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Australian prime minister challenges opinion polls

Australia's embattled Prime Minister John Howard yesterday challenged opinion polls which indicate he will lose forthcoming elections in a landslide, saying he sees no "tribal hostility" to his government.

With elections on Nov. 24, Howard is facing overwhelming defeat according to voter surveys which indicate Labor Party leader and former diplomat Kevin Rudd will win office.

But Howard, who has been criss-crossing the country in a bid to shore up marginal seats for his Liberal/National coalition, said that people are not angry at his government.

"I've been to election campaigns where the level of anger's been greater against the government," he told the Sun-Herald.

Howard, who has been in office for 11 years and is facing a resurgent center-left Labor, said every election had been different.

"But this is not an election campaign with anything like what I would call tribal hostility to the government," he said. "I mean you will always find someone who says you're a disgrace ... but that's all part of the fun."

A Morgan recnet poll said Rudd is set to take 56 percent of the vote.
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