There’s an interesting interview with our Dollar Sweetie in the current Melbourne Weekly – interesting because people like treasurers don’t usually let suburbans do in-depth profiles on them.

But this one’s different. The title – “Peter Costello: God, Industrial Relations and Politics” kinda sorta gives that away. Journo Andrew Fenton steers the Treasurer into some interesting territory. It starts off on the ground where junior counsel Costello first made his mark – IR.

It seems fitting to ask him the logical question: if small businesses are disadvantaged while negotiating with big businesses, are employees also at a similar disadvantage when bargaining with the same big businesses?

There are very few times during our interview that Costello seems less than confident when answering a question, but he hesitates now.

“Well I don’t know that small businesses are necessarily disadvantaged…” he says.

Then why is the Government changing the TPA?

“Well…you know…um…” he says, clearing his throat and shifting in his chair. “I don’t know they are but…” he forces a short, humourless laugh, “…in certain industries if they think they are… and they want to do it, and it’s not competitive they can do it.”

“It’s rocky ground for Costello,” Fenton comments, “but the exchange only reveals a fleeting glimpse of a gap in Costello’s armour.”

“Costello’s life story up to this point can be neatly summarised as God, Industrial Relations and Politics,” Fenton argues. “These three themes link the disparate threads contained within all of the biographies, broadcast transcripts, interviews and news stories researched in the course of writing this article. Many commentators note that Costello is intensely reluctant to reveal much about himself in interviews, that he likes to keep his personal beliefs and motivations private. This may be why the public has very little sense of what drives the man who may become our next Prime Minister.”

There are the obligatory John Mortimer questions.

Costello mocks the media’s current fascination with the rise of the religious right. He puts on a whining voice: “And then the press says, Oh there’s this new movement going on! Ooh! Aah! This must mean something sinister is going on in society! I don’t think so. There’s always been a movement to the churches, perhaps it’s a bit more enthusiastic in some of these newer churches but I don’t see it as some big sociological shift.”

And we get a mention as the Treasurer discusses IR:

Costello’s refusal to back down or compromise on the GST and other issues appears to have been echoed in the current IR debate. A recent unsourced story on Crikey.com.au reported John Howard’s key political advisor Graeme Morris expressed major reservations about the new IR package while it was still in the planning stages.

According to the report, Howard was initially going to follow Morris’ advice and introduce a watered down package, but Costello argued strongly for the more hardline approach the Government has now adopted. Asked if he had counselled Howard not to make concessions on IR, Costello is unequivocal: “I am supporting Industrial Relations reform, yes I am… I am supporting the policy, yes, absolutely, yes.”

When asked specifically about the Crikey piece, he questions whether Morris has said anything publicly and attacks Crikey’s credibility, but he doesn’t challenge any of the facts or deny the story.

Instead he says: “You want my view? Yes I am supporting Industrial Relations reform and I think the extent to which we can do it is the extent we’ll get more jobs.”

And the whole piece ends on a curious note:

As our interview finishes, Costello explains he doesn’t think the final article should concentrate on hard politics.

“It’s sort of like a colour piece,” he suggests offering a nice angle: “Here’s this Melbourne boy in our suburbs and he’s quite senior in the government and one day he might even become more senior…”