Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia's history. Costello was a member of parliament (MP) of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing the Division of Higgins. He also served as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 2007.
For other people named Peter Costello, see Peter Costello (disambiguation).
Peter Costello
On 18 September 2008, Costello was appointed as chairman of the World Bank's new Independent Advisory Board (IAB) to provide advice on anti-corruption measures.[1] Costello served as Chairman of Nine Entertainment from February 2016 until June 2024. Costello is Chairman of the Board of Guardians of Australian Future Fund.[2]
Early life[edit]
Costello was born on 14 August 1957 in Melbourne into a middle-class family of practising Christians.[3] He was the second of three children; his elder brother, Tim, is a prominent Baptist minister and former CEO of World Vision Australia. Costello was educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School (graduating in 1974) and Monash University, where he studied arts and law, graduating with honours in 1982.[4] Costello is a descendant of Irish immigrant Patrick Costello, who was expelled from the Parliament of Victoria in the 1860s for electoral fraud.[5][6][7]
During the 1980s, Costello was a solicitor at the law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques,[8] then became a barrister and represented employers in some of Australia's best-known industrial relations disputes.[8]
In 1982 Costello married Tanya (née Coleman), daughter of writer and former Liberal politician Peter Coleman and historian Verna Coleman.[9]
In 1983 and 1984, Costello represented the National Farmers' Federation in legal action against the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU). The AMIEU was seeking a unit tally system to be set up in abattoirs in the Northern Territory. The dispute focussed on one abattoir, Mudginberri, which chose to fight the AMIEU claim. Ultimately the AMIEU claim was unsuccessful.
Costello became counsel to organisations representing small business and rose to prominence in the 1985 Dollar Sweets case, as junior counsel assisting Alan Goldberg QC, successfully representing a confectionery company involved in a bitter industrial dispute.[10][11]
Political background[edit]
In his student years, Costello was active in student politics. For a time, he was an office-bearer of the Social Democratic Students Association of Victoria, an affiliate of the Balaclava Branch of Australian Young Labor. In 1977, Costello was assaulted by a left-wing student politician, receiving mainstream media attention for the first time in his career as a result.[12]
After graduating, Costello became more conservative but retained progressive views on some social issues. In 1984 he was a founding member of the H. R. Nicholls Society,[13] a think tank on industrial relations. In the late 1980s, he was identified as part of the New Right movement,[10] which was organised to some extent in the H. R. Nicholls Society.
Political career[edit]
Early political career[edit]
In 1990, Costello defeated sitting member Roger Shipton in a preselection ballot for the comfortably safe Liberal electorate of Higgins, the seat once held by Harold Holt and John Gorton. He entered the House of Representatives at the age of 32. Costello made his maiden speech in May 1990 and mentioned "government should be subservient to the citizen; the Executive accountable to the representative parliament; and the monopoly give way in the face of the individual."[14]
Following the resignation of Andrew Peacock, Costello voted for John Hewson to replace Peacock as Liberal Leader and Costello was made shadow minister for Consumer affairs and later Shadow Attorney General.[15][16] However, Hewson, despite launching Peter's local campaign in Higgins, was said to have been suspicious of Costello due to his admiration for John Howard; and is alleged to have made it clear to Costello that he would not be appointed a Minister in a Hewson government.
On one occasion Hewson accused Costello of bad mouthing him to journalist Laurie Oakes, which Costello denied.[17]
Honours[edit]
On 26 January 2011, Peter Costello was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for "eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly through the development of landmark economic policy reforms in the areas of taxation, foreign investment, superannuation and corporate regulation, and through representative roles with global financial organisations".[63]