Puppeteer Keeps Them Dancing
The Age
Thursday September 11, 2008
PETER Costello still has the Liberals dancing on a string. In neither his book nor an extensive interview with The Age did he fully clarify his future.
Confronted with the question "When are you going to declare your intention?", his initial response was "When it suits me", though he quickly went on to say he did not have designs on the leadership. But, as he knows full well, until he firmly says he is leaving Parliament ASAP he remains, in the mind of many in the party, a potential leader - as he does if he says he will remain in Parliament for the time being. Why Costello is being so coy becomes more of a mystery by the day. He may be a tyro author with a bright writing future, but this is taking book promotion to absurd lengths.The terrible irony for the hapless Brendan Nelson is that Costello is now both his shield against Malcolm Turnbull and the one whose behaviour is undermining the leader.Until recently, Nelson appeared relaxed and happy about Costello's position. Whatever was said at a long discussion they had some weeks ago obviously gave Nelson some feeling of security. But as the questions intensify daily, even Nelson must be becoming impatient with him.He said yesterday that "he's been extraordinarily supportive of me over the past nine months", and that their discussions had embraced talks about Costello's future. But he admitted that the present situation was something he would "prefer to be without". Nelson remained confident that Costello would announce his plans "in the not too distant future", but the Opposition Leader is now being forced into having to respond to the various issues raised in the Costello book, including the former government's failure to deal properly with the republic and reconciliation. From Nelson's point of view, the only clean end to this affair is for Costello to say he'll quit Parliament before the year is out. But that would mean the party would have to confront the choice between Nelson and Turnbull. If it did that sooner rather than later, Turnbull would almost inevitably get the numbers, whatever the state of his numbers now. If there was not an early ballot, Nelson's agony would drag on until there was one.
© 2008 The Age