When he turns 64. After the
Commonwealth Games. In January next year, on the fortieth anniversary
of Ming’s retirement. Give us a break!

The gratuitous tipping
game about when the Prime Minister might stand down got just plain
silly years ago. At the moment he’s there – and on top. And Crikey has
long been reminding readers of an interesting diary engagement the
Prime Minister has for October 2007 – the APEC summit in Sydney.

Now, The Diplomat magazine
has weighed in with an interesting angle. Its latest issue features a
piece that claims “the imperial Prime Ministership is gently evolving,
and one aspect of this is Janette Howard’s assumption of the role of
First Lady.”

It talks about how official invitations now come
from “The Prime Minister and Mrs Janette Howard” – something that
“never happened with Tammie, Hazel or Annita,” The Diplomat observes.

It
looks at “the obvious enjoyment the First Lady takes in her role, and
what that says about the Prime Minister ever voluntarily leaving
Kirribilli House.”

And then it says: “One of the jobs Janette has taken
on is overseeing the organisation for the Asia-Pacific Economic
Co-operation summit in Sydney in October 2007 (only a month before the
expected date for the federal election). Australia is budgeting $216
million for the summit and other APEC conferences, which should pay for
an excellent party.”

Whether it’ll be attended by “The Prime Minister and Mrs Janette
Howard” or just plain “Mr and Mrs Howard” is still anybody’s guess.