And Heeeeere's Pete

The Age

Wednesday May 16, 2007

Misha Schubert

PETER Costello is no space cadet, but yesterday the federal Treasurer confessed to a childhood dream of gadding about the galaxy in a futuristic suit.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut," he told Gold-FM on a trip to the Gold Coast.

"They were landing on the moon when I was at school and we were all taken out to watch this landing on the moon and I thought to myself 'gee, that would be great, wouldn't it, to be on the moon'. And look what happened . . . I ended up as the Treasurer."

Mr Costello cracked gags about his age - jesting that he had been at school when the Wright brothers first flew planes in the early 1900s.

And he scotched an urban myth that he drives a Mercedes Benz, declaring that his personal car was a silver 1990 Mazda 626, with slightly faded duco. "It is in good condition - I want you to know that," he said.

Musing on the timing of the next federal election, the Treasurer ran through a process of elimination before pointing to a timetable gap - November.

Comfortable and relaxed, he urged his hosts to call him "Pete". Pressed to ponder a hypothetical in which he was on a plane about to crash, and told he could offer a sole spare parachute to either Mr Rudd or Labor's deputy leader Julia Gillard, he was asked to choose.

"So it is me, Julia and Kevin," he clarified slowly.

"You know what I would do? I would jump out!" -- MISHA SCHUBERT

© 2007 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home