http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/peter-costello/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-tar-and-feather-all-afl-players/ Something about the Warne/Hurley tryst got right up Peter Costello’s nose last week. In a rant that first bagged Warne and then slagged the self interest of elite sportsmen, the former Australian Treasurer ultimately suggested that parents should fear AFL-run sports clinics. “Any right-thinking parent would quake with fear to hear that footballers were coming to their daughter’s school to give a little bit of inspiration,” he wrote. Now, in the past I’ve been quick to skewer wayward sports stars. But to tar all AFL footballers with a single brush is akin to suggesting all politicians are rednecks because a few on the Right like to parrot the policies of One Nation. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-tar-and-feather-all-afl-players/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-tar-and-feather-all-afl-players/#item5182 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/someone-pleeease-give-this-man-a-meaningful-job/ Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/someone-pleeease-give-this-man-a-meaningful-job/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/someone-pleeease-give-this-man-a-meaningful-job/#item5180 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/diary-of-a-liberal-frontbencher-my-memoir/ SUNDAY 24/10/10 Morning Costello dropped in to Melbourne office today. Has copy of Howard memoirs. Says he is checking it for errors, misrepresentation, and slander. Book is dog eared and crammed with post-it notes. Costello asked if I kept any records during Costello/Howard era. Tell Costello I kept a diary. Costello asks if I could check it. He is doing a ring around to get source material. Is thinking of writing a scathing review of Howard’s book for The Monthly. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/diary-of-a-liberal-frontbencher-my-memoir/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/diary-of-a-liberal-frontbencher-my-memoir/#item4355 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-step-down-for-someone-who-could-never-step-up/ Back in 2005 Peter Costello made a star appearance at the morning editorial meeting in the news room at The Daily Telegraph. He plonked himself down in what was the deputy editor’s chair. When his choice of seat was pointed out to him he roared with laughter and rolled his eyes, joking that it was his lot in life to forever be number two. The reason for the meeting was simple. The newspaper, of which I had just become editor, wanted to get to know him better. Not because we were trying to cause trouble – well, perhaps a little bit -  but more so because we thought our Sydney readers were curious about the guy and believed that at some stage he would become PM whether they liked it or not. The reality in 2005 was that Labor was going nowhere under the leadership of the likeable but lacklustre Kim Beazley. It was our assessment back then that the only probable change of government during the 2004-2007 parliamentary term would be from a Howard Government to a Costello Government. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-step-down-for-someone-who-could-never-step-up/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-step-down-for-someone-who-could-never-step-up/#item4322 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-honest-is-johns-version-of-history/ The Punch will be live blogging the former Prime Minister John Howard’s appearance on the Q&A program this evening. You can join in from 9:30 PM AEDT. John Howard on Q and A: 25/10/2010 feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-honest-is-johns-version-of-history/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-honest-is-johns-version-of-history/#item4321 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sometimes-only-a-hard-decision-will-do/ Labor hard man Graham Richardson noted yesterday that courage was a defining quality in a leader. He was speaking about Peter Costello’s unwillingness to do the hard graft of gathering the numbers for a challenge which of course, never came. That tawdry clash of egos which bedevilled the last Coalition governemnt will re-surface this week when John Howard’s memoirs, ``Lasarus Rising’’ hits the bookshelves. Courage remains important in the contemporary political context too because it is not just seizing power that takes guts, exercising it fully also requires steely determination in the face of resistance. Even Julia Gillard’s political enemies concede she has passed the first of these tests. Blasting Kevin Rudd from the leadership took a lot of sand. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sometimes-only-a-hard-decision-will-do/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/sometimes-only-a-hard-decision-will-do/#item4311 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-only-debt-that-these-two-are-owed-is-gratitude/ The only use of the word ‘debt’ that’s justified in the same sentence as John Howard and Peter Costello is ‘debt of gratitude’. If we are hearing a lot about the need to return Government to surplus, and hearing the PM use the word ‘conservative’ as much as he can, it is because Howard and Costello set the governance benchmark and changed our political culture in their term in office. The Westpac Chief Economist, Bill Evans, put up a telling set of graphs at the bank’s budget night dinner showing the debt situation of Australia compared to the US and European countries. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-only-debt-that-these-two-are-owed-is-gratitude/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-only-debt-that-these-two-are-owed-is-gratitude/#item3102 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Things-just-went-from-bad-to-horror-movie-for-malcolm/ Peter Costello has decided to leave his seat of Higgins in Melbourne before the next election meaning that the Liberals will face two by-elections in close succession or even on the same day. The former Treasurer is yet to give a reason as to why he has left early but he has managed to turn Malcolm Turnbull’s current position from scary to downright horrific. This is like that scene from the latest Saw movie even the actors apparently had to walk out on. One upside to the departure is that the distraction of Peter Costello will be over with once and for all for Malcolm Turnbull. The downside is this: two men who were the most senior remaining members of the Howard Government, Brendan Nelson and now Peter Costello, have decided to leave Parliament early causing by-elections in the middle of what is already a crisis for Malcolm Turnbull and his party over the ETS. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Things-just-went-from-bad-to-horror-movie-for-malcolm/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Things-just-went-from-bad-to-horror-movie-for-malcolm/#item1421 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crazy-canberra-theory-263-the-costello-comeback/ As Federal Parliament starts to resemble an X-Files episode, the latest mad theory is that Peter Costello is being encouraged to rethink his eight-day-old decision to leave politics. There are even byzantine claims that the sham email found by the AFP yesterday at treasury official Godwin Grech’s house - which has today been pelted with eggs - was the political equivalent of an exploding cigar aimed at destroying Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership. The theory has been given extra legs with revelations on The Punch yesterday that the AFP want to have a quiet word to former Costello staffer Paul Lindwall, who until recently was working as Mr Turnbull’s economics advisor, to see what role if any he had in the email affair. There are no suggestions of any wrongdoing on his part but he is a confidante of Mr Grech and the coppers are keen to rule him in or out of the equation. It’s anything goes stuff in Canberra right now. The wildly speculative Costello talk does indicate one thing - serious Liberal disquiet over Malcolm Turnbull’s judgment on Utegate, and his ability to bounce back from a shocking 24 hours. Should Peter Costello make a comeback? The Punch will again provide live coverage of the Question Time mayhem from 2pm. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crazy-canberra-theory-263-the-costello-comeback/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/crazy-canberra-theory-263-the-costello-comeback/#item426 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/costellos-faith-and-decency-did-not-suit-brutal-times/ Editor’s note: David Gazard was Peter Costello’s political advisor from 2003 to 2007 and is one of his closest confidantes. As Australian politics has become more professional, it has become more brutal. Gone are the days, by and large, of a certain cross-party respect for each other and certain boundaries that are never crossed. They have been replaced by machine men, spin doctors and campaign managers more focussed on one thing: winning at all costs. It’s a harder, unforgiving and relentless environment, where people who openly describe themselves as haters abound, and are lionised for describing themselves as thus. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/costellos-faith-and-decency-did-not-suit-brutal-times/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/costellos-faith-and-decency-did-not-suit-brutal-times/#item344 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Peter Costello has been busy, by all accounts, since leaving politics. Yet somehow, he just seems like a guy kicking cans at the moment. All that talent. All that fight. All that political nous. And there he is now, not in the Capital Hill moshpit, but on all those advisory boards… Sigh. Costello’s website states, with uncharacteristic blandness, that he is currently managing director of a thing called BKK Partners, and that he reports to the World Bank and a bunch of other worthy entities. Point is, no one really knows what he does. But it’s clear that he’s spoiling for a fight, any fight, with anyone.