http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html en-gb 30 Wed 23 Dec 2009 06:03:44 GMT+1 A feed of user comments from the page found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=18#comment15 I don't think so! Costello (a.k.a Captain Smirk) was a neoliberal zealot who together with Howard pandered to the American philosophy of greed not need, ensuring that the rich got richer and the poor stayed that way. He and Howard made me feel ashamed to be an Australian. Good riddance! Wed 24 Jun 2009 12:40:26 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=17#comment14 Anyone who was party to the decision to become a member of the Coalition of the Willing does not deserve to hold any public office, let alone draw a princely pension.Peter did not have the ticker to take part in any of the reconciliation bridge walks despite allegedly wishing to do so. Sat 20 Jun 2009 01:06:00 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=16#comment13 Costello may see himself as unlucky, but the rest will see him as gutless. Australian politics is a rough business and he didnt have the brass. How his family see him is a really good question; how would he meet the Rev Tims stare at Christmas time? Fri 19 Jun 2009 06:29:30 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=15#comment12 Wishful thinking on my part, Old Hermit. But can't see much changing in the next 11 months... Thu 18 Jun 2009 15:40:47 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=13#comment11 Mackem81, you're speaking as if Gordon Brown has already ended his premiership. If only! Thu 18 Jun 2009 14:21:08 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=12#comment10 Costello should count himself lucky that he'll always be held in high regard as one of the nearly men. Look what happened to two commonwealth peers of his who also had long-running feuds with their PMs - Paul Martin in Canada and Gordon Brown in the UK. Both promised much, but delivered little in their premierships. Both would probably be one of the 'best prime ministers their countries never had' had they not been given the chance to prove their inability to do the top job. Thu 18 Jun 2009 12:32:18 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=11#comment9 Yeah... umm. No. Not exactly the "best" anything for pretty much ever.. except perhaps the best friend Howard ever had: put anyone else in the ex-treasurers shoes over the years 1996-2007 and see how long johnny the lying rat remained chewed-on to his precious kirribilli privileges. content to be the deputy sherriff's deputy.. or perhaps sancho panza's donkey. Thu 18 Jun 2009 03:40:35 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=10#comment8 Howard and Costello always reminded me of Hawke and Keating. At least Keating had the gumption to challenge for the leadership. Maybe Costello should have taken his chance way back when Howard challenged Downer...Also.. I've always wondered what Tim Costello thought of his brother's politics. Wed 17 Jun 2009 09:42:16 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=8#comment7 Its too bad Peter Costello didn't challenge the leadership against John Howard. But that's the point isn't it? If he really was up to being leader of Australia he should have used some political manoeuvering a long time ago. Illustrating his ability to make tough decisions and stand up for what he believes in - even if it was just himself! His recent decision hardly comes as a surprise - more something that was waiting to happen. Wed 17 Jun 2009 07:59:58 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=7#comment6 No way! Costello was an idiot, and i think former Liberal leader John Hewson sums it up best in this article. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/you-missed-your-chance-peter-20090221-8e70.html?page=-1The best Prime Minister we never had was Doc Evatt. He was just unlucky that he came up against the shrewdest politican Australia has ever had in Robert Menzies and the whole Petrov Affair cost him an election as well. Wed 17 Jun 2009 02:31:30 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=6#comment5 Costello needs to either leave or take up the leadership of the Liberals. With a political heavy-weight like him in the room, no one else will be an effective leader of the Liberal Party.His current presence as a back-bencher is disallowing others to unite the party again.And if he were to assume the leadership he may get the party back on track, but it will probably be too late to win the next election. And a lost election is the last thing any opposition leader with prime-ministerial ambitions wants to have on their record.So I think he is doing the right thing by removing himself from the scene, and allowing Turnbull (or whoever else) to turn the Liberal Party into a serious opposition. Wed 17 Jun 2009 02:14:58 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=5#comment4 Costello will always be remembered as the Treasurer who continued to fill the ever deepening pockets of Australia's richest people by taking money from the mouths of Australia's poorest families. Costello left politics because he finally became aware that Australians would never make him their Prime Minister. I am no longer ashamed to be an Australian since he and Howard lost government. Tue 16 Jun 2009 22:48:48 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=3#comment3 Clive James is a premium export because we're well shot of the narcissitic overrated nong. As for Costello, the funniest part of the affair has been Howard's niggardly tribute Tue 16 Jun 2009 13:18:49 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=2#comment2 Turbull can bear hide his jubilation ..and his son Alex's facebook signature reveals all... Tue 16 Jun 2009 12:52:45 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=1#comment1 #1 ....anyone other than Winston ChurchillNick, the Australian Financial Review could equally have said that "Turnbull liberates Costello" He needs to look outside politics Tue 16 Jun 2009 12:51:08 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/06/the_best_prime_minister_austra.html?page=0#comment0 That would be Hideki Tojo wouldn't it? Tue 16 Jun 2009 10:29:19 GMT+1