Whenever a new political biography or similar comes out, staffers do a speed read to gather all the potentially embarrassing quotes that can be fired off against their rivals.

They may have been overwhelmed by the Van Errington biography of John Howard.

So, with Parliament back tomorrow, Crikey is proud to present our pols with a Reader’s Digest-style condensed version that tells you everything you need to know about our Prime Minister.

Page 49: Howard was in a good position to move into parliament as the MPs elected with Menzies in 1949 began to retire in the early 1970s. Sir John Cramer, one of the few Catholics in the parliamentary party announced his retirement from Bennelong on Sydney’s North Shore, the seat he had held since 1949. Cramer supported Peter Coleman (whose state seat overlapped Bennelong and whose daughter Tanya later married Peter Costello) as his replacement… In a field of twenty, Howard won pre-selection for Bennelong on the ninth ballot in December 1973.

Page 130: [According to Jim Carlton] Howard’s status as the senior parliamentary figure in the New South Wales Liberal Party has coincided with the long-term decline of the organisation.

Page 236: [On election day in 1996 Grahame] Morris told Howard, “We’ve even won Lindsay”. “Where the hell is Lindsay?” Howard responded…

Page 274: Encouraging “mums and dads” to buy Telstra shares at the peak of the stock market boom ensured that Howard’s career as investment adviser to the nation was a short one.

Page 275: [At the 1998 election, as the exit polls came in] Howard was shocked. His worst nightmare was before him. If he lost he would surpass Billy McMahon as the prime minister the Liberal Party is most ashamed of.

Page 316: As prime minister, [Howard] had the luxury of being able to make news with an announcement, however trivial. To make sure that ministers were aware of the public relations context of their policies, Cabinet submissions contained draft media releases.

Page 318: [On bypassing the press gallery for live radio] Michelle Grattan observed that Howard was “simultaneously over-exposed and under-available”.

Page 324: All [Cabinet] submissions circulated were individually numbered to help guard against the leaking of sensitive Cabinet material.

Page 330: [Following the Bali bombing] Howard was very agitated and wondered whether Australia had become a target, perhaps because of Australia’s role in the war on terror.

Page 332: For someone who reflects solemnly on the war service of his father and grandfather, Howard took a surprisingly cavalier approach to the use of military power.

Page 335: Whether the pay-off from the China-led resources boom is worth the sycophancy that both sides of Australian politics display to Chinese leaders is not a question we bother to ask any more.

Page 337-8: Howard managed a smile when informed Latham had narrowly beaten Beazley for the Labor leadership. But behind the smile he feared being painted as yesterday’s man by a new generation of Labor leaders.

Page 374-5: Howard’s dominance of the Liberal Party may have masked a resurgent liberalism in that organisation: Howard’s core beliefs and the core beliefs of the Liberal Party are not necessarily the same. The Party has always been reluctant to debate philosophy in order to forge a consensus between liberals and conservatives. Leaving the task of defining the platform in the hands of the leader allows for radical swings in policy that leave the electorate wondering what the Liberals are really on about. Howard’s departure will once again spark a debate about the direction of the Party.

Page 384: One measure of John Howard’s legacy will be his ability to leave behind a united and capable Liberal Party. That, however, is looking less and less likely.

Page 385: [On the 1994 leadership deal] “He has a lawyer’s tongue,” one minister noted [of Howard]… Voters preferred Howard’s obfuscation to Costello’s whining.

Page 390: If we judge Howard by his own standards as a reformer, there isn’t a good deal to show for his lengthy period of office. The heavy lifting in economic reform was undertaken by the previous government, albeit for the most part with Howard’s support.

Page 395: A March 2007 Newspoll found that 68 per cent of voters considered Howard arrogant while just 29 per cent felt that way about Rudd. A replay of the 1996 campaign was in the offing, with Howard playing the role of the out-of-touch prime minister… The father of the nation was expecting his first grandchild in late 2007. John Howard was looking his age.

Page 401: Some of Howard’s more expedient decisions, such as protecting the coal industry instead of tackling global warming, were catching up with him. A prime minister who had become adept at harnessing public fears for political advantage was finally succumbing to the greatest scare campaign of all.

Page 402: Sinodinos’s departure from Howard’s office in late 2006, barely noticed by the media, was a further sign that Howard’s best years were behind him, and that the Prime Minister had made the one mistake in politics that he wouldn’t be around to learn from – misjudging his optimal retirement date.

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