Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday called a general election for Oct. 9, with his conservative government trailing well behind the opposition Labor Party in opinion polls.
Howard, 65 and seeking a fourth term in office, said he would campaign on his government's record of economic growth, tax cuts and national security and would fight back against suggestions he had lied to voters in the past.
"This election will be about trust," said Howard, one of US President George W. Bush's closest foreign allies.
"Who do you trust to keep the economy strong and protect family living standards?" he asked, noting that Australia enjoyed one of the most robust economies in the developed world after his eight years in office.
"Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? Who do you trust to lead the fight on Australia's behalf against international terrorism?" he asked.
Howard is the first leader from the so-called "coalition of the willing" which invaded Iraq last year to put his political fate in voters' hands -- just three weeks before Bush goes before his electorate.
And the latest opinion poll at the weekend confirmed he faces the fight of his long political life.
The survey gave the Labor Party under 43-year-old Mark Latham a 55-45 percent lead in voter preferences in a head-to-head race against the governing Liberal-National coalition.
But most analysts expect a tighter contest, noting that Howard trailed Labor before the last election in 2001 and ended up winning a comfortable majority of 82 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives.
Howard, a Sydney lawyer, is already Australia's third longest serving prime minister behind his political idol, Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies, who governed for more than 18 years, and the Labor Party's Bob Hawke, who held office for just over eight years.
Howard would not be drawn yesterday on whether he would see through another three-year term if elected. Polls give his designated successor, Treasurer Peter Costello, a lower rating as potential leader.
Latham quickly took up Howard's theme of trust, but turned it against his rival.
"We've had too much dishonesty from the Howard government," he said. "People don't trust this government any more, with good reason."
Calling for a "new generation" of national leaders, Latham accused the Howard government of neglecting Australia's weakest.
"The Howard government in recent years has been taking the rungs out of the ladder of opportunity," he said.
"I want to put those rungs back in so as people work hard and they climb the ladder they have got a government that's providing the services that give them the very best opportunities in life."
Howard signalled yesterday that in addition to the economy his campaign would focus on national security and his strong relationship with Bush.
His government has spent billions of dollars on counterterrorism measures since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US and earlier this year signed a controversial free trade agreement with Washington.
But his decision to join the US and Britain in invading Iraq last year was unpopular and has left Howard vulnerable to charges he misled the public by claiming the war was needed to get rid of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Latham has vowed to withdraw Australia's 850 troops from Iraq if elected.
Howard's credibility has been further shaken by charges he lied just before the 2001 election by claiming a group of asylum-seekers had thrown their children into the sea when their boat was intercepted by an Australian warship.
The so-called "children overboard" allegation sparked a wave of anti-refugee sentiment that helped sweep Howard to victory on a tough anti-immigration platform.
Subsequent inquiries found no children were thrown overboard and last week a retired defense official said he told the prime minister the story was false, a day before Howard reiterated the allegations in an election-eve speech.
Labor had threatened to take the issue up in the Senate today. In an unusual move, Howard announced that the Senate would continue to sit until tomorrow, making a pointed reference to the debate.
"I didn't want anybody to suggest that I was trying to prevent the Senate doing any pointless political business that it might want to do," he said.
The announcement means an unusually long election campaign -- six weeks instead of the usual five -- and also means the tail end of campaigning will clash with two key football finals, an important issue in sports-mad Australia.
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