Georgiou Deserves To Leave Politics When He Chooses
The Sunday Age
Sunday April 23, 2006
TODAY, members of the Victorian Liberal Party must decide whether to keep Petro Georgiou, whose 12-year grip on the prized seat of Kooyong is under challenge. Kooyong holds a special place in the history of the party. For 32 years it was the domain of the party's founder, and Australia's longest serving prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies. For the 28 years after that Kooyong was held by another Liberal leader Andrew Peacock. It is a seat many in the Liberal Party regard as the exclusive reserve of what Menzies himself once described as "cabinet timber". Mr Georgiou is clearly not such a man, having failed to rise beyond the rank of backbencher since winning Kooyong in 1994. At 58, he has little chance of promotion. His challenger Joshua Frydenberg, on the other hand, easily fits that bill. At 34, the Oxford educated investment banker and former adviser to John Howard has a bright political future. Mr Frydenberg has also campaigned well and with integrity, yet today should not be his day. Whatever Mr Georgiou's failings as a politician, he has not wasted his time in politics. A former adviser to a prime minister (Malcolm Fraser), Mr Georgiou has established himself as the Howard Government's leading moderate voice. His unshakeable stand against mandatory detention of refugees and his belief in the need for their more humane treatment has forced several key changes in Government policy. Mr Georgiou's platform today is three decades of loyal and productive service to the Liberal Party. In the 1970s he helped build Australia's multicultural society and established the SBS broadcasting network. In the 1980s he helped rebuild the Victorian Liberal Party and was the architect of Jeff Kennett's rise to power in 1992. His record of achievement is a proud one. Mr Georgiou deserves to leave politics at a time of his own choosing. We believe the Victorian Liberal Party should today re-endorse Petro Georgiou as the member for Kooyong. And that Mr Frydenberg's day should come soon, too.
© 2006 The Sunday Age
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