Dreaming...

Today Liberal party donor and shonky businessman, Robert Gerard, was forced to resign from his post on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia after a week or so of copping it on all sides about his family business' tax evasion schemes.

There can be little doubt that he was told to fall on his sword by Howard and Costello. Costello made a huge mistake in not thoroughly checking out Gerard's business affairs before appointing him to his post at the Reserve. Howard and Costello have got lucky though, as pointed out on LP, the resignation coincides with Friday arvo and the unfortunate execution of Nguyen Tuong Van. Chances are the Labor party won't be able to drag this issue into the next week.

If they could though...

Wouldn't it be nice if Wayne Swan moved in for the kill on Costello on Business Sunday? Why Business Sunday? Well, as pointed out here, a lot of Liberal party voters watch business Sunday. Maybe Swan could dig up some hard evidence that Costello knew perfectly well that his mate was a shonky businessman and that he wanted to reward him for his generous donations to the Liberal Party?

Imagine if 60 Minutes did an expose on Gerard and his dealings with the Liberal Party? Maybe focusing on how he got an invitation to the state dinner with George Bush?

A few well placed media stories could keep this issue rolling on into the next week. Maybe, just maybe by next Friday Howard's people (who don't like Costello much anyway) will start to feel shaky about having Costello as treasurer and will call for him to be axed? Maybe Malcom Turnball will get greedy and have a go at toppling Costello. Or possibly Tony Abbott will have a crack at it?

Wow, I'm so dreaming. We'd need an independent media for all of this to happen. Oh, and an organized opposition....

If Costello goes, the Liberal Party becomes uber-vulnerable. he has been their economy guy. They have sold Costello as being the man that has kept interest rates down. All of a sudden they won't have that. They will have an out-of-touch billionare or a creepy religious guy with their hands on the till. The Howard and Costello double-act is strong because it is a double act. Take away one and the other might fall.

Update: Costello has copped a serve-and-a-half in this Saturday's Oz. The Gerard resignation is the top story with seven articles linked to it. The political editor, Dennis Shanahan puts the boot in and George Megalogenis puts on some big-assed steel-capped 14 hole docs and kicks the living bejesus out of him.

It isn't a huge surprise that the Oz is going after Costello. They don't like him because he doesn't share the Oz's editorialists passion for taxation reform (you know, because people who get paid 100K plus a year aren't wealthy). Whereas Malcom Turnball on the other hand...

After this debacle it seems unlikely to me that Costello has a hope in hell of becoming PM anytime soon. If Labor can keep the heat on you never know what could happen...