in a good position. How do you knock the Labor Party confidence and get the voters back on line?

"ANSWER-Hand the Liberal leadership over to Julie Bishop. This will get the women and family voters back on line. She can be used to ease the “work” places changes now seen as a negative to John Howard. This will show that the Liberal Party is ready to forge ahead with new thinking."

Personally, I'd go for the Malcolm Dream Team - Turnbull with Brough as Deputy. If the Liberals are returned, the funeral directors Ruddock and Andrews must go. Abbot can have the Speakership to shut him up for a while.

I actually sat down and thought about this. I went through the list who's who in Australia's political circles on who has personality, charisma and an atitude to set fire to people and get 'em passionate about this. It about 15 minutes to decide to broaden my search and include foreign pollies.

Italy has an ex porn star by the name of La Cicciolina...

That's about all I've got. We need porn stars, militant Islamists, militant Christians, the Legalize Cannabis Party, Scientologists and the Exclusive Brethren (they'll just sit there with their eyes closed handing out money) running the circus. That should stir 'em up.

Foxy: "Can someone explain - who do we believe?"

Well, certainly on his record you wouldn't believe the "lying Rodent". Even his own party doesn't believe him.

Personally, I prefer Costello over Howard - but that's like saying I prefer redbacks to funnelwebs.

Stg, "who has personality, charisma and an atitude to set fire to people and get 'em passionate about this"

Those types tend to make me nervous. My impression is that they can be rather rough on those who don't share their views. When I think of leaders who were good at getting people passionate for a cause etc I recall that Hitler seemed to be really good at that.

I'd rather most of us be somewhat disinterested in what our pollies have to say and people be able to go about their lives without a charismatic leader singling them out for public hatred.

Capable administrators may not be much fun and may not make great reformers but then they tend to leave a lot less harm in their wake.

R0bert

I will make my decision - based on who I feel isn't lying to me.
(naive - I know). And what I feel is the right decision not only for Austrlia, but for the planet.

"The women can't stand him which I find puzzling."

Ah thats easy. Women often prefer to have their emotional
buttons pushed, they want schmalz. Costello is about economic
reasoning, which is a whole different story.

Fact is, one cannot deny, he is a smart fellow, who wins
most debates in parliament, as Keating used to. Keating
wasn't popular either, for much the same reasons. Both
are smart fellows and I'd prefer a smart PM, then a dummy
who knows how to give electors the schmalz they want to hear.

Rudd is smart, but more of a diplomat. The problem there
is not Rudd, but the hangers on, who will invariably sink
him in the end. One fellow does not make a Govt.

Perhaps we need a Costello-Rudd Government :)

Women like schmaltz? - Boy, that's so yesterday...

What women like is chutzpah not schmaltz -( and poor man has neither!).

We know more about how Costello would run things as PM than we do about how Rudd would, and he's odds on to win, or so say the polls. So why the concern with Costello? I'm more concerned with Rudd. What has he ever run that gives us sufficient confidence to vote him in as PM?

Hello Ditch,

Well, let me tell you a thing or two,
About a man who you think's 'brand new' ...
Kevin Rudd's a really great bloke,
Australia's future to him's no joke!

Kevin Rudd has been the Federal Member for Griffith since being first elected in 1998. In 2001 he was appointed to Federal Labor's Shadow
Cabinet. And, on December 4, the Federal Labor Caucus met for a leadership ballot. Kevin Rudd defeated Kim Beazley to become Federal Labor Leader and the Leader of the Opposition.

Before entering Federal Parliament, Kevin joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1981, working in the Australian Embassies in both Stockholm and Beijing.

Upon returning to Australia he worked for the Department in a number of positions including the Policy Planning Bureau and was promoted to Assistant Secretary.

In 1988 Kevin took leave from the Department of Foreign Affairs to take up a position as Chief of Staff to the then Queensland State Opposition Leader, Wayne Goss. Kevin remained Mr Goss' Chief of Staff after Mr Goss was elected Premier in 1989.

In 1992 Kevin was appointed Director General of the Cabinet Office and he remained with the Queensland State Government until 1995. After a period of working as a China Consultant with KPMG, Kevin was elected to the Federal Parliament as the Member for Griffith in the House of Representatives in 1998, and was re-elected in 2001 and 2004 with an increased vote on both occasions.

Did I mention that Kevin in fluent in Mandarin? (helps for a PM to be fluent in an Asian language - considering the region we live in, don't you think?).

Now, Peter Costello - has only had his experience as a Treasurer - and nothing more to speak of. And Mr Howard - had no experience to speak of, prior to his becoming treasurer (a job he stuffed up badly). So you think about who you really want as PM... But don't take too long, the election's in a few weeks time.

"Women like schmaltz? - Boy, that's so yesterday... "

Yet it still works today.

I will respect you in the morning.
You really look wonderful in that dress.
No dear, you are not fat at all and look wonderful.

Schamlz wins elections, still today.
Its also handy for getting a bit of hot sex :)

You girls just can't help yourselves.

Costello gives you economic reality. You girls
prefer schmalz.

Minchin, not a favorite of my side but a real chance if given the leadership.
Even if Costello takes over he will fail, badly too, he can not win the middle over.
Believe it or not Australia MUST have strong oppositions and alternative governments.
Right now my party in NSW looks to be just what it is, lost.
But in truth even if we dump at least 2 ministers, please do Mr premier one day after this election.
We are not yet seeing a true opposition , we are however seeing a leader who can win leading the opposition.
Rudd? come now the scare tactic is regressive, working strongly against Howard.
No easy task for conservatives to hurt Rudd, he is the man to restore Labors brand name, strong steady and unafraid to take on his own side to govern well, and he will.

Yabby,

Most women today prefer a man who's not a 'con' artist or 'smooth talker.' Smaltz may work in the short term - but eventually it gets boring. You need more than 'smaltz' to be able to score these days.
Swimming in the 'shallow' end is fun - for a child. Most adults find the deep-end of the pool a little more challenging.

The same goes for our choice of leaders. A man with only one string to his bow - is not much of a choice. We want a complete package.

Foxy, schmalz still works everywhere, some just do it better then
others. Look at where it got Bill Clinton! The world is full
of the emotionally engulfed and many unmarried mothers.

When it comes to economics, which can be dry, people don't want
to hear the truth, or they shoot the messenger. Personally
I prefer reality and dealing with it, most voters don't.
So intelligence to me is no 1. Costello and Rudd are both
intelligent, Rudd is just way better at pushing emotional buttons
with his wording.

People want passion, they want dreams, they want modesty, they
want their emotional buttons pushed, thats the reality.

Political parties are not silly. They spend alot of time and money
finding out what people want to hear, then if at all possible,
thats what they sell them. There are plenty of true believers
out there and a few more of them, can win you the elections.

As to Costello, I rate him far smarter then Howard. Its just
that Howard knows how to bush emotional buttons, thats won
him many elections. Costello is less skilled at that and
like Keating, a man of reason. But voters prefer schmalz,
thats why Rudd will win. He's far better at pushing emotional
buttons then either Howard or Costello.

Foxy, thanks for the rundown on your Kevin. Costello has had how long in govt as Treasurer? Not the right type of experience for you Foxy?

Dear Ditch,

But that's all Costello knows - for eleven years. Would you appoint
an accountant with eleven years experience to run the country...?

As I've said earlier - I would prefer someone with more than one string to their bow. I want the whole package.

It really gets down to who you want to win office doesn't it Foxy. If you want Rudd as PM then you'll sing his praises and visa versa. It's that simple.

In two words! Hell no! Have any of you profiled Peter Costello? The man thinks he is so smart and he is, and this is the danger that i will bring to you attention. The man is full of him self! He is a liberal, and his mind is on making money. Don't trust him! He really thinks he is smarter than all of us.

evolution, your anti Costello comments provide support for the point I made.

Ditch, I think the term is "confirmation bias".
We all tend to notice the things which confirm our bias's and minimise that which contradicts our bias's.

R0bert

In a forum called inside politics I expected a bit more understanding of the subject.
Hold me accountable for this post, see how wrong I am.
6 months after the election Howard will not be in Parliament.
He may well not hold his seat.
He will not win the election and could go within weeks.
IF Costello takes his place he will not lead the Liberals into an election.
He has quality's that could help him in that job ,but is better known for his sneer than anything.
Non conservatives will never warm to him.
Just as it was for Labor post Latham , the conservatives task has to be to win back lost supporters.
And once they except the defeat and except the reasons for it, they will gather new strength for government some time in the future, 8 to 12 years at least.
Labor to have 8 to 10 seat majority and Howard's defeat outranks Lathams.
Costello tainted by his support of workchoices and that sneer, would only delay the return to reality of conservatives.

It's now becoming obvious that the Liberal Party has a succession crisis which is unmanageable using the current thinking.

Costello is unelectable. Turnbull will probably not be there. Abbott is too loose-lipped with personal agenda. Downer is a clown with a pingpong ball down his throat. Nelson has too many skeletons in his cupboard.

What about a fresh team - Greg Hunt with Julie Bishop in reserve? They could hardly do worse.

I actually like Julie Bishop... But, as John Hewson told Andrew Denton
regarding John Howard, "They'll have to carry him out in a box."
In other words, he won't go willingly (and I suspect Janet won't let him).

Janet would not even let old John plant a tree on his own, I loved that video.
However I confidently stand by my post voters are carrying that box John has no choice.
For conservatives consider this the great man Kim Beasley was everything Labor wanted and the best prime minister we never had.
He however was unable to bring voters over from Howard in numbers big enough to win.
Put Costello in the same spot and watch history repeat its self.
In the hard light of the day after this election pick some one for the future not from the past.

Todays polling says it is most unlikely John Howard will hold his own seat so? for a time on Sunday next weekend Costello will lead the coalition.

Costello would be worse for the Liberals than Howard.

The Libs have got to go for some really fresh blood - someone not yet in the Cabinet, and someone with some really 'liberal' views on social issues. The time for economic rationalist has gone; union bashing doesn't win votes; and the electorate has grown immune to scare-mongering.

If they do not undertake radical change they will be out of office for the next decade.

Even with radical change it will be 3 terms before they are a chance.
Yes I am ALP but it is my truly held view Rudd is no show pony he will be no easy task to get out.
States? Labor is weary in NSW my only hope they are awaiting this election to spill blood on the front bench.
Seems clear Costello will lead by midnight Saturday as Howard fails in Benalong.

The stories circulating here in Victoria are that, if the Liberals lose on Saturday - and even if Howard and Turnbull win their seats (which is no certainty) - that there will be a rush to the exit seats. No one except the very young and ambitious wants to be in the leadership roles for the next term. And several will not see out their terms in Opposition.

Costello and Turnbull haven't got the patience or humility to be Leader of the Opposition and Abbott is tired of political life altogether. Downer wants to lead the Liberal Party in SA (Premier Downer is an acceptable title to the goofy son of Lord Downer of Crafers and doesn't understand that you actually have to work at winning titles, not just inherit them).

Ruddock and Andrews are going to open a funeral parlour business together.

Bishop the Elder will beg the ALP for the Speakership (but won't get it) while Bishop the Younger will be put in charge of Opposition business in the House (if she had a sex change she'd be a good bet for Leader but the Liberals don't go for competent women - look at Amanda Vanstone).

Brough and Hockey are young enough, but are they talented enough? Robb is experienced in the back rooms of the Party but would hardly have the charisma required to be in the public spotlight.

The Nationals will stage a palace coup under Barnaby Joyce in the wash-up from the Wheat for Dollars scandal and the Regional $$$ corruption that the media will spotlight after the election.

It's a real succession crisis - one of the worst of the negative legacies of Howard's egomaniacal desire for eternal power.