National Observer Home > No. 43 - Summer 2000 > Editorial Comment

When Will Mr. Costello Sink the Coalition?

The question is surely not if, but when, Mr. Peter Costello will undo the Liberal-National Party Coalition. For Mr. Costello has, as Treasurer, been advancing radical tax policies pressed upon him by left-wing A.T.O. officers and Treasury ideologues.

The A.T.O. (the Australian Tax Office) has long been regarded as the most left-wing of Commonwealth departments. Its reputation is that those who are not pro-Labor Party are prevented from progressing or are made so unwelcome as to be frozen out. It is perceived that tax policy has been captured by ideologues who are anti-business in their sympathies and are unmindful of the fact that Australia must compete, in tax policies, with other countries for investment.

Why has Mr. Costello (unlike a predecessor, Mr. Paul Keating) proved so uncritically amenable to A.T.O. policies?

There are several answers, of cumulative weight.

First, it has become apparent that Mr. Costello is, above all, personally ambitious, and his ambitions are perceived by some to supplant any personal philosophy. As a practical matter it may appear to be safe to follow departmental advice. If that advice appears later to be misconceived, the relevant departmental officers can be blamed.

Secondly, largely by reason of publicity given to the Dollar Sweets case many years ago Mr. Costello's adherence to the so-called New Right appears to have been overstated. In fact, in the Dollar Sweets case he did not conduct the litigation, but was merely junior counsel, and deserved little credit for the result. And although he has in recent years espoused various New Right causes, it is difficult to establish to what extent he has done so as a matter of principle and to what extent he has merely supported what, for the time being, has seemed to be on the ascendant.

Thirdly, Mr. Costello's early involvement with the Australian Labor Party has recently received much publicity. His biographer, Ms. Tracey Aubin, has written: "The record shows that in the late 1970s, his links to the A.L.P. and significant figures in it were close and substantial . . . Labor was beginning to count Costello as one of its own as early as 1976." She states, "Costello's involvement with young Labor at this time was an active one. In 1976 and 1977 he was an energetic member of a team campaigning to take control of the Shop Assistants' Union from the National Civic Council and reaffiliate it to the National Labor Party." She states that he took part in Young Labor Conferences, where he was seen voting, and that in May 1978 he attended an intensive Labor "school" or training camp, which Mr. David Cragg has described as being "for full-on member activists". At a similar school in 1979, Ms. Aubin states, his name appeared just above that of Mr. Paul Keating. It will be recalled also that Mr. Costello's brother, the Reverend Tim Costello, is generally perceived to have a leftish rather than conservative position, and has actively criticised many policies of the Coalition government. Is this merely a coincidence, or does it have some other significance?

National Observer No. 43 - Summer 2000