Holding Australia to Ransom
The Colston Affair, 1996-2003
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1321816600005262Keywords:
The Colston Affair, 1996-2003, Malcolm Arthur Colston, defectionAbstract
Probably no one who has entered either federal or state Parliament in Australia departed from it as loathed and despised as Malcolm Arthur Colston. A Labor senator from Queensland between 1975 and 1996, he is remembered by that party as a 'rat' who betrayed it for the sake of personal advancement. Whereas many Labor parliamentarians - most notably Prime Minister 'Billy' Hughes in 1917 - have left the party because they strongly disagreed with it over a major policy issue or a matter of principle, in the winter of 1996 Colston unashamedly left it to secure the deputy presidency of the Senate and the status, income and several other perquisites that went with it. Labor's bitterness towards Colston stems not merely from the fact that he showed extraordinary ingratitude towards a party that had allowed him a parliamentary career but more especially because, between his defection from the party in August 1996 and his retirement from Parliament in June 1999, his vote allowed the Liberal-National Party government led by John Howard to pass legislation through the Senate that might otherwise have been rejected.
References
Australian Financial Review, 21 August 1996: 2, 17.
For instance, the leader of the Labor Party in the Senate remarked that 'The Labor Party has been very, very good to Mal Colston. No one can argue that.' See M. Gordon, 'A Pawn in Their Game', Weekend Australian, 24-25 August 1996: 22.
Given the contempt in which he was held, it is not surprising that hardly anything of a scholarly nature has been written on Colston. For possibly the most substantial offering, see J. Dickenson, Mal Colston: The Worst Rat of the Lot?, The History Cooperative, Conference proceedings. Accessed 20 October 2009 from www.historycooperative. org/proceedings/asslh2/dickenson.html; 1. Iremonger, 'Rats', in 1. Faulkner and S. Macintyre (eds), True Believers (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2001), pp. 265-83.
G. Bilney, 'To Lurks, Perks and Rorts, We Can Now Add Colstoning', Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 3 May 1997: 10.
SMH, 6 March 1997: 3.
Age, 5 March 1997: 3; 8 March 1997: 24; Sun-Herald, 30 March 1997: 19.
SMH, 22 August 1996: 11; Age, 15 February 1997: 33; SMH, 8 March 1997: 33; Sun-Herald, 9 March 1997: 88; Age, 27 September 1997: 31; Courier-Mail, 13 November 2002: 21; Age, 26 August 2003: 1; Australian, 26 August 2003: 2; Age, 27 August 2003: 12; Canberra Times, 27 August 2003: 16.
Among the better articles on Colston's motivation - and Labor's insights into it - are W. Brown, 'Tipping the Balance', Courier-Mail, 23 August 1996: 13; and G. Chan, 'Man in the Middle', Australian, 22 August 1996: 11.
A good profile of Colston's pre- and early parliamentary career - possibly written by Colston himself - is in House Magazine, 2, 12, 20 September 1983: 3.
Courier-Mail, 4 March 1983: 5; 8 March 1983: 1; 9 March 1983: 2; 10 March 1983, pp. 1 and 2; 11 March 1983, pp. 1 and 13; 10 July 1987: 20; 13 July 1987: 1.
Many articles detail the posts for which Colston was rejected but for the one that perhaps best reveals the man's disappointment and bitterness, see S. Maher, 'Slings and Arrows: Colston Rebels at "One Too Many"', Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 10 November 1996, pp. 79-80.
SMH, 12 February 1997: 1; Age, 15 February 1997: 33.
See, for example, comments by Gareth Evans (Courier-Mail, 21 August 1996: 1), Michael Kaiser and John Faulkner (SMH, 21 August 1996: 5) and Tom Bums (Australian, 22 August 1996: 3).
Canberra Times, 22 August 1996: 3.
For one from Colston's home state, see 'Colston in Breach of Moral Rights', Courier-Mail, 22 August 1996. There were many more later - for example, 'Colston's Duty was to Resign', SMH, 4 November 1998: 14.
Gold Coast Bulletin, 31 November 1996: 34.
SMH, 4 December 1996: 2; Gold Coast Bulletin, 5 December 1996: 13.
SMH, 5 December 1996: 7.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Senate), 11 December 1996, pp. 7244-46; Canberra Times, 12 February 1997: 4; D. O'Reilly, Cheryl Kernot: The Woman Most Likely (Sydney: Random House, 1998): 345.
P. Daley, 'To Trap the Rat', Sunday Age, 13 April 1997: 18.
The report went on to say that 'over the years a prominent Queensland Labor operative would often chortle into his beer when asked why the ALP kept returning Colston to the Senate. "Mate," the operative would say, "we've got Colston where we want him. We've got the dirt on him and it's on paper.'" T. Wright, 'Malpractice: Greed, Revenge and Frequent Flyer Points', SMH, 8 March 1997, pp. 33 and 40.
Sunday Age, 2 March 1997: 1; SMH, 12 April 1997: 43. See also A. Ramsey, 'The Dirt Sticks to Labor's Hands', SMH, 12 April 1997: 43.
P. Daley, 'Tribunal Told of Lying and Underhand Deals', Sunday Age, 23 February 1997: 10. See also Age, 24 February 1997: 3 and Sun-Herald, 27 April 1997: 1.
A. Hillard, 'The Hermit Senator', Mercury (Hobart), 1 May 1997: 19.
Age, 25 February 1997: 3; 26 February 1997: 6.
SMH, 26 February 1997: 4; 27 February 1997: 4.
The most important of the Sunday Age's many revelatory articles on Colston were written by Paul Daley, who was later given a Walkley Award. See, in particular, 'Senator Defends Expenses', 15 September 1996: 8; 'Senator Drawn into Expenses Dispute', 16 February 1997: 1; 'Key Senator Faces New Rorts Claim', 23 February 1997: 1; 'Tribunal Told of Lying and Underhand Deals', 23 February 1997: 10; 'How a Back-room Job Led to the Spotlight', 23 February 1997: 10; 'Probe Widens', 2 March 1997: 1; 'Colston May Resign Over Rort Allegations', 9 March 1997: 1; 'The Odd Man Out', 9 March 1997: 9; 'Claims Mount on Travel', 16 March 1997: 3; 'New Claim of False Expenses', 30 March 1997: 1; 'Colston Affair Sinks to a New Sleaze Level', 30 March 1997: 2; 'Pressure to Quit Increases', 6 April 1997: 1; 'Colston's Secret Meetings', 13 April 1997: 3; 'To Trap the Rat', 13 April 1997: 18; 'Test for Senate Friendship', 27 April 1997: 2; 'New Moves for Colston Inquiry', 4 May 1997: 3; 'Labor Threatens New Probe', 20 July 1997: 3; 'Colston Affair Set to Dog Howard', 16 November 1997: 3; 'Government Pulled Plug on Rorts Review', 23 November 1997: 5; 'Colston May Re-emerge for Wik Vote', 8 February 1998: 5; 'Government Hopes Wax Fat and Thin on Wik Politics', 5 April 1998: 21; 'One for the Records in a Nasty Business', 19 July 1998: 17. See also S. Carney, 'Exit Mal, a Senator for All Seasons', 27 June 1999: 25.
M. Seccombe, 'MP Declared a Disaster as Flow of Rorting Claims Turns to a Flood', SMH, 27 February 1997: 4.
SMH, 4 March 1997: 4; 8 March 1997: 33; Sun-Herald, 30 March 1997: 28.
SMH, 5 April 1997: 2; 5 April 1997: 42; Age, 9 April 1997: 8; 10 April 1997: 1; 17 April 1997: 3.
SMH, 1 March 1997: 32.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Senate), 4 March 1997: 1203.
Age, 24 February 1997: 3.
MB, 27 February 1997: 4.
Age, 28 February 1997: 2; 5MB, 3 March 1997: 2; Sunday Age, 30 March 1997: 2.
MB, 31 March 1997: 3.
MB, 25 March 1997: 1; Age, 25 March 1997: 1.
MB, 9 April 1997: 1; 11 April 1997: 15.
Sun-Herald, 6 April 1997: 4; 27 April 1997: 2.
N. Richardson, 'Piggy in the Middle', Bulletin, 22 April 1997: 12; see also 5MB, 15 April 1997: 2; 17 April 1997: 2; 18 April 1997: 15; 2 July 1997: 4.
Age, 26 April 1997: 6.
MB, 6 May 1997: 4; Age, 8 May 1997: 7.
Age, 12 April 1997: 1; 15 April 1997: 1; 25 April 1997: 5.
Sun-Herald, 13 April 1997: 11.
Age, 10 April 1997: 1; 6 May 1997: 5.
Age, 6 May 1997: 5.
Age, 7 May 1997: 1; 5MB, 7 May 1997: 9.
Age, 7 May 1997: 1; 5MB, 7 May 1997: 9.
MB, 7 May 1997: 1.
Age, 7 May 1997: 1.
MB, 10 June 1997: 3.
MB, 16 July 1997: 1.
See, for example, SMH, 27 April 1999: 2; 4 May 1999: 1; Age, 1 May 1999: 13; Illawarra Mercury, 4 May 1999: 4.
Age, 13 August 1997: 8; Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 1997: 2.
Age, 23 September 1997: 3.
See, for instance, the correspondence between Colston's doctors and lawyers, and between the latter and the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Parliamentary Library, Department of Parliamentary Services. In particular, see P. Georghioll to B. Morrissey, 18 March 1999; G. Beadle to B. Morrissey, 19 March 1999; S. Lynch to B. Morrissey, 24 March 1999; B. Morrissey to P. Walsh, 2 April 1999; M. Ayers to B. Morrissey, 15 April 1999; B. Morrissey to D. (Douglas) Colston, 23 April 1999. See also the two letters - 29 April 1999 and 3 May 1999, parts of which have been blacked out - from Colston's office to the federal Attomey-General (copies of this correspondence were kindly sent to me by the Parliamentary Library in Canberra).
Sun-Herald, 23 November 1997: 16.
A. Ramsey, 'The Swill Gives the House a Bath', SMH, 13 December 1997: 45.
Sunday Age, 8 February 1998: 5.
Sunday Age, 8 February 1998: 5.
Age, 31 March 1998: 2.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Senate), 7 July 1998, pp. 5171-79; SMH, 8 July 1998: 1.
Sunday Age, 5 April 1998: 21.
MB, 19 May 1998: 3.
When Colston finally left the Commonwealth Parliament in June 1999, he referred to the reporters who had pursued him over the last three years as 'maggots'. It is likely he had Daley uppermost in his mind (Australian, 1 July 1999: 3).
P. Daley, 'Colston's Tell-all "Shame File" to Stay Unopened', Age, 3 April 1998: 7.
MB, 6 July 1998: 1.
Sun-Herald, 12 July 1998: 1.
Age, 11 July 1998: 4.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Senate), 11 July 1998, pp. 5675-77; R. Wear, 'Commonwealth of Australia July to December 1998', Australian Journal of Politics and History, 45(2) (1999): 254-55.
Sun-Herald, 12 July 1998: 2.
T. Wright, 'Let Us Pray ... for the Senate', Sunday Age, 12 July 1998: 1.
Illawarra Mercury, 13 July 1998: 1.
SMH, 14 July 1998: 4; Age, 18 July 1998: 8; Illawarra Mercury, 16 October 1998: 2; SMH, 2 November 1998: 2; Illawarra Mercury, 3 November 1998: 2; Age, 7 November 1998: 2; Illawarra Mercury, 29 April 1999: 5.
SMH, 3 November 1998: 18.
Illawarra Mercury, 21 April 1999: 4.
See, for instance, the statements by the leader of the government in the Senate, Robert Hill (SMH, 2 November 1998: 2) and the deputy prime minister Tim Fischer (Illawarra Mercury, 3 November 1998: 2).
Illawarra Mercury, 21 April 1999: 4; 29 April 1999: 5; Age, 4 May 1999: 4.
Illawarra Mercury, 19 June 1999: 21.
Age, 22 June 1999: 1-2.
Age, 6 July 1999: 1; SMH, 7 July 1999: 3 and 18; 8 July 1999: 3.
Reports differ, but the most common estimate of the superannuation Colston took with him was $1.3 million.
Given his obvious obesity and outrageous rorts, Colston was both a cartoonist's and a satirist's delight. See, for instance, Anon., The Unauthorised Mal Colston Travel Diary (Sydney: Swot-Cafe Publishing, 1997).
SMH, 20 April 1999: 1.
Age, 10 March 2000: 10; Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Senate), 9 March 2000, pp. 12490-91; Sun-Herald, 13 August 2000: 19; Age, 7 November 2000: 6; Australian, 8 March 2001: 6; Courier-Mail, 22 May 2002: 2; 15 June 2002: 3; Mercury, 12 November 2002: 4; Herald-Sun, 25 March 2003: 16; Courier-Mail, 9 August 2003: 12.
Courier-Mail, 7 March 2001: 1; Australian, 8 August 2003: 3.
There were dozens of obituaries of Colston between 25 and 30 August 2003, but see in particular G. Kitney, 'Kind Words in Short Supply as Labor Maintains its Rage Against Colston', SMH, 26 August 2003: 31; 'Deathly Quiet Grips Labor', Courier-Mail, 26 August 2003: 6.; T. Maguire, 'Cancer Finally Claims Colston', Daily Telegraph, 26 August 2003: 2.
T. Sweetman, 'Scales of Justice Over Mal's Eyes', Courier-Mail, 13 November 2002: 21.
