1. Peter Howard Costello was born on 14 August 1957 and is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007.
53 Facts About Peter Costello
1. 2.
Peter Costello served as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 2007.
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On 18 September 2008, Peter Costello was appointed as chairman of the World Bank's new Independent Advisory Board to provide advice on anti-corruption measures.
4.
Peter Costello served as Chairman of Nine Entertainment from February 2016 until June 2024.
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Peter Costello is Chairman of the Board of Guardians of Australian Future Fund.
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Peter Costello was born on 14 August 1957 in Melbourne into a middle-class family of practising Christians.
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Peter Costello was the second of three children; his elder brother, Tim, is a prominent Baptist minister and former CEO of World Vision Australia.
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Peter Costello was educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School and Monash University, where he studied arts and law, graduating with honours in 1982.
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Peter Costello is a descendant of Irish immigrant Patrick Peter Costello, who was expelled from the Parliament of Victoria in the 1860s for electoral fraud.
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In 1983 and 1984, Peter Costello represented the National Farmers' Federation in legal action against the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union.
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Peter 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.
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In 1977, Peter Costello was assaulted by a left-wing student politician, receiving mainstream media attention for the first time in his career as a result.
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In 1990, Peter Costello defeated sitting member Roger Shipton in a preselection ballot for the comfortably safe Liberal inner-east Melbourne electorate of Higgins, the seat once held by Harold Holt and John Gorton.
14.
Peter Costello entered the House of Representatives at the age of 32.
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Hewson's shock defeat at the 1993 election, Peter Costello believes, can be attributed to Hewson lacking the experience to know which things to try to change and which things to avoid trying to change.
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Peter Costello believed Hewson fought everyone from Churches and Welfare groups over the GST to the Superannuation and Medicare organisations and recipients.
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Peter Costello claimed he found it hard to promote the Liberal party's zero Tariff policy to the car industry.
18.
Peter Costello developed a higher profile following the 1993 election, becoming Shadow Finance Minister.
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Peter Costello came to be seen as an alternative leader to Hewson, especially through, but not limited to, the "sports rorts affair" where, at the urging of Peter Costello and Hewson, Sport Minister Ros Kelly was forced to resign after it was revealed she had not handled sports' funding proposals properly.
20.
Hewson was deposed as Liberal leader in May 1994, Peter Costello supported Alexander Downer for the leadership, becoming his Deputy Leader and shadow Treasurer.
21.
Peter Costello did not seek the leadership, instead supporting John Howard.
22.
Peter Costello became the longest serving Deputy Leader in 2006, breaking the record held by the party's first Deputy Leader Sir Eric Harrison.
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Peter Costello spent all but the last two years of his political career on the front bench.
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Peter Costello oversaw the return to and maintenance of federal budget surpluses, which enabled significant reduction in government debt.
25.
Peter Costello brought down twelve consecutive Federal Budgets, including ten surpluses.
26.
Peter Costello advocated for change to a republic at the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998.
27.
Peter Costello rejected any suggestion that Australia was not already an independent nation and said that the Australian Constitution works "remarkably well".
28.
Peter Costello supported the 1999 referendum on whether Australia should become a republic.
29.
Peter Costello famously had a slogan to encourage Australians to "have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country".
30.
In February 2006, Peter Costello caused controversy during a lecture at the Sydney Institute when questioned about the government's refusal to legally recognise same-sex marriage.
31.
Peter Costello stated that marriage should only be recognised between heterosexual couples.
32.
Peter Costello expected to gain the Liberal leadership some time during Howard's second term as prime minister, as per Howard's alleged December 1994 offer.
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When this did not eventuate, it is alleged that Peter Costello became frustrated, particularly when Howard announced, in July 2003, his intention to lead the government into the 2004 election.
34.
Peter Costello confirmed the incident had occurred and that he shared McLachlan's interpretation of events.
35.
Peter Costello doesn't have the numbers to blast John Howard out.
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However, on 12 September 2007, amid renewed leadership tensions and a series of unfavourable public polls, Howard confirmed he would step aside well into the next term, if re-elected, and that Peter Costello would be his "logical successor".
37.
An exit poll of 2,787 voters by Auspoll, commissioned by Sky News, included a question on the statement "I don't want Peter Costello to become Prime Minister".
38.
Peter Costello was widely expected to assume the Liberal leadership after the 2007 election, but the day after the election, in a surprise announcement, he said that he would not seek or accept the leadership or deputy leadership of the Liberal Party.
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Media attention immediately shifted to whether Peter Costello's decision cleared the way for a leadership challenge by Malcolm Turnbull.
40.
On 15 June 2009, Peter Costello announced that he would retire from Parliament at the next Federal election.
41.
However on 7 October 2009, Peter Costello announced he would be resigning from Parliament when it resumed later in the month.
42.
Peter Costello resigned on 19 October 2009, triggering the 2009 Higgins by-election.
43.
Peter Costello's departure came just prior to the ETS crisis that lead to Malcolm Turnbull losing the Liberal party leadership to Tony Abbott.
44.
Peter Costello was a member of the Board of Guardians of the Australian Government Future Fund from December 2009 until February 2024.
45.
Gonski reported to the Australian Government that the existing Guardians favoured Peter Costello to succeed Murray as Chairman.
46.
Peter Costello is a managing partner of BKK Partners, a boutique corporate advisory run by former Goldman Sachs JBWere managers.
47.
Peter Costello wrote a regular column for Fairfax newspapers until 2013.
48.
In May 2012, Michael Kroger accused Peter Costello of being interested in returning to Federal Parliament, most likely by getting a Liberal MP to step aside, with the hope of becoming leader of the Liberal Party.
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Peter Costello denied this, saying that Kroger had approached him asking to help preserve his ex-wife Helen Kroger's Senate position.
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Kroger believes Peter Costello was targeting her along with others; Kroger claimed Peter Costello very often criticises past and present Liberal party MPs and officials.
51.
In February 2016, Peter Costello was appointed chairman of Nine Entertainment.
52.
Peter Costello resigned from Nine in June 2024 after allegedly assaulting a reporter at Canberra Airport.
53.
On 26 January 2011, Peter Costello was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia 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".