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 simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

politician

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...

during Beazley's tenure as

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

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 federal government responsible for foreign policy and relations, international aid (using the branding Australian Aid), consular services and trade and ...

(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 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 central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

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 (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

'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, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

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 newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' 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 former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

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, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

. 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 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