Liberals
GAME ON: Cossie keeps them guessing to the last minute as the War for Higgins begins
Peter Costello’s shock decision not to re-nominate for Higgins has probably brought forward Christmas in the Turnbull household by six months. In some eastern suburbs Sydney homes, it is fashionable to have a winter faux Christmas so they might even head out to Perisher and have a roast turkey called Pete.
Anyway, we have to be nice to Cossie now because he’s retired and he can certainly look back on his contributions to public life with some sense of accomplishment. In our opinion, he wasn’t in Keating’s league but he pushed through plenty of tough, unpopular and necessary decisions on privatising Telstra, the GST and so on. So kudos to him for that.
After that fleeting moment of sentiment, we now ask who shall replace the Cossie, in what promises to be the Liberal preselection war to end all wars:
ALDWORTH
Our money is on the Krogerite Jason Aldworth, who works at CPR Communications doing investor communications and that sort of thing. The soon-to-be family man is believed by his mates to be contemplating whether he should run very carefully. Pressing work and family commitments will influence him against running but a strong grass-roots movement of locals is thought to be encouraging him to go for it.
SHEEZEL
Another Krogerite, the former party director Julian Sheezel is also believed to be considering running. Currently a frequent surfer on seek.com.au, he’s highly likely to be backed by Cossie personally and his tough Aryan-looking enforcer Tony Smith. We love to pay-out on Sheezel but you don’t get to be party director by being a dumb-ass and he’s certainly not that. He’s a heavy-hitter who’ll put up a big fight for the seat if he contests. But Costello’s blessing won’t necessarily help him that much though, insiders say. They’ll look to the future, not the past.
ELLIOTT
In the red corner, is Tom Elliott, star of screen and 3AW. He could be backed by the Baillieu faction, partly because Ted Baillieu and John Elliott are old mates. We’d like to be able to say “drinking buddies” but that’s not correct unless you count Ted’s racy choice of beverage, boiled water. Ted is such a tosser. Elliott is an impressive looking and smart bloke and with Channel Nine’s ACA reporter Elise Mooney on his arm, he certainly looks like the candidate from central casting.
Ominously though Elliott runs a hedge fund MM&E Capital. And we all know what that means. Yep, there’s plenty of people who’ve invested with Tom whose investment is worth much less now than it was when they sent him the loot. They’ve taken an absolute hiding we hear. So some might be expecting him to stick around, trade out of the fine mess he got them into and not be swanning around in politics. It’s a tough call for him.
NEWTON-BROWN
Barrister Clem Newton-Brown is also sniffing around and would get some support from the Baillieu brigades. Clem was the Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne but would be lower profile than the other candidates. Some Baillieuistas deny he is running, saying he’ll have a crack at Prahran instead.
WILSON
After exceptionally confident performances on that ABC talk-fest show Q&A and impressing all observers with his campaign skills in the City of Melbourne poll, Baillieu faction operative Tim Wilson will also be considering running. He certainly should, despite his factional alignments with the Hamerite old school Liberals, Wilson is an impressive advocate for freedom, laying waste to leftists on the ABC Q&A show and probably being the most impressive conservative they’ve had on, which is not a bad effort considering the big names who’ve appeared.
ROSKAM
The other presumptuous Baillieu intruder on the avowedly Krogerite turf of Higgins is John Roskam, the director of the Institute of Public Affairs. The IPA’s funding flow has turned into the merest trickle thanks to the global financial crisis giving many corporate execs an excuse to cultivate their inner miser so Roskam is believed to be keen to get out while the going is good.
The announcement of his candidacy on News Limited’s excellent Crikey killer, The Punch, will raise eyebrows among many Liberal members in the area who prefer a more discreet approach.
Nominations close on the 30th of June but some expect the Admin Committee to keep them open longer to give people more time to decide in light of what has been a massive surprise for most Higgins players from Costello.
O’DWYER
Other candidates will emerge, perhaps a woman to interrupt the flow of power from one bloke to another bunch of blokes. Some point to former Cossie staffer and frequently touted prospective candidate Kelly O’Dwyer as being a very viable option. We’ll see…
Discussion
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Bloody high quality field, in anyone’s language
J-Rat will be destroyed.
Lets face it Costello was just a loser ‘Ugly’ from the eighties. A card carrying H.R. Nichols toss pot. They are nearly all gone now, the Kemp boy’s, Minchin and Robb on the outer. Bob Day never getting there. I bet Costello wishes he had lost his seat like Howard. Then he would not have to make a decision to quit. Its hard to make a decision, when you have had an army of aryan advisers working for you. POP. Piss off Pete!
Maybe I should think about it.
Costello wasn’t in Keating’s league – he wasn’t playing the same sport.
What’s that line Keating had about Australian business leaders prior to deregulation? Roaring like caged lions for the barriers to come down, then hiding in the corner, too scared to venture into the light when the door was opened.
Sums up Costello and the rest of the H.R. Nicholls crew perfectly – when they had their chance they could only squeak.
I will only run if Peter McMullin dceides not to. But he should run.
Australia’s finished without him.
In order to be a serious candidate, your first name must start with the letter J. Of all the Jays (J Sheez, JA, Josh Fry, John Ham – one will lose and run for Higgins – J Rosky, J Elliot (or his son anyway), the Jay that brings Cheez is the bestest. Long live the Sheez.
I will run for Higgins. Its mine.
The deal is already done. Michael O’Brien gets Higgins, Matthew Guy gets Malvern, Jason Aldworth gets Caulfield, KOD gets Kew, Disco Dave gets Southern Metro.
David Davis might have a chance. He’s certainly been hanging around the higgins branches like a bad smell
Why are there never any serious female contenders for good liberal seats?? Why always 35 – 45 year old white men?
Every prospective candidate for Wannon is a woman.
Good point.
Who cares about factions!
Theyn should be a non issue!
And by the way, a woman just got preselected for Corangamite!!!???
Remember!?
Diane Anderson would be a good candidate, some Liberals in Higgins seem to think. She even got arch conservative Liberal stalwart Mary Drost to contribute to Higgins News, along with brothel industry head honcho Bill Albon. She was Peter Costello’s top leaker so Pete might consider returning the compliment and support her. Diane was set to become Jeff Kennett’s campaign director for Lord Mayor of Melbourne but Jeff had second thoughts after a brilliant exposure on Vexnews, a site I’ve always considered Australia’s leading news source.
Nope, the biggest political story today was this one. Ouch Andy:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25635145-758,00.html
J-Rat is almost as sleazy and as dodgy as Rat Dog Riva.
I had to laugh at the list above.
Why women for the sake of having a woman?
Why not do it purely based on merit? That would be a bit more consistent with party philosophy.
The party has very few bods who fit the bill. Just hacks who were fetch and carries for the old guard, and who possess even less talent than those who they fetched and carried for.
It’s time the party head hunted from without rather than rewarding those who feel that they have earned it simply by virtue of an annual membership fee and turning up to all of the functions…oh, and a bit of faux advisory work, because let’s face it, few of them actually have the specialist skills… it is the bureaucrats doing all of the work.
Be brave folks, when your homegrown stuff aint that much chop, it’s time to import! If you are really free marketeers, then you will stop recruiting from the parochial sheltered workshop and recruit from the external real world competitive field that has broader and deeper life experience and actual policy specialisation, such that they can contribute to the generation of new ideas.
Time to take your own free market advice about recruitment/pre-selection. Jazz it up, not a little but a lot. Otherwise, you have nothing new and fresh to offer.
Astounded of Melbourne – where are you? You will know what Aldworth is doing …
Why does Dalidakis endorse Tim Wilson on his twitter…?
Honestly Phil what has happened to you mate…?
Furthermore where are the progressive liberals and women when you need them…?
Fascists need not apply!
Steven Sensible, you’re confusing me with Warren the Wise
Mal Brough should get Higgins in my opinion we need a solid candidate who can automatically go to the front bench and the rest of the field are hacks of both factions.
Who cares! A thankless task since it will be at least 5, or more likely 8 years before a candidate has a chance to “help his community”
Irrelevant drivel
Aldsworth works for the alcopops industry – nice ads comparing contents of different beverages
Tim Wilson – an openly gay candidate for Higgins – interesting
Where to from here for Murray Thompson?
Straight, gay, who cares. The guy is a solid free trader who won’t go soft.
What I don’t get is how Roskam and Wilson are both IPA people (and therefor work under Kemp and Kroger) but align themselves with Red Ted. That would be an awkward day at the office.
Add Louise Staley to that mix and you’ve got a den of Teddies.
Isnt there a stink brewing within the Krogies over Higgins – Jasn vs Cheezel
All the Way with JA!
J-Rat should run again for preselection for Narre Warren North, where he came third to Maree Luckins in 2002. A seat the ALP holds by 9.2%.
J-Rat thinks he is Higgins material! You have got to be joking!
Go back to Narre Warren, or some other dead red, where you belong.