Costello Stands Up To US Global Economic Bullies - NOT!

You tell 'em, Pete:

The [World] bank's board has welcomed Mr Zoellick's nomination but said it would accept other nominations until June 15. Officials dismissed the statement as a formality and predicted the board would move smoothly toward making Mr Zoellick president, despite reservations by some about the US continuing to exercise its 60-year-old prerogative of filling the job.

One about-face came from the Treasurer, Peter Costello, who committed Australian support to Mr Zoellick's candidacy yesterday, backing down on calls for a complete overhaul of the selection process. Australia's support of Mr Zoellick's presidency contradicts advice from Treasury officials, including the department secretary, Ken Henry.

A paper released this week on the Treasury website called the US president's monopoly on selecting a World Bank president anachronistic and "contrary to modern corporate governance best practice". They were, it said: "Inconsistent with the multilateral character of the IMF and World Bank, and undermine their legitimacy and effectiveness."

While authored by a mid-tier Treasury staffer, input is acknowledged from all of Treasury's top-tier officials including Mr Henry.

The paper recommended that a process allowing presidents to be selected from any of the 185 member countries be implemented at "the earliest opportunity". Mr Costello yesterday called on the World Bank to review its selection process "following the completion of the current process".

What a wanker. And speaking of wankers, here's Paul Wolfowitz on TV explaining how the world looks when your head is so deep up your own ass that even your ears are full of shit.