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I have one of Australia's premium exports, the writer and poet Clive James, to thank for introducing me to the obscure art of the Moebius striptease.

In his latest book of essays and articles, The Revolt of the Pendulum, he speaks of this erotic dance where "the disrobing stripper is always on the point of getting dressed again, and there is no resolution to the revelation".

All of which brings us to Peter Costello.

Ever since the defeat of the Howard government in 2007, the former Treasurer has staged his own backbench version of the Moebius striptease - politically suggestive rather than overtly erotic, of course, and conducted in a manner which has teased and tantalised the Canberra press gallery without ever fully revealing himself.

So despite increasingly coy protestations that he was not a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party, there was an eye-catching speech here, or a headline-grabbing book launch there - always showing just enough leg to keep him in the spotlight.

Indeed, in recent months, his moves seemed to be even more intricately choreographed.

And why not? With the global financial crisis biting hard, the times seemed to suit him. Not only was he Australia's longest serving Treasurer - and arguably its most successful - but he was one of the original architects of the G20.

Despite what Paul Keating said about him being a "low altitude flyer", Mr Costello had the brains to be prime minister, along with the economic expertise and parliamentary skill and bravado.

The oft-heard criticism is that he lacked the political courage, or the ticker.

According to Costello and his allies, he was promised the prime ministership by John Howard midway through a second coalition term, but his leadership ambitions were thwarted continually by his obstinate and treacherous boss.

When Mr Howard went back on that 'deal', Mr Costello lacked the bravery (according to his critics), or the necessary backbench support (according to his admirers), to unseat Mr Howard. Perhaps he was deficient on both counts.

After Mr Howard's defeat in 2007, the member for Higgins had two clear chances to seek the leadership of the Liberal Party, but said on both occasions that he wanted to pursue a career beyond politics.

Still, he refused to categorically rule out a political comeback which meant that he became a seriously disruptive, distracting and destabilising presence in the party room and broadcasting studios.

For as long as he delayed his departure from politics, he therefore posed a threat to the present Liberal leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and, by extension, Kevin Rudd - especially at a time of such economic uncertainty, with the polls showing the Liberals making something of a comeback (even though Rudd retains his lead over Turnbull as the preferred prime minister).

During his witty speech in parliament, Costello wryly observed: "It is just possible that both sides of the dispatch box are happy with the announcement that I have made." Certainly, I have rarely seen Malcolm Turnbull look happier.

One of the recent problems facing the Labour Party in Britain has been its difficulty in looking beyond the Blair/Brown/Mandelson era. In some ways, the recent turmoil in Westminster, and the inability of rebels to dislodge Gordon Brown, could be interpreted as a failure of political imagination as much as a failure of political will.

Now the Liberal Party has no other choice but to imagine a future without Peter Costello and his archrival John Howard, whose three-sentence 'tribute' to his former deputy was minimalist in the extreme.

For Australian conservatives, this, then, is the definitive break with the past: more so even than John Howard's valedictory address at the Wentworth hotel in Sydney on the night of his electoral defeat (which started, curiously, while Mr Costello was still addressing his party helpers in the seat of Higgins, in Melbourne's well-healed inner east. The television channels cut immediately from Melbourne to Sydney).

Malcolm Turnbull is now much more free to contest the next election in the political centre, since the rightwing of the Liberal Party has lost its figurehead. As the Australian Financial Review put it in its front page headline: 'Costello liberates Turnbull.'

There's been lots of talk about Costello being the best prime minister Australia never had, and, less contentiously, the best leader the Liberal Party never had. For all his teasing, Australia never got the see the Full Costello.

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