Peter Costello flew almost 1900 kilometres in a VIP jet with his wife Tanya
to begin his tour of regional and remote centres in north Queensland, but the
launching pad could almost as easily have been Barwon Heads.
Aside from the heavy skies, fierce wind and absence of whales that greeted
the Treasurer at the sea-change capital of Hervey Bay, there was a preponderance
of expatriate Victorians. When someone asked for a show of hands at a morning
tea of retirees, about 40 per cent said they came from down south. Only five
were born in Hervey Bay.
The big difference was the level of interest in the man who would be PM. As
Mr Costello put it: "If I sent a letter out in my electorate and invited them to
come and hear me on aged care issues, I'd be happy if 30 turned up. In a town
like Hervey Bay, for 200 people to roll out is great."
The previous night 260 locals paid $85 a head to hear Mr Costello deliver his
easy blend of stand-up comedy, self-promotion and serious politics.
The reaction of several interviewed by The Age at both functions, and over
the next two days in Cairns, was overwhelmingly positive but cautionary for the
man hoping for a smooth leadership transition to the prime ministership next
year.
"He'll end up with it, I suppose, and he'll do a good job," remarked an
axeman in the woodcutting competition at the Cairns show. "But the other bloke
is still kicking goals and he likes the limelight too much."
Mr Costello, who turns 48 next month, likes to joke that just as there is the
Mason-Dixon line in the United States separating the south from the rest of the
country, there is the Mason-Brandis line in Australia. "You cross that and
you're in Queensland."
Brett Mason and George Brandis are Queensland senators, urbane, intellectual
and just a bit quirky, who strongly support Mr Costello.
The serious business of this trip was to learn more about what is happening
in remote indigenous communities. Mr Costello appeared to be highly motivated by
what he heard and saw and came away with an increased regard for the indigenous
leader Noel Pearson.
But there was another objective: to reveal Mr Costello as a broader
personality than the image of the one-dimensional Treasurer with the smirk.
At the Hervey Bay dinner, Mr Costello addressed the question of image with
self-deprecation. "One lady said to me as I walked around, 'You're taller than I
expected'," he said. "Another lady said, 'You're thinner than you look on
television'. And another lady said, 'You're more handsome'. That was my wife.
She still believes in me." Laughs all around.
At Trinity Anglican School in Cairns, he was asked by a student named Haley
if he had always wanted to be a politician. "I didn't want to be a politician
when I was young," he replied. "I hoped to do something useful with my
life."
He then explained how he aspired to be a great sportsman, but "that avenue
closed because I was too slow and my reflexes weren't good enough".
Then he thought of being an astronaut before turning to the law and
concluding drafting the laws was better than interpreting them.
Of being Treasurer, he said: "I must say it's not a bad job, if you're
thinking about it, Haley. Every now and then you get the chance to see something
good that you've done."
Mr Costello was one year behind Steve Vizard at Carey Grammar and it seemed
no coincidence that he lectured the students on the importance of values as well
as cleverness. "There are clever people who are bad people. We see them all the
time, contravening laws. Cleverness is not enough. Cleverness has got to be put
in a values system, to be used for good and not for evil."
He also cited the example of Bill Gates, who was just "a geeky guy in a
garage" playing around with computers who became the richest man in the
world.
The tour was also sprinkled with gags at the expense of the Opposition
Leader. At the show when Mr Costello came across a spa pool that enables the
swimmer to swim furiously, yet stay in the same spot, he said: "That's Kim
Beazley, practising politics."
The context for the trip was set around the May budget, after the PM's hint
in Athens that he intended to face Mr Beazley at least one more time prompted Mr
Costello to declare the need for a smooth leadership transition.
The expectation of those close to Mr Costello is that the PM will bow out,
giving their man plenty of time to put his stamp on the job and maximise his
chances at the next election, due late in 2007.
As they see it, such a scenario is in the best interests of John Howard, who
would go out a winner at the peak of his powers; of Mr Costello, who would
benefit from a smooth transition; and the Liberal Party, which could be set up
for several more election wins.
And if Mr Howard stays put, the expectation is that Mr Costello will bring on
a challenge or two.
The only problem with this thinking is that Mr Howard may want to chance his
arm at least one more time.
