I have watched Peter Costello’s retirement announcement and I’ve felt a little disappointed but also happy that he has finally decided to move on. The constant speculation around whether Costello would challenge Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal leadership has no doubt put strain on the Coalition. Costello has the experience and the track record and while he remained in the Parliamentary party uncertainty was guaranteed.
I will confess that I was thrilled when John Howard was defeated by Kevin Rudd in 2007 and even more excited that he lost his seat of Bennelong. I applaud his economic achievements but his social policy and divisive or wedge politics left me feeling empty and ashamed. He had a knack of pushing buttons – buttons of hate and discrimination. Whether it was telling the Australian public that boat people were throwing their children overboard or discriminating against gay and lesbian people in his definition of marriage, he looked to the “wedge” to gain votes.
I would have liked to have seen Costello lead the Liberal Party – he would have made a great leader and was far more in touch with social issues than Howard ever was. But with all of this I can’t help but be concerned about the possibility of a by-election in the seat of Higgins. Elections are expensive – in 2004 the Federal election cost $120 million and the 2007 election was reported to have cost $95 million. There were 7723 polling places and more than 70,000 electoral staff.
A by election would cost a fraction of this but even if the by-election cost $1 million it is a massive amount of money. What else could this money be spent on? Hospitals and schools would benefit greatly and when I meet people daily who have lost their job or are struggling to pay mortgages I can’t help but feel that a by election would be a selfish waste of money.
Labor has announced that they would not be contesting the Higgins by election if it was held. This would save Labor around $150,000 and given they would have little if any chance of winning the seat I applaud the decision. What we should all demand however is that by elections are not held unless the elected person is incapacitated and incapable of serving for the full term. By elections are costly and money could be better spent. Maybe the elected person wanting an early exit should pay for the by election – certainly worth a thought!
Michael Marquette