Michael John Costello is a former senior Australian public servant and chief of staff to former

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

politician

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. Since 2022 he has served as chairman of the Australian War Memorial. Previously, he was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

during Beazley's tenure as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 1996 to 2001. In 1992, Costello was appointed Secretary of the Department of Industrial Relations, where he stayed until 1993 when he was appointed Secretary of the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

(DFAT). In this role, he took a proactive position on Asia. In 1996, he and five other Australian Government departmental secretaries were summarily dismissed by the newly elected

Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...

in 1996 in what journalist Paul Kelly described in 2005 as "the greatest blood-letting upon any change of government since Federation". On leaving DFAT, he became the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

ACTEW Corporation Icon Water Limited, trading principally as Icon Water, is a water and wastewater public utility that is an Australian Capital Territory-owned corporation. The company provides drinking water and wastewater services to the ACT. Icon Water is also ...

, the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

's electricity and water authority. In 2004, he was highly critical of

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

for Labor's federal election defeat to the Howard government. In 2008, he wrote a weekly column for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' supportive of Beazley and Labor's economic policies during the Hawke and Keating years. On 26 June 2010, Costello had a final column published in ''The Australian'' concerning the federal ALP's dumping of

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

in favour of

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

. Costello downplayed the role of the factions and unions, arguing that "The truth is that the power of the factions and the unions has been steadily declining."

Awards

Costello was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1996, in recognition of service to international relations, particularly in relation to the Cambodian peace settlement and the Chemical Warfare Convention.

Personal life

Costello is married to Christine Wallace, Australian journalist and biographer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Michael Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian public servants Officers of the Order of Australia