Australia's Costello bids politics goodbye

Australia's Costello bids politics goodbyeSydney - Peter Costello, who served as Australia's treasurer for a record 11 years under former conservative leader John Howard, confirmed Thursday he would not seek the Liberal Party leadership and would likely be gone from Parliament before the next election.

"I'll continue to serve my constituents, and if I get to the point where I feel I'm no longer able to do that as well as I want, I'll make an announcement," the 50-year-old, who was widely expected to follow Howard as Liberal leader, told The Sydney Morning Herald. "At the moment, I'm very happy serving my constituency. But I'm just a backbencher."

As treasurer, Costello held the portfolio of a finance minister.

His decision not to accept an open offer to take over the party leadership is likely to bring on a challenge to current leader Brendan Nelson, who has failed to make a dent in the high opinion poll approval ratings of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose Labor Party defeated Howard at November's general election.

Malcolm Turnbull, the Liberals' finance spokesman and a debonair former barrister and merchant banker, is a likely challenger for Nelson's job.

Costello, who next week will release his memoirs, excoriated Howard for denying him a chance to lead the party to what would have been a fifth consecutive election victory at the November poll.

"People had switched off, and the only way to crack through, in my view, was to get a new face on the government," Costello said. "And it was the failure to renew that cost the Liberal Party government." (dpa)

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