Prime Minister John Howard launched a media blitz yesterday to persuade undecided voters to give him a fourth term in today's election, where he will be the first of the three leaders -- US, British and Australian -- who invaded Iraq last year to face a ballot showdown.
While Howard's allies in Washington and London will be closely monitoring the election for signs of what they face in polls next month and next year, voters here have been more concerned with the economy, health and education.
PHOTO: EPA
With some analysts suggesting up to 18 percent of Australia's 13 million voters remained undecided, Howard and opposition Labor Party leader Mark Latham made their final pitches for support in a string of radio and television appearances.
Polls have Howard's center-right government the likely winner, but undecided voters opting to back Labor could end Howard's 30-year political career.
"To those Australians who are listening to this program who haven't made up their mind, this is not a time to experiment with the theory of kick him but he'll still be in office," Howard told 4BC radio in Brisbane as part of a flurry of election-eve interviews. One of the main reasons voters may want to punish Howard is his tough stance on Iraq. The staunch US ally sent 2,000 troops last year to take part in the US-led invasion, triggering the biggest peace protests in Australia since Canberra sent soldiers to fight in the Vietnam War.
Howard still has 900 military personnel in and around Iraq, none involved in offensive operations, and has vowed to leave them there as long as they are needed. Latham says he will withdraw most of the troops by Christmas if he wins today.
"People will know that we have to deal with the here and now -- stay the distance and help Iraq, or cut and run," Howard said at a press conference in Sydney. "If Australia were to cut and run from Iraq it would send a very bad signal to the world."
Howard stood by his decision to invade Iraq despite one of his key motivations being undermined by the chief US weapons inspector saying former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein did not have a weapons of mass destruction program last year.
Latham was just as energetic -- packing in 11 interviews in the morning. Voting in remote locations -- including among Aborigines in the Outback and scientists camped on Antarctica -- already has begun.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese