The Coalition should think of the Rudd Government as a one-term government, former Prime Minister John Howard told a large crowd of Coalition supporters at a dinner in Canberra last night.
A Who's Who of former Coalition grandees and current Coalition notables attended the dinner held in the Great Hall at Parliament House, including former deputy prime ministers Tim Fischer and John Anderson, and current leader Brendan Nelson.
Former Treasurer Peter Costello, who is speaking at a conference at the University of Virginia on global economic instability, gave a prerecorded video presentation, entertaining the crowd with a comment that the last election loss was bitter enough, ''but made more galling by the Hollowmen that now occupy the treasury benches having inherited the luckiest lotto win in Australian history''.
The former prime minister was in an expansive mode, beginning by saying, ''I'm always happy to be back and I'm happy to be with Brendan and see some of my former colleagues, and we'll have a fun night.''
He spoke for 20 minutes off the cuff with an ebullient defence of his record, dotted with advice for the new Coalition team.
Never apologise, he said, for the unpopular reforms the Coalition introduced in areas like waterfront reform, unfair dismissal, and economic reform. We are doers, not seat warmers, he added.
The former leader said he still followed politics ''with a close and sentimental interest. I'd like you to operate on the basis that this can be a one-term government,'' Mr Howard said.
''This political scene is unpredictable.'' He said that when the Gippsland by-election took place he was visiting the Globe theatre in London. He spoke to Dr Nelson and said to forget any other comparison. This was ''eerily analogous'' to the 1973 by-election in which Philip Ruddock was elected to Parliament early in the life of the short-lived Whitlam Government.
The former Prime Minister said he supported Dr Nelson's stand on taxes, saying he had every right to oppose Labor's proposed increases in taxes
''Brendan and I are old friends: he's doing a great job and he has my full support,'' Mr Howard said.
And, in a sign that he was not repentant even about his most unpopular measures, the Prime Minister who lost his own seat said that, while some single issues might be said to have cost the Coalition the election, that simply meant ''loss with honour, not dishonour''.
When you lose office, the former PM said, there are two things you need to do. The first is defend the legacy; the second, to recognise the reasons for defeat and adjust your policies accordingly.
Tony Abbott, health minister in the Howard government, revelled in the memory of the Howard years.
''This is a night for all Liberals to celebrate the achievements of a great government.
''These were great days for us and they were the best days for Australia,'' he said. - with AAP
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter