Costello exits with little fanfare

For a man who likes to leave his mark, Peter Costello ended his 19-year
parliamentary career with an uncustomary lack of fanfare.
He handed his resignation to House of Representatives Speaker Harry Jenkins on
Monday and - that was it - he was gone.
There was no show-stopping valedictory speech.
Instead, he saved the spectacle for the people he loves and hates in equal measure -
the media.
It was classic Costello.
"My friends in the press gallery, I will miss you all, more than you can believe,"
he told reporters.
"It's been a wonderful ride and I thank you for keeping me honest for all of those
years."
The crowd was treated to the usual Costello modesty.
"I've had a great career in public life," he said.
"I leave with the feeling that I made our country a better place."
The former treasurer was certain his reforms, as well as his disdain for debt, had
saved Australia from the worst of the financial and economic catastrophe that
plagued the rest of the industrialised world.
Of course, the government had got its strategy wrong with its stimulus package - as
he calls it "a low quality spend" - and the resulting debt burden it created.
"A government is much better if it lives within its means," Mr Costello said.
"A spendophile is a much easier condition to get to than a debtophobe ... spending
is the easiest condition in the world.
"The hard thing is to balance a budget."
He urged young talent in the Liberal Party to make the most of the opportunities
afforded by opposition.
Using himself as an example, he said that it was unlikely that he'd have been made
Liberal deputy in 1994 if the coalition had been in government.
"I think the Liberal Party will have to go through a rebuilding period. It's a great
time for young people in the Liberal Party," Mr Costello said.
What kind of time it was like for older types, like Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull,
he wasn't exactly saying.
"In a two-horse race there is every opportunity," Mr Costello said.
There was little mention of the one job he always wanted - the prime ministership.
But there was a swipe at the lack of "succession planning" by his former boss John
Howard.
"I argued for that, obviously it didn't happen," Mr Costello said.
For the moment, the exact nature of Mr Costello's next adventure remains a mystery.
He intends to take up a job in the private sector but isn't letting on what it is or
when it will start.
He was equally coy about discussions with the Rudd government regarding a possible
government job.
Mr Costello departs political life nearly two years after he signalled he was going
- the day after voters dumped the Howard government from office.
He hung around, he says, because he was waiting for the right person to replace him
in his seat of Higgins.
Mr Costello is throwing his weight behind his former staffer Kelly O'Dwyer who will
contest a by-election in the seat.
"The important thing was to make sure I had a successor," Mr Costello said.
The voters of Higgins are expected to make that choice at the end of November.