A dramatic public confrontation erupted between Australia's
prime minister and his ambitious treasurer yesterday over an
alleged promise to hand over power.
Just hours after Prime Minister John Howard, 66, denied making
such a promise, Treasurer Peter Costello, 48, called a news
conference to say that he had.
"There was no deal made," Howard said, denying a reported
account of a meeting with Costello in December 1994 as the two men
haggled over the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Costello, apparently deciding to take the gloves off after years
of sparring over the premiership and ahead of national elections
due next year, said, however, that Howard had asked him at the
meeting not to stand for the party leadership.
"He told me that he intended to do one-and-a-half terms as prime
minister and then would hand over. I did not seek that undertaking,
he volunteered and I took him at his word," Costello said.
"Obviously that did not happen," he added.
Howard, who then won the party leadership without a challenge
from Costello, went on to lead the Liberals to victory in 1996 and
in three subsequent elections.
After Costello's astonishing remarks, which came close to
calling Howard a liar, the prime minister issued a statement that
did not dispute the treasurer's account of the 1994 meeting, but
again said there was no deal.
"Nothing said by Costello today has in any way altered the
position that no deal was made about a leadership transition," he
said through a spokesman.
Howard became the most powerful Australian leader in a
generation last year when his Liberal-National coalition gained a
majority in the senate, giving it control of both houses of
parliament.
Domestically, he has presided over boom times for Australia,
with vigorous economic growth, tax cuts and budget surpluses
although Costello, as treasurer, frequently takes credit for
this.
Internationally, Howard made Australia one of the key regional
allies of US President George W. Bush, contributing troops to the
US-led invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq.
While Costello is seen as less conservative on domestic social
issues, there is no suggestion that he would seek to recall the
troops from Iraq if he did get the top job.
But the infighting within the government could help the
anti-Iraq War Labor Party make inroads into the coalition's 10-year
grasp on power before the next elections due by the end of
2007.
Australian newspapers noted that Labor was leading the Liberals
in the most recent public opinion poll and said in an editorial
that the government was suffering from the leadership row,
"appearing to have lost its way on policy."
The disputed meeting was revealed at the weekend when former
Liberal minister Ian McLachlan, who was present, said he had kept
notes which showed that Howard told Costello he would step down
after two terms.
Costello has made no secret of his ambition to be prime
minister, though in the past he and Howard have handled the regular
questions about the succession with a mixture of humor and
caginess.
That ended yesterday, but Costello indicated that he had no
intention of leaving the government, despite calls from the Labor
Party for him or Howard to quit the cabinet after the
confrontation.
Asked if the prime minister had lied, Costello replied: "I'm
telling you what happened. I'm not making any allegations against
anybody."
(China Daily July 11, 2006)
