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Incumbents make last pitch to voters

A protestor wears an effigy of Prime Minister John Howard during a Wilderness Society demonstration outside the Liberal Party headquarters in Melbourne yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

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.

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.
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