When things are a bit slow we can always rely on the Australian conservative government to entertain us — their now very desperate (divorced from reality) attempts to come out of the Hicks “saga” smelling roses are entertaining if nothing else. The impossibility of the Howard government looking good over any issue relating to Hicks hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello. The Treasurer has very unwisely waded into the debate with characteristic miscalculated comments regarding Hicks. Try as Costello might to incriminate Hicks and brand him a murderer, the facts speak for themselves.