All Posts Tagged With: "leadership"

The Treasurer in the defeated coalition government, Peter Costello, has announced that he “will not seek and will not accept” the leadership or deputy leadership of the Liberal Party.

Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne, Costello said: “I will continue to serve my constituents and in serving my constituents I hope that I will have a role to play perhaps mentoring some of the newer MPs.” Significantly, he did not commit to serving the full three years of the term he was elected to yesterday.

Costello said he “will be looking to build a career post-politics in the commercial world”.

Costello has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since May 23, 1994. He was been Treasurer since the Howard government was elected in 1996. His decision to vacate the field will likely lead to a contest between outgoing ministers such as Malcolm Turnbull, Brendan Nelson, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Julie Bishop.

Standing beside her husband during the press conference, Mrs. Tanya Costello quoted C.J. Dennis when asked for her thoughts:

‘Yeh live, yeh love, yeh learn; an’ when yeh come

To square the ledger in some thortful hour,

The everlastin’ answer to the sum

Must allus be, “Where’s sense in gittin’ sour?”

“Livin’ an’ lovin’ — so life mooches on.”

She said: “For Peter and I, life will mooch on.”

Listen to Peter and Tanya Costello’s Press Conference:

This is the transcript of Peter Costello’s press conference, held at Treasury Place, Melbourne at 12.40pm today.

COSTELLO:

Well thank you all for coming out on Sunday. Let me begin this press conference by congratulating Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party for their victory in the federal election yesterday. There was a very significant swing and it is clear that they have a substantial majority, and to do that as an Opposition Leader is a considerable achievement and I congratulate him on his victory.

Of course there were millions of Australians who voted for the Liberal and National parties and I want to thank them for the faith and the trust that they showed in us. And I do want to say that on their behalf and indeed on behalf of all Australians, it is important that this new federal Labor Government be held to its promises - that Kevin Rudd be held to his promise to keep food prices down, to keep petrol prices down, to keep inflation down and to take personal responsibility for each and every one of the public hospitals in Australia.

I have served the Liberal Party for 17 years as a Member of Parliament; the first six years in Opposition and whilst we were in Opposition I was elected the Deputy Leader, a position that I have held now for 13 ½ years and of course for the last 11½ years I have served as Treasurer. I have given every waking hour to government and to the people of Australia over those last 11½ years. And for me it has been a great privilege to serve with some wonderful people and I want to thank my wonderful colleagues with whom I have served - many of whom have asked me in the last 12 hours to become the Leader of the Liberal Party.

I have discussed this with my family and my wife Tanya who is here with me today, and we have decided that in fact the time has come for me to open a new chapter in my life. I will be looking to build a career post-politics in the commercial world.

As a consequence of that, I will not seek nor will I accept the leadership or deputy leadership of the Liberal Party. I want to spend more time with my family and do something for them. They have paid a heavy price for 11½ years as Treasurer.

I have been re-elected as the Member for Higgins and I thank the people of Higgins for the trust that they have shown in me. I will continue to serve my constituents and in serving my constituents I hope that I will have a role to play perhaps mentoring some of the newer MPs.

I believe in generational change in the Liberal Party. I came in as part of an Opposition, we took the Opposition up to the Hawke-Keating Government, we were elected and we formed Government. Now it is time for a new generation in Opposition to take the fight up to the Rudd Labor Government and to form the next Liberal Government.

And I do believe that it is time for the young people of talent and ability, of whom there are many, to be given their go in the Liberal Party. Just as I was given my go in the early 1990s, I think it is time for them to have their go and I am going to reprise my trust in the talented young members of the Liberal Party.

I want to pay tribute to John Howard. I had the privilege of serving alongside him. I have said in a recent interview with the possible exception of Sir Robert Menzies, he is Australia’s greatest Prime Minister. I believe that.

I think the achievements of recent years have been absolutely outstanding. I have personally been the longest serving Treasurer in Australia’s history. I have brought down 12 federal budgets. The incoming Treasurer will not inherit a situation that I did with a $10 billion deficit and $96 billion worth of debt.

The incoming Treasurer will have a balanced budget. There will be no Commonwealth debt, we are saving $9 billion a year in interest payments alone. We have reformed the tax system and introduced a broad base consumption tax, 2.2 million more Australians are in work and young people have a better opportunity for work than they have in a generation.

We have established a Future Fund which now has $61 billion to provision for Australia’s future. And I do want to say to the superannuation industry and the financial writers and everybody else, do not let an incoming government raid that Future Fund. Because once that Future Fund is opened for any purpose, it is open for all purposes. This is something that is much more important than politics for the long term interests of this country.

I want to pay tribute to other Members of Parliament, particularly those that have lost their seats in this most recent election. It may well be that John Howard has lost his seat, and Phil Barresi a very dear colleague of mine. I want to say to Mal Brough, I think it is particularly tough on Mal Brough, who I think would have been part of any future leadership in the Liberal Party and to lose him has been a heavy blow.

I want to conclude by thanking my staff, who have been magnificent, led by Phil Gaetjens who had a very, very difficult year, David Gazard, David Alexander, Kelly O’Dwyer, Renae Stoikos, Jonathan Epstein, Gabe, Phil and all of the staff, Karina, who have been here with me through the campaign, all of you have been wonderful and I want to thank each and every one of you. And I also want to pay tribute again to my wife who has been absolutely wonderful. She has put up with a lot over the last 11½ years, raising our children single handedly. Whilst I have been doing my work, she has been doing much more important work.

I have great belief in Australia and its people. I want to see this country be everything it possibly can be and for me it has been a privilege to play my part in making this a better country.

JOURNALIST:

Treasurer, there will be a lot of people who believe the Liberal Party needs you now. When did you make the decision to stand down and can you tell us also when you communicated this to the Prime Minister?

COSTELLO:

Last year I argued the case for generational change and I put that view to my colleagues, a majority of whom did not agree. And my thinking then was that if we won the election there would be generational change after the election if we won, but if we lost I thought it would be time for a new generation. And that was really my thinking from last year. I spoke to the Prime Minister about this matter last night.

JOURNALIST:

Do you regret not being more forceful in challenging the PM?

COSTELLO:

No look, I put the case to the Liberal Party and I put it very strongly. I put it personally. And the reality was that a majority didn’t agree with me. Now if a majority doesn’t agree with you, that’s it. I accepted their decision, I have to accept their decision. It is the same in a federal election. You put your case forcefully to the people and if a majority don’t agree with you, that’s it.

JOURNALIST:

So do you believe…

COSTELLO:

That’s life.

JOURNALIST:

Do you believe the outcome of this election would have been different if the Party Room had made a different decision?

COSTELLO:

Look, I argued the case, you know what my view was. I was very upfront about it, I put it publicly in this room and many other rooms. I put it on TV, I put individually to colleagues. A majority didn’t agree and that’s it.

JOURNALIST:

How are you feeling, Mr Costello?

COSTELLO:

Well I am feeling tired because I have been campaigning very, very hard and we had a late night last night and an early morning this morning. I must say to you, I feel concerned for our country. I do think that there are a couple of things that if they are done could badly affect its prospects and I wouldn’t want to see them done. One of the things I have just told you about - the raiding of the Future Fund - in my view is one of the worst pieces of public policy that has ever been put forward. And once you start doing this, all of the savings that we have built up to prepare Australia for the future will be at risk.

JOURNALIST:

How are you feeling for yourself?

COSTELLO:

Oh for myself, I don’t really think about these things personally. I have always been in politics to do what I can for Australia and its people and I have done the best that I can over the last 11 ½ years and people will judge me by my results.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello…

COSTELLO:

Sorry.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello, who should lead your Party?

COSTELLO:

Look, I will have a vote and now it is up to the candidates to put themselves forward. I will carefully consider my vote in that ballot. Personally I believe in generational change. Look, the political cycle goes in generations, in my view:- a period of testing in Opposition followed by the opportunity to govern; a period of testing followed by the opportunity to govern. And you know, I think we have some really good people in the next generation. I think it is up to the Liberal Party to give them a go. You gave me a go in 1994 when I was, I can’t quite remember how old I was, but I wasn’t all that old, and, how old was I?

MRS COSTELLO:

I don’t know. 36?

COSTELLO:

36? You gave me a go and now is the time to give some others a go.

JOURNALIST:

Who are they?

COSTELLO:

I don’t want to get into names because I will leave somebody out and that would be a terrible tragedy. Yes.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello, given what you have just said, you are still the most appropriate person to ask this to, what will this new Rudd Labor Government mean for small business in Australia given the IR laws and WorkChoices?

COSTELLO:

I would be worried for small business. You saw the Sensis Small Business survey come out on Friday, you saw the biggest drop in confidence that they have ever measured and that drop in confidence was because of a change of government. And small business will be worried and I am worried for small business. I am a great believer in small business. Small business creates the jobs. You have got to give them a go. And I think the idea that union officials are going to start knocking on small business doors will strike fear and terror into their hearts.

JOURNALIST:

Mrs Costello, can I ask you what you think of your husband’s decision?

MRS COSTELLO:

That’s a great question. C J Dennis, the well-known and well-loved Australian poet wrote in a series of poems entitled the Songs of the Sentimental Bloke the following lines, and I think that’s where I am and where Peter is:

‘Yeh live, yeh love, yeh learn; an’ when yeh come

To square the ledger in some thortful hour,

The everlastin’ answer to the sum

Must allus be, “Where’s sense in gittin’ sour?”

“Livin’ an’ lovin’ — so life mooches on.”

For Peter and I, life will mooch on.

COSTELLO:

Thank you.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello, Alexander Downer on the Insiders programme this morning that he suspected the election was lost all year. Do you share that assessment?

COSTELLO:

Look, the polls showed that Labor opened up a margin at the end of last year which hardly ever varied. There was statistical error up and down, two or three per cent. You know, it was just about 53/47, 54/46 for 12 months. And nothing seemed to shake them. And my assessment was that it wasn’t particular policies that the electorate was reacting to, there was a just a segment of the electorate that had decided that it was time to change the Government and it wouldn’t be a big risk. And that was enough, really. Now, were we coming back in the last couple of days? It’s hard to tell. There were some polls that said we were because I think there were people at the end who were starting to worry about the risk - which I see as a real risk by the way. But the events of the last couple of days just deprived us of oxygen, I think.

JOURNALIST:

Just to clarify your view on the shenanigans in Lindsay, they certainly wouldn’t have helped the Prime Minister in Bennelong because of its high immigrant population count. Do you think that that derailed any opportunity that might have been?

COSTELLO:

Look, I don’t think that people sitting around Australia would have said, ‘well I’ll vote against the Liberal Party because of what happened in Lindsay’. This was an isolated, stupid thing in one seat. But that, was it the Thursday after it happened, AM went 17 minutes on it, from 8 to 8.17 am. Lateline started it, AM went from 8 to 8.17, the World Today opened up, I went on PM. They had an intro and then an interview with me which ended at 6.30 pm. So after AM had gone for 17 minutes, PM went 20 minutes. Backed into the news, the 7.30 Report and then Lateline again. And the blanket coverage just squeezed the oxygen out of any other message. It wasn’t that people were saying, ‘because of this, I’ll vote against the Government’. It was because of this, they never actually heard a clear message from the Government in the last 48 hours. That’s my assessment. Sorry, yes.

JOURNALIST:

When do you intend to start your career in the commercial world and what will you be doing?

COSTELLO:

Well, as I said, I intend to continue on for a time as the Member for Higgins but I’ll be looking to a post-political career in the commercial world. I mean, I was in the law before I went into Parliament. You know, I’ve learnt a few things about law and business.

JOURNALIST:

Is this partly also you not having the appetite to lead in Opposition?

COSTELLO:

Oh I’m not afraid of Opposition, I spent the first six years in Opposition. But I think that the Party now has to invest itself in long-term prospects. I think it’s time for generational change.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello, given the mandate, how much of this related to WorkChoices? What should the Liberal Party do in the Senate when those laws arrive? What should the strategy, will you block the abolition of WorkChoices in the Senate?

COSTELLO:

Well, it’s not up to me to make that call. What will happen now - and you all know what will happen now - is Labor will try and rewrite history. And all of those things that they think are still live targets will be blamed for the loss. You know how politics works. And I would say to the Liberal Party that it is very important that the Liberal Party is open and frank and honest in its assessment, but don’t take your assessments from Labor or the media. You make them yourself.

JOURNALIST:

(inaudible) worse for the party…

COSTELLO:

I think I’ve just answered that question.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Costello, despite what you’ve said about the Party not listening to you, do you take any personal responsibility for yesterday’s loss?

COSTELLO:

I was a Member of the Government that has been voted out of office. But I would actually say to you that you can look at our record and you can compare it to any other government in Australian history. I think it will compare well. You know, don’t take it from me, but you know what the Budget is like, you know what debt is like, you know what inflation is like, you know what unemployment is like, you know what the tax system is like, you know what growth has been. Compare that to any other government in Australian history and I invite you to draw your own conclusions. Nobody actually said to me at any stage during the campaign, you’ve done a bad job. In fact, quite the reverse. But you did pick up, from time to time - you’ve done a good job, maybe it’s time for a change. I don’t think they quite knew what they were getting. I don’t think, to be frank with you, even Mr Rudd knows what they are going to be getting, but they’ll soon find out soon enough.

So thank you all very much for your attendance. I intend to go home and have a barbeque.

Hours after announcing the November 24 federal election, Prime Minister John Howard has set the terms of the contest as the coalition sees it.

Howard argues that Australia requires the “right leadership”, a direct swipe at the ALP’s slogan, “New Leadership”.

He has stressed the need for experience to maintain the economic prosperity and national security of the nation.

The coalition is also campaigning on what it calls the ALP’s inexperience and domination by trade unions.

Howard warns against the lack of “balance” in “wall-to-wall” Labor governments in Federal, State and Territory parliaments.

This is the text of a statement by the Prime Minister, John Howard, circulated via email by the Liberal Party.

AUSTRALIA’S CHOICE

Today the Governor-General has accepted my advice for an election to be held on Saturday 24 November.

This election is about Australia’s future. It’s about the leadership Australia needs right now to stay strong, prosperous and secure.

Australia has come a long way in the last decade based on the hard work of all Australians and the tough decisions of the Coalition. Now we must make Australia even stronger.

This will not happen automatically. It will happen not through new leadership or old leadership. It requires the right leadership.

The right leadership is the team that knows how to do the job. The right leadership has the experience to further expand Australia’s prosperity and to ensure that everyone gets a fair share of it.

The right leadership is prepared to take unpopular decisions in the short term that will benefit the Australian community in the long term.

The right leadership is a group of men and women who will govern for all Australians and who will not be beholden to a narrow section of the Australian community.

The right leadership will tell the Australian people where it stands on issues and what it believes in. Love me or loathe me, the Australian people know where I stand and what I believe in.

At this election, the Australian people must decide who is better able to build Australia’s prosperity for the benefit of everyone. They must also decide who is better able to promote our national security and stand up for Australia’s interests abroad.

Is it a government with a proven track record on the economy and national security or is it a group of men and women 70 per cent of whom are former trade union officials?

In the weeks ahead, I will be unveiling detailed plans for Australia’s future. They will be both practical and achievable, underpinned by the Coalition’s record of putting the national interest ahead of sectional interests.

As part of our plan for growth and opportunity I commit today to a goal of full employment. Australia’s unemployment rate today is at a 33-year low. It can go even lower with the right policies.

There is no reason why Australia’s unemployment cannot have a three in front of it. If Labor is elected, its anti-small business policies mean unemployment will rise.

We will unveil policies to lift family living standards and to help sections of the community under pressure. Our plan for stronger communities will deliver better services, more choice and genuine help for Australians in need. It will put more power in the hands of local communities, including by giving communities a greater say in the running of their public hospitals.

In the weeks ahead, I will outline a plan to further reinforce Australia’s national security into the next decade. Our environment policies will tackle in a balanced way the great challenges of climate change and water security.

Our plan for Australia will also give voice to my passionate belief that we are One Australia based on a common citizenship, common loyalty and where all are entitled to equal justice.

The Coalition’s plan for Australia’s future has been carefully put together and builds on the strong decision-making of the last decade. Our plans are fully costed and affordable.

Labor is not ready to govern because it hasn’t done the hard work. Mr Rudd has plans for process; not for action. And his core convictions remain a mystery, both to him and, more importantly, to the Australian people.

If Labor is elected, Mr Rudd’s inexperience and lack of judgment would leave a vacuum at the heart of Australia’s government. That vacuum would be filled by a trade union movement determined to take back the running of the country.

And wall-to-wall Labor would mean no checks and balances in our Federation.

Our $1 trillion economy simply can’t afford it.

Australia is facing “new” and “great” challenges and requires “new leadership”, according to the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd.

Addressing a press conference in Brisbane, Rudd warned of a situation where “nothing changes” if the coalition is returned at the November 24 election.

Australia requires someone to say “the buck stops with me”, Rudd said, citing Labor policies on education, health, climate change, industrial relations and foreign affairs as areas requiring new leadership.

Rudd said he would serve a full three-year term and beyond. He said Howard has lost touch with working families but Peter Costello has never been in touch.

“I understand the challenges our country is facing in the future”, Rudd said. Long-term economic prosperity beyond the China boom is a future priority.

Rudd emphasised the importance of policies on climate change. An “education revolution” is core business, he said, citing his own educational opportunities as a means of unleashing human potential, as well as providing economic benefits.

Rudd said Howard had offered no plans for the future. Rudd committed himself to signing Kyoto, abolishing WorkChoices, and developing broadband infrastructure. “I am an economic conservative”, he said.

Rudd warned of the “mother of all fear campaigns” over the coming weeks. On experience, Rudd said Howard had “buckets” of experience in fear campaigns. “Australia cannot afford another three years of a government which has already had eleven years”, Rudd said.

He denied that wall-to-wall Labor governments meant a lack of “balance”, as Howard asserted in his election announcement. Rudd said the Senate was where checks and balances operated in the federal system, citing Howard’s policies on WorkChoices as evidence of a lack of balance.

Listen to Kevin Rudd’s Election Announcement Press Conference:

This is the transcript of the statement and responses to questions from the Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd.

RUDD:

This election is about Australia’s future and it’s an election about a choice about who offers new leadership for Australia’s future. New leadership to help working families, new leadership with fresh ideas to deal with Australia’s future challenges. And what I’m offering the Australian is new leadership, both to help working families under financial pressure and new leadership for a plan for our country’s future. This is a great country and there’s no better place on earth to live or to raise a family, but now today our country is facing new challenges, great challenges, and we must meet those challenges if we are going to secure our country’s long term future.

Our country has a future too full of promise to allow a Government that’s been in office for eleven years, a Government that’s lost touch and a Government that’s gone stale just to continue on. You see, when it comes to our future we need better than that. The greatest risk for Australia’s future is for the Coalition to return and nothing changes. Nothing changes on climate change and water, nothing changes for our hospitals, nothing changes for our schools, our technical colleges, our universities, nothing changes when it comes to our workplaces, except of course Workchoices which would be made even worse. That’s why during this campaign I intend to make the case why Australia needs new leadership now.

When I became Leader of the Australian Labor Party, I began outlining our plan for the future and during the course of this campaign I’ll be outlining further fresh ideas, new policies and adding to the plan that we’ve already put out there for our country’s future, not just for the next three years, but for the next five, the next ten years and beyond.

Australia needs new leadership. New leadership for our education revolution so that our kids have the best jobs, the best paid jobs and the highest skilled jobs of the future. New leadership when it comes to our need for new infrastructure. New leadership to fix our hospitals, to have someone prepared to put their hand up and say the buck stops with me. New leadership which understands the needs of rural and regional Australia. New leadership which gets the balance right between fairness and flexibility in our workplaces. New leadership which keeps the economy strong but ensures the economy delivers for working families. New leadership which embraces the enduring value of our alliance with the United States but leadership which has an exit strategy for our combat forces in Iraq.

On these Mr Howard, over eleven years, has failed to act and what I offer the Australian people now is a plan of action. I’m offering new leadership, a plan for Australia’s future, a clear-cut commitment to work for that future and an equally clear cut commitment that if I’m elected to become the next Prime Minister of Australia, I will serve a full three year term. If elected again I would serve beyond that as well.

Mr Howard by contrast says that if he wins the next election he will retire and hand over the Prime Ministership to Mr Costello, without Mr Costello ever having to face the Australian people. Mr Howard has said that working families have never been better off. Mr Howard’s lost touch with working families but Mr Costello has never been in touch with working families.

As I travel around Australia people have asked me, legitimately, why do you want to become the Prime Minister of this country. I am putting myself forward to become Australia’s next Prime Minister because I understand the challenges which our country faces in the future and I want to be a leader of the Government of this country as we tackle those challenges of the future head on.

First to build long term economic prosperity beyond the mining boom through investing in an education revolution, 21st century economic infrastructure like broadband, fixing the federation as well as preparing the nation for the rise of China and the rise of India.

Second, offering help and support for working families on the way through by getting the balance right in our workplaces and by fixing our hospitals so that working families when they need hospital and medical care can get the best we can absolutely provide.

And third, acting nationally and internationally decisively on climate change so that we do not destroy the economic and environmental future of the next generation of Australians.

Whenever I go out across this great country of ours and I speak to working families I talk all the time about the need for an education revolution. For me, this is core business. I have a passionate belief in education. I have a passionate belief in the importance of education providing opportunity for all Australians.

Now, I consider myself to have had a fortunate life. Like many kids in this country, my family went through some rough times but mum and dad always ensured I had a good education at the local country state school at Eumundi. More than anything else a good education provides the opportunity and ensures our young people that they will be rewarded for hard work, achievement and success. More than anything else, an education, a good education offers a new course in life. It enables you to unleash your potential as a human being and it also provides a great opportunity, greater opportunities than people had before.

But more than anything else a good education also is a building block for the nation’s future economy. That’s why I believe in an education revolution. That’s why I believe that a trade certificate is just as good as a university degree because both are critical to our nation’s economic future.

I believe this with every fibre of my being and when I look to this generation of Australians, the challenges that they will face in the future are even greater than those faced by my generation. That’s why we need a vision for Australia to have the best education and training system in the world. We as a country need to widen our vision.

I’m really looking forward to this campaign and during this campaign I’ll be announcing policies, I’ll be announcing fresh ideas which build on our plan for the nation’s future which I’ve been outlining during the course of this year. What puzzles me is that on the day this election is called Mr Howard, with all the resources of government has not put forward any plan for the nation’s future after eleven years. Let me give you this clear-cut commitment, if I’m elected to become the next Prime Minister of Australia I will ratify Kyoto, I will prohibit the construction of nuclear reactors in this country. I will abolish Workchoices. I will end the blame game between Canberra and the States. I will invest in an education revolution and I will build a world class broadband network for this nation, city and country.

None of this is possible without a strong economy. That’s why I’ve always said and why I will always say, with pride, I’m an economic conservative. I believe in budget surpluses. I believe in the independence of the Reserve Bank. I believe in its inflation targeting regime. That’s why we are also putting forward carefully costed promises for this election campaign all designed to put downward pressure on interest rates.

To win this election we are going to have to make history. We’ve only won twice from Opposition since World War II and we have to win sixteen seats and on top of that we’re up against one of the most clever and cunning politicians this nation has ever produced. But let me make one prediction and that is in the days and weeks ahead the good people of Australia are going to be bombarded with the mother of all negative fear campaigns.

Mr Howard and Mr Costello will say that if I am elected as the next Prime Minister of Australia the skies will fall in. Mr Howard has spoken today a lot about experience. Let me say this, Mr Howard has bucketloads of experience when it comes to negative fear campaigns. He’s done this every election campaign so far and gotten away with it. The reason Mr Howard does this and why he’ll do it again is because he has no positive plan for our nation’s future.

Australia cannot afford another three years of a Government which has already had eleven years. A Government which has lost touch with working families, a Government that’s gone stale and a Government without fresh ideas for our nation’s future. I refuse to stand idly by and allow this to happen. That’s why I put myself forward for new leadership for our nation Australia’s future.

I’m happy to take your questions.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Howard today has said that he campaigned about leadership and (inaudible), he said he’s experienced, he’s had eleven years (inaudible).

RUDD:

Well Mr Howard has had a lot of experience in taking Australia into a war without an exit strategy, the Iraq War. Mr Howard has a lot of experience in telling Australians that the reason for going to war was to reduce the terrorism threat when it has increased the terrorist threat. Mr Howard has a lot of experience in denying that climate change represented an economic and environmental challenge for this nation’s future. Mr Howard has a lot of experience in perpetuating the buck-passing and the blame game between Canberra and the States on hospitals. I’d say Mr Howard gets a big review when it comes to experience in those departments.

I put myself forward as someone who has worked extensively as a senior public servant, someone who has worked as a diplomat representing his country abroad, someone who’s worked in small business and someone who’s now been in Parliament for nearly a decade. The Australian people will make their decision.

JOURNALIST:

(inaudible) …between the Federal and State Governments, Howard said this morning…inaudible.

RUDD:

The checks and balances of Australia’s system of government lies primarily in the Senate and what happened when Mr Howard got control of the Senate at the last election? He used and abused his power to bring in the harshest set of industrial relations laws that this country has ever seen – with a huge impact on working families, stripping away penalty rates, overtime and basic conditions which working families for generations have enjoyed. So that is a core element of the checks and balances of this system so that when we go to the next election we will see the same attitude brought to bear when it comes to elections to the Senate.

When it comes to the States and Territories, can I say this? I think politically it has suited Mr Howard very well to have Labor Governments at the State and Territory level so that the blame game, so that the buck passing can continue as an excuse for not solving national problems.

Guess what? If I’m elected to become the next Prime Minister of Australia it presents me with a unique opportunity in the year 2008 to get to the bottom of fixing health and hospitals once and for all. That’s why I put out a $2 billion plan for doing it. That’s why I put out a three stage timetable for doing it and if we fail to deliver we will have no political excuse whatsoever, that’s my response to Mr Howard’s charge.

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible.)

RUDD:

Well Mr Howard has said that his plan for the future is to win the election, retire and hand over to Mr Costello. I would say that the Australian people would regard that as curious, given that Mr Costello has not been allowed to face the Australian people in his own right. I’m up against Mr Howard at this election, what Mr Howard chooses to have Mr Costello do or what Mr Costello chooses to have Mr Costello do is a matter for them.

My job is to put forward a positive plan for the nation’s future. I suspect, looking at the content of what Mr Howard said earlier today, that they will see their principled job as running a negative fear campaign from day one.

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible.)

RUDD:

Well 70 per cent of Mr Howard’s Cabinet did not want Mr Howard to continue as Prime Minister because they did not believe that Mr Howard had a plan for the future. That’s my response to that one.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Howard said that Australians would not know what they were getting with a Rudd Government…(inaudible.)

RUDD:

Well can I say, when asked today, Mr Howard whether he would nominate all members of his Cabinet, he declined to do so. And guess what else Mr Howard and Mr Costello refused to do? When Mr Howard hands over the Prime Ministership to Mr Costello, if he is relected, who will be Mr Costello’s Treasurer? Will it be Mr Downer, will it be someone else? Will it be Dr Nelson, will it be Peter McGauran? Who knows. And then, who would be Mr Costello’s Foreign Minister, because Mr Downer has long said in Canberra his aspiration is to become Treasurer and Deputy Leader and then have another go at the leadership. So I think it’s very important for Mr Howard to reflect carefully on the additional portfolio responsibilities that flow to the Costello handover which he’s now confirmed.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Howard (inaudible)

RUDD:

As I travel across Australia and talk to working families across the length and breadth of the country, working families are saying this to me that, when they look to their long term future they understand that this mining boom is delivering an enormous economic advantage to Australia but they are fearful about what happens long term when the mining boom is over. In the immediate term in our current economic circumstances, those who are experiencing real difficulty are those who are finding it impossible to make ends meet with child care costs going up 12 per cent a year, with mortgage interest rates having gone up five times since the last election when Mr Howard promised that they would not go up again, when rents have got out of control and where groceries and petrol prices have gone through the roof and without any action being taken by the Howard Government to apply more competitive pressure to the system such as we’ve articulated.

All these things together impact on working families but you know what is the icing on the cake for working families on cost of living pressures? It’s Worchoices stripping away penalty rates, overtime and basic conditions and, added to the other cost of living pressures, making it very tough to make ends meet so when Mr Howard says to that group of Australians, and they are in provincial cities and towns as much as they are in the cities and suburbs, when he says to them, working families have never been off, they know as they try and balance their family budget that that’s simply not true.

JOURNALIST:

With the six week campaign, is that one week too long?

RUDD:

Well that’s Mr Howard’s decision. I think what’s been quite wrong is Mr Howard putting his hand in the pocket of taxpayers now for weeks and months to fund his election campaign with taxpayer funded advertising. You know, since the Parliament rose last time, $21 million- a million dollars a day in taxpayer funded advertising. I’ve been this last week looking very much at what’s happening when it comes to cancer research and cancer treatments, $21 million would have been better spent assisting some of our researchers do their job in assisting those who are perfecting cancer treatments around the country.

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible.)

RUDD:

Well I’m a very proud Queenslander and I love this State, I grew up here, my mum was born here, it’s in your veins. I’m passionate about Queensland, I’m passionate about Australia. But you know something? At the end of the day people will make a judgement about my plan for the nation’s future. They’ll also make a judgement about whether our plan incorporates rural and regional Australia and let me add this, how could it be, that this Coalition Government made up of the Liberal Party and National Party could have delivered a second-rate broadband service to non-metropolitan Australia. People ask why have we put forward a $4.7 billion plan on broadband, it’s part of our economic future, it’s part of our building the nation’s future once the mining boom is over, but it’s also part of delivering services beyond the big cities and how could the National Party sit by and allow a second-rate, second-speed, slow-speed system to be delivered to those in regional and rural Australia. It’s just wrong and that’s why I believe that policies like that will have a strong message to sell beyond the cities.

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible.)

RUDD:

I believe that this is going to be the fight of our lives because we have only won twice from Opposition since World War II, we have 16 seats to win and we are up against a really clever politician and I believe that this will go down to the wire.

JOURNALIST:

How personal do you expect the campaign to get?

RUDD:

Well, Mr Howard and Mr Costello, from Parliament and from their statements outside of Parliament, have already indicated this will be a negative fear campaign from beginning to end based on unions, based on experience, based on interest rates and as I said their overall charge is that if the people of Australia were to vote for me as the next Prime Minister of Australia the skies would then fall in. Well you know something? Mr Howard’s used the negative fear campaign on every previous election and he’s gotten away with it and he thinks he can do so again. I think the Australian people, however, have seen a lot of Mr Howard in the meantime.

JOURNALIST:

(Inaudible.)

RUDD:

We are committed to full employment. The labour movement and the Labor Party always has been committed to full employment and when it comes to a unemployment number with a three in front of it, we believe that’s a right goal for Australia too, but if you have a strategy to reach that goal. And what’s our strategy? An education and skills revolution. A technology revolution through high-speed broadband, taking red tape off the back of business so they can become more productive.

Let me say one other thing though about Mr Howard, Mr Howard comes out and speaks of that particular new objective, Mr Howard at the last election said to the Australian people he would keep interest rates at record lows. Did Mr Howard have a plan to make sure he could deliver on that undertaking? Absolutely not because since then interest rates have gone up on five separate occasions, costing thousands of dollars to those holding average mortgages right across the country, so Mr Howard goes out there and makes a bold statement on the day he calls an election about an unemployment objective, I ask people to reflect on Mr Howard’s bold statements three years ago that interest rates would be kept at their then levels. One more question, then I’m going to zip.

JOURNALIST:

Mr Howard said you never accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong on your side of politics, what do you say about that?

RUDD:

Well Mr Howard has never taken responsibility for the Iraq War, he has never taken responsibility for his statement that if we went to war in Iraq it would reduce the overall terrorist threat, when it fact he’d been warned by the intelligence services that it would increase the overall terrorist threat. Mr Howard has never taken responsibility for his Government, through the Foreign Minister, authorising $300 million in corrupt payments to be made to Saddam Hussein’s regime, money which was then used to by guns, bombs and bullets for later use against Australian troops and Mr Howard has never taken responsibility for children overboard.

On the question of taking responsibility, I ask people to look at the facts of Australia’s recent political history, rather than simply Mr Howard’s spin-doctoring today delivered to him by Crosby Textor and on that, we’ll close.

This is the text of a statement released by the leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown.

It follows the Prime Minister’s announcement of the November 24 election.

The Prime Minister’s acceptance that “I take responsibility for everything that happens under my watch” highlights his failures on Iraq, climate change, water security, public hospitals and schools, Indigenous wellbeing, and the plight of 1.2 million pensioners, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

“Howard claims the country needs right leadership when in fact it needs good green leadership.

Failure on global warming, forests, water and public transport means failure on economic vision.

His “balanced approach” has manifestly failed the nation in an age of massive, punishing climate impact on our economy,” Senator Brown said.

“His call for “balance” seems divorced from his unbalanced abuse of the Senate majority. The Greens will provide the balance the Howard years have robbed from Australia,” Senator Brown said.

12.00pm

Australia is to go to the polls for a federal election on November 24. The announcement of the date has just been made in Canberra by the Prime Minister, John Howard.

Addressing a press conference in Canberra, Howard said “this country does not need new leadership, it does not need old leadership, it needs the right leadership”.

He said Australia was enjoying a “remarkable level of prosperity” and committed his government to full employment and confirmed the Peter Costello would remain Treasurer and Alexander Downer Foreign Minister in a re-elected coalition government.

Howard talked of a “balanced approach” to climate change in the future.

He said he remained a “passionate believer” in “one Australia” and that the things that unite Australians are greater than the things that divide them.

The Prime Minister talked of the importance of “balance” and warned against a clean sweep of Labor governments in the Federal, State and Territory spheres. He warned against union influence in the ALP.

Howard said he looked forward to meeting with Australians over the coming six weeks.

The Parliament will be prorogued on Monday and dissolved on Wednesday. This means that people wishing to enrol to vote must do so by 8pm tomorrow night.

Howard said the government offered the most experience and a smooth transition to Peter Costello during the next term. There was “openness, clarity and predictability” on the coalition side and “instability” on the Labor side.

Listen to Howard’s Election Announcement Press Conference:

John Howard has pledged to retire at some time during his fifth term as Prime Minister, assuming he is re-elected later this year.

Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 Report, Howard said:

“If the Australian people are good enough and kind enough to re-elect me again, there are a lot of things I want to do, and I would want to approach those things with enormous energy. But I would expect well into my term, and after those things have been implemented and battered down, I would probably, certainly form the view well into my term, that it makes sense for me to retire, and in those circumstances, I would expect, although it would be a matter for the Party to determine if Peter would take over.

“…I’ve thought this through, and what I’m saying to the Australian people is I want to be re-elected, there are a lot of things I want to do for them. But well into my term, I would come to the conclusion that it would be in the best interests of everybody if I retired, and in those circumstances, I would expect Peter to take over, but that would be a matter for the Party. Now, that is the honest truth, and I think most of your viewers believe it would be the case.”

Questioned on whether this means the Australian people will be asked to vote for not one but two prime ministers, Howard said:

“They’ll be voting for a team, and I think that’s good. I think actually this election if it’s a contest between teams as well as a contest between Howard and Rudd is a good thing … I’m asking people to vote for somebody who levels with them. I don’t think Steve Bracks and Peter Beattie levelled with their respective publics. I mean, what changed their circumstances between their elections and when they retired? I mean, the glib thing is to say to people you’re going to serve three years even though you know in your heart that may not be the case. Well, I am not going to embrace the glib option. That was the approach taken by others, it’s not the approach that I am going to take.”

Howard’s announcement will alter the dynamics of the forthcoming election campaign. The ALP can be expected to argue against the value of electing a prime minister who will not see out his 3-year term, whilst capitalising on the negative perceptions the polls indicate the electorate has about Peter Costello.

The campaign in Howard’s Sydney electorate of Bennelong will also be affected by today’s announcement. In his ABC interview, Howard left open the possibility of remaining in the Parliament as a backbencher following his retirement as prime minister.

Transcript of John Howard’s interview on the 7.30 Report

The leadership of the Prime Minister, John Howard, has survived a parliamentary Liberal Party meeting in Canberra today.

Following a day of crisis yesterday, it now appears certain that Howard will take the coalition to its fifth consecutive election under his stewardship.

The Treasurer, Peter Costello, has broken his silence on the issue today, claiming his position has not altered since last year and that he was not privy to the meetings and discussions within the Liberal Party over the past week.

Reacting to days of speculation that he might stand down to allow Peter Costello to become Prime Minister, Howard went on a media blitz on Monday to reassert his leadership and to claim that his government was not finished. He committed the Parliament to sit until the end of next week, implying that he would not call an election before then. This means that October 27 is now the earliest possible date for the poll, with November 3, 10, 17 or 24 also in contention. An election on December 1, 8 or 15 remains an outside chance.

Howard’s leadership came under renewed pressure yesterday after Sky News reported that senior ministers had told him he should consider his position. The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, were reported as having lost confidence in Howard’s leadership.

By the end of a day of frenetic speculation, senior Cabinet ministers signalled that they were falling in behind Howard. Downer, Minchin and Abbott all gave media interviews to this effect. They followed a declaration by Howard that he had never run away from a fight “and I don’t intend to start now”.

It has since become known that the discussions over Howard’s leadership stemmed from the Prime Minister authorising Downer to sound out Liberal Party sentiment. Downer held a number of meetings with ministers during the APEC conference, notably on last Thursday evening. Some reports suggest that a majority of the Cabinet believe they cannot win with Howard as leader. These sentiments were conveyed to Howard who has confirmed that he discussed the matter with his wife and family on Sunday evening.

At his media appearance today, Costello sought to distance himself from the turmoil of the past week and spoke of his policy vision for the future. However, it appears that the Treasurer’s political ambitions have taken another hit with many commentators discussing his lack of willingness to seize the leadership. Costello was questioned about his courage at his media appearance today.

Listen to Peter Costello’s comments on the Liberal leadership crisis (Sep 12):

Listen to Alexander Downer’s interview on Sky News (Sep 11 - 5.30pm):

Listen to Tony Abbott’s comments on the the leadership (Sep 11 - 4.30pm):

Listen to Howard’s Press Conference at APEC where he commented on his leadership (Sep 09):

Tony Blair has announced that he will relinquish the British prime ministership on June 27.

Addressing his party members and supporters in his Sedgefield constituency, Blair confirmed his departure after ten years. He became Prime Minister on May 2, 1997.

Listen to Blair’s Resignation Announcement:

Listen to Blair and Opposition Leader Cameron in the House of Commons:

This is the text of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Resignation Announcement.

I have come back here, to Sedgefield, to my constituency. Where my political journey began and where it is fitting it should end.

Today I announce my decision to stand down from the leadership of the Labour Party. The Party will now select a new Leader. On 27 June I will tender my resignation from the office of Prime Minister to The Queen.

I have been Prime Minister of this country for just over 10 years. In this job, in the world today, that is long enough, for me but more especially for the country. Some times the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down.

It is difficult to know how to make this speech today. There is a judgment to be made on my premiership. And in the end that is, for you, the people to make.

I can only describe what I think has been done over these last 10 years and perhaps more important why.

I have never quite put it like this before.

I was born almost a decade after the Second World War. I was a young man in the social revolution of the 60s and 70s. I reached political maturity as the Cold War was ending, and the world was going through a political, economic and technological revolution.

I looked at my own country.

A great country.

Wonderful history.

Magnificent traditions.

Proud of its past.

But strangely uncertain of its future. Uncertain about the future. Almost old-fashioned.

All of that was curiously symbolized in its politics.

You stood for individual aspiration and getting on in life or social compassion and helping others.

You were liberal in your values or conservative.

You believed in the power of the State or the efforts of the individual. Spending more money on the public realm was the answer or it was the problem.

None of it made sense to me. It was 20th century ideology in a world approaching a new millennium. Of course people want the best for themselves and their families but in an age where human capital is a nation’s greatest asset, they also know it is just and sensible to extend opportunities, to develop the potential to succeed, for all not an elite at the top.

People are today open-minded about race and sexuality, averse to prejudice and yet deeply and rightly conservative with a small ‘c’ when it comes to good manners, respect for others, treating people courteously.

They acknowledge the need for the state and the responsibility of the individual.

They know spending money on our public services matters and that it is not enough. How they are run and organized matters too.

So 1997 was a moment for a new beginning; for sweeping away all the detritus of the past.

Expectations were so high. Too high. Too high in a way for either of us.

Now in 2007, you can easily point to the challenges, the things that are wrong, the grievances that fester.

But go back to 1997. Think back. No, really, think back. Think about your own living standards then in May 1997 and now.

Visit your local school, any of them round here, or anywhere in modern Britain.

Ask when you last had to wait a year or more on a hospital waiting list, or heard of pensioners freezing to death in the winter unable to heat their homes.

There is only one Government since 1945 that can say all of the following:

More jobs

Fewer unemployed

Better health and education results

Lower crime;

And economic growth in every quarter.

This one.

But I don’t need a statistic. There is something bigger than what can be measured in waiting lists or GSCE results or the latest crime or jobs figures.

Look at our economy. At ease with globalization. London the world’s financial centre. Visit our great cities and compare them with 10 years ago.

No country attracts overseas investment like we do.

Think about the culture of Britain in 2007. I don’t just mean our arts that are thriving. I mean our values. The minimum wage. Paid holidays as a right. Amongst the best maternity pay and leave in Europe. Equality for gay people.

Or look at the debates that reverberate round the world today. The global movement to support Africa in its struggle against poverty. Climate change. The fight against terrorism. Britain is not a follower. It is a leader. It gets the essential characteristic of today’s world: its interdependence.

This is a country today that for all its faults, for all the myriad of unresolved problems and fresh challenges, is comfortable in the 21st Century.

At home in its own skin, able not just to be proud of its past but confident of its future.

I don’t think Northern Ireland would have been changed unless Britain had changed. Or the Olympics won if we were still the Britain of 1997.

As for my own leadership, throughout these 10 years, where the predictable has competed with the utterly unpredicted, right at the outset one thing was clear to me.

Without the Labour Party allowing me to lead it, nothing could ever have been done. But I knew my duty was to put the country first. That much was obvious to me when just under 13 years ago I became Labour’s Leader.

What I had to learn, however, as Prime Minister was what putting the country first really meant.

Decision-making is hard. Every one always says: listen to the people. The trouble is they don’t always agree.

When you are in Opposition, you meet this group and they say why can’t you do this? And you say: it’s really a good question. Thank you. And they go away and say: its great, he really listened.

You meet that other group and they say: why can’t you do that? And you say: it’s a really good question. Thank you. And they go away happy you listened.

In Government you have to give the answer, not an answer, the answer.

And, in time, you realise putting the country first doesn’t mean doing the right thing according to conventional wisdom or the prevailing consensus or the latest snapshot of opinion.

It means doing what you genuinely believe to be right.

Your duty is to act according to your conviction.

All of that can get contorted so that people think you act according to some messianic zeal.

Doubt, hesitation, reflection, consideration and re-consideration these are all the good companions of proper decision-making.

But the ultimate obligation is to decide.

Sometimes the decisions are accepted quite quickly. Bank of England independence was one, which gave us our economic stability.

Sometimes like tuition fees or trying to break up old monolithic public services, they are deeply controversial, hellish hard to do, but you can see you are moving with the grain of change round the word.

Sometimes like with Europe, where I believe Britain should keep its position strong, you know you are fighting opinion but you are content with doing so.

Sometimes as with the completely unexpected, you are alone with your own instinct.

In Sierra Leone and to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, I took the decision to make our country one that intervened, that did not pass by, or keep out of the thick of it.

Then came the utterly unanticipated and dramatic. September 11th 2001 and the death of 3,000 or more on the streets of New York.

I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally.

I did so out of belief.

So Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The latter, bitterly controversial.

Removing Saddam and his sons from power, as with removing the Taliban, was over with relative ease.

But the blowback since, from global terrorism and those elements that support it, has been fierce and unrelenting and costly. For many, it simply isn’t and can’t be worth it.

For me, I think we must see it through. They, the terrorists, who threaten us here and round the world, will never give up if we give up.

It is a test of will and of belief. And we can’t fail it.

So: some things I knew I would be dealing with.

Some I thought I might be.

Some never occurred to me on that morning of 2 May 1997 when I came into Downing Street for the first time.

Great expectations not fulfilled in every part, for sure.

Occasionally people say, as I said earlier, they were too high, you should have lowered them.

But, to be frank, I would not have wanted it any other way. I was, and remain, as a person and as a Prime Minister an optimist. Politics may be the art of the possible; but at least in life, give the impossible a go.

So of course the vision is painted in the colours of the rainbow; and the reality is sketched in the duller tones of black, white and grey.

But I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.

I may have been wrong. That’s your call. But believe one thing if nothing else. I did what I thought was right for our country.

I came into office with high hopes for Britain’s future. I leave it with even higher hopes for Britain’s future.

This is a country that can, today, be excited by the opportunities not constantly fretful of the dangers.

People often say to me: it’s a tough job.

Not really.

A tough life is the life the young severely disabled children have and their parents, who visited me in Parliament the other week.

Tough is the life my Dad had, his whole career cut short at the age of 40 by a stroke.

I have been very lucky and very blessed.

This country is a blessed nation.

The British are special.

The world knows it.

In our innermost thoughts, we know it.

This is the greatest nation on earth.

It has been an honour to serve it. I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short.

Good Luck.