When Andrew Peacock visited Newcastle ahead of the 1974 double dissolution election, we held a campaign function in his honour at the Belmont Yacht Club.
When the then 35-year-old charismatic Liberal frontbencher entered, he lit up the room of 300 people with his natural charm and the sheer force of his personality.
With his good looks, intelligence and charisma, Andrew Peacock had a dream run in Australian politics that has never been matched.
The young MP was often compared to John F Kennedy, who also radiated style and vitality.
Peacock was regarded as a bon vivant, gregarious and confident.
His private life, including three marriages and a score of girlfriends, was good fodder for gossip columnists and the corridors of power.
He was Victorian Party President at 26, a federal MP at 27, a minister at 29, a cabinet minister at 36, and the opposition leader at 43.
With his good looks, intelligence and charisma, Andrew Peacock had a dream run in Australian politics that has never been matched.
He was dubbed the "colt from Kooyong" by fellow cabinet minister Reg Withers. But Andrew never became prime minister, despite having fought two elections as the Coalition leader in 1984 and 1989.
Although the "golden boy" of the Liberal Party rose rapidly in politics, when he arrived at the top of the greasy pole, the times didn't suit him.
In the two elections that he did fight in the 1980s, he was up against Bob Hawke on both occasions.
Bob was the most charismatic and popular leader in ALP history and won an unprecedented four elections on the trot.
In the two Hawke v Peacock federal election contests, Andrew campaigned well and cut significantly into the ALP majority, but it wasn't quite enough to win.
He should have won in 1990. By the time of that contest, the economy had turned sour and went into recession. This should have delivered the prime ministership to Andrew Peacock, but it didn't.
Unfortunately for Peacock, he went into the 1990 election fighting on two fronts. In addition to the Coalition v Labor battle, Peacock was still profoundly embroiled in his own party's struggle between the moderates and the conservative wings.
READ ALSO:
- Heartbroken mother's warning after baby's choking death
- Carly McBride murder trial: natural history student stumbled upon bush grave
- Quarantine-free travel as Australia-NZ bubble launches
- Ugarkovic scores screamer as Jets draw 2-all with Macarthur Bulls
In the post-Fraser Liberal Party in the 1980s, the ideological ground was shifting in a conservative direction under the tenacious leadership of John Howard, the doyen of the right-wing.
This battle between the two continued for most of the 13 years of opposition in the 1980s and early 1990s.
It created the image of party division in the public mind. This prompted Bob Hawke to comment, "if you cannot govern yourselves, you cannot govern the country".
Peacock would likely have won the 1990 election with a united party behind him, cutting the Coalition time in opposition in half, but it wasn't to be. In politics, disunity is death.
Eventually, Andrew Peacock gave up the political fight in 1994 and became Australia's Ambassador to the United States.
When he retired Andrew said, "I am not sure that I even really wanted to be prime minister". And in that statement, we see a glimmer of why the charismatic and charming Peacock never gained the top job.
However, the pedestrian but highly tenacious Howard became our second-longest-serving prime minister. You have to want the job and have a messianic self-belief that your destiny is to gain the ultimate prize. Peacock didn't; Howard did.
Following his 80th birthday, Andrew Peacock pondered a simple question: What did he consider the most significant defeat in his long remarkable life?
Perhaps losing to Bob Hawke in 1984 and 1990 federal elections? Or his 1985 tussle with John Howard for the Liberal leadership?
"Unquestionably, far and away, it was the 1974 Melbourne Cup when Think Big beat Leilani, says the former part-owner of Leilani. I still have nightmares over it".
The racehorse owner's reflection on his life says a lot about Andrew Peacock.
It speaks to a more gentlemanly era when winning in politics was important, but it wasn't everything.
That makes his era and his rivalry with Howard seem almost quaint.
