JWH

One day during the week - Wednesday? - I was crossing the road in front of my office, a busy Sydney street. I crossed against the lights, as one does, and as I fetched up on the other side a bit breathless from dashing through the traffic I realised that the elderly gentleman standing there waiting patiently for the pedestrian light was, in fact, the former Prime Minister, John Howard. I nearly bowled him over. We were used to seeing him in the neighborhood during his tenure as PM as his office was in the building next door, but back then he'd have a few bodyguards and some scruffy protesters. This time he was all by himself and seemed a little bewildered.

A couple of weeks earlier, on the same corner, I'd seen the former Treasurer, Peter Costello. He has chatting with someone quite animatedly and seemed very pleased with himself. I always thought he was ok - he was my local member for a while. (Now I have Malcolm!)