JOHN Howard went into the 2007 election campaign with a secret $18 billion plan to fix the nation's public hospitals but dumped the policy after being spooked by Kevin Rudd's vow to end "reckless spending", a former top aide has revealed.
Mr Howard also wanted to open the election debate by saying, "I know people are suffering" which his advisers took as more evidence that he had been "psyched out by Rudd". Author Niki Savva, a former senior press gallery journalist who spent six years as press secretary to treasurer Peter Costello and three years as a speechwriter for Mr Howard, reveals in her new political memoir, So Greek, how the then prime minister was psychologically outflanked for most of the election year and the campaign.
The health policy proposed pumping an extra $16.9 billion directly into public hospitals, doubling transition care beds to take pressure off hospitals, and pledging to create 50 emergency GP clinics half of them 24-hour operations. Mr Howard signed off on the package on October 30, but killed it off the day after Labor's campaign launch.
The prime minister had intended to spring the policy on the opposition leader too late for him to respond, but "as things turned out, he ended up being snookered and psyched by Rudd" with Labor's pledge to stop spending, Savva writes.
The final Coalition health package was stripped to a "shell" and had no figures on hospital funding. The Coalition released no more policies after that either.
Savva also recounts a swag of anecdotes about the famously fractious relationship between the two top figures in the Howard government.
"Costello was always tight with information, and trying to get him to tell the Prime Minister's office what was in the budget was always an ordeal," she writes.
"In 2003, Costello kept his budget tax cuts secret until the last possible moment. In 2006, the Prime Minister's office was not told about the superannuation changes until a few days before the budget was put to bed. Howard would ring his advisers seeking information on what was in the budget, only to be told they couldn't get it and he would have to ring Costello himself to ask for it."
Mr Howard saw the Coalition tax cuts for the 2007 election campaign only a few hours before the scheduled joint press conference to unveil them.
The account also details a flurry of urgings for Mr Costello to challenge for the leadership as the Coalition's polling turned ugly in mid-1998. She writes that among those who offered to help Mr Costello topple Mr Howard was Brian Loughnane, now the Liberals' federal director.
As Mr Howard and the government were heading for their electoral drubbing in 2007, Savva also details the urgings of senior players for him to resign and hand over to Mr Costello.
Former party president Shane Stone went to see Mr Howard in May 2007, telling him it was time to step aside and "better to leave a year too early than a week too late".
But Mr Howard was convinced that even if he went down, it would be worse under Mr Costello.
Even so, by June Mr Howard was "canvassing a tight circle of friends and family, wondering aloud if he had made a mistake in not going".
"There was deep concern about his performance," Savva writes. "Sotto vocce, and only ever among themselves, his most senior aides confessed that he realised he should have gone in 2006."
When the feverish leadership rumblings resumed in September after Mr Howard asked foreign minister Alexander Downer to take soundings from ministers about whether he should quit, ministers Andrew Robb and Mal Brough urged the prime minister to go. But after consulting his family, Mr Howard slammed the door on the option.
Mr Brough tried to arrange a cabinet meeting the week after APEC in the hope it would ask Mr Howard to go the condition he had put on any departure. But Mr Howard picked off ministers singly or in pairs to head it off.
His wife, Janette, was "sitting, like a warrior sentinel, in an office adjacent to the prime minister's, with a clear view of who came and went", Mr Brough recalls.
The book also details more of the enmity between Mr Costello and deposed Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull, with Mr Costello decrying Mr Turnbull for having "lousy political judgment", and Mr Turnbull sending Mr Costello a message that if he wanted to take the leadership from him, he would have to "wade through blood".
Asked if she was worried about burning bridges with her behind-the-scenes account, Savva admitted that might well be the price of candour.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
What was John Howard’s secret $18 billion public hospitals plan ahead of the 2007 election?
According to Niki Savva’s memoir So Greek, the Howard government had a secret health package worth about $18 billion. It included pumping an extra $16.9 billion directly into public hospitals, doubling transition-care beds to ease hospital pressure, and creating 50 emergency GP clinics (about half operating 24 hours). Howard signed off on the package on October 30, 2007, but the plan was shelved the next day.
Why did John Howard reportedly dump the $18 billion hospital policy during the 2007 campaign?
Savva reports that Howard was ‘spooked’ by Kevin Rudd’s pledge to end what Rudd called “reckless spending.” Howard had intended to reveal the package late to limit the opposition’s response, but after Labor’s campaign launch he was described as being ‘snookered and psyched’ and the Coalition pulled back the detailed funding figures and effectively stripped the health package to a ‘shell.’
Who revealed these behind-the-scenes details about the 2007 campaign and where are they published?
Political journalist and former Howard speechwriter Niki Savva revealed the account in her political memoir So Greek. Savva spent six years as press secretary to Treasurer Peter Costello and three years as a speechwriter for John Howard, and she recounts these events and anecdotes from inside the government in the book.
What happened to the Coalition’s final health package after the policy was pulled back?
After the original package was shelved, the Coalition’s final health announcement was reportedly pared back to a ‘shell’ with no specific figures for hospital funding. The article says the Coalition released no further policies after that point in the campaign.
What does the memoir say about the Howard–Costello working relationship and budget secrecy?
Savva describes a fractious relationship: Peter Costello was reportedly tight with information and often kept budget details secret until the last moment. Examples include tax cuts kept secret in 2003 and superannuation changes not revealed to the Prime Minister’s office until days before the budget was finalised. Howard sometimes discovered Coalition tax cuts only hours before a joint press conference.
Were there calls within the Coalition for Howard to resign before the 2007 election?
Yes. Savva details urgings from senior figures for Howard to step aside and hand the leadership to Costello as polling worsened. Former party president Shane Stone reportedly advised Howard in May 2007 that it was time to step aside. Ministers such as Andrew Robb and Mal Brough urged Howard to go, and aides privately expressed deep concern about his performance.
What internal manoeuvres and personal anecdotes from the campaign are highlighted in So Greek?
The memoir recounts many behind-the-scenes vignettes: Howard ‘canvassing a tight circle’ of friends and family about whether he should resign; his wife Janette acting as a ‘warrior sentinel’ monitoring visitors; attempts to arrange a cabinet meeting to press Howard to quit; and examples of Howard picking off ministers one-by-one to head off challenges.
Why might everyday investors or observers of public policy find these revelations about the 2007 campaign useful?
The book gives a window into how major fiscal and spending decisions were shaped, withheld or withdrawn during a federal election campaign. For anyone who follows government policy, budgeting or public spending, Savva’s account explains the political forces and internal dynamics that can determine whether significant funding proposals—like an $18 billion hospital plan—are announced, modified or abandoned.
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