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					Originally Posted by Aliantha  And they still haven't announced who the winner of the seat was yet.
 And what a shock that Peter Costello resigned from politics.  I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest, although he did win his seat as opposed to John Howard possibly losing his.
 
 Maybe Mr Downer will take over the Libs.  I believe he'd be their best bet.  He's done a fabulous job as foreign affairs minister.  I think Malcolm Turnbull might get the nod though.  I hope it's not Tony Abbott!
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 Downer has declared he has "little enthusiasm" for the job.  The leading contenders are Abbot (oh I hope not) and Turnbull (too smooth by far).
But whoever takes the job is looking at a minimum of three and almost certainly six years in opposition - possibly more.  And it's quite likely that whoever takes it now will be a caretaker leader for the next six months or so and then be rolled by the real one.  For that reason I would have thought Downer or Costello should have held the tiller until the party has sorted itself out and the new person is ready.
To get all political, I hope Abbot gets to be leader for a while, looses the next election, and gets dumped ... better that than him to become leader in a few years and possibly PM in the fullness of time.
Yes, dear foreigners, the Australian Liberal Party does feature two major players named Abbot and Costello.