Reply #17: Embattled Australian PM votes, hopes for 5th term

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By Michael Perry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071124/wl_nm/australia_ele...

Australian Prime Minister John Howard cast his ballot in national elections on Saturday hoping voters would return him for a fifth straight term and reject a younger opposition leader offering generational change.

"I hope we will win. I believe we will win. It is in the hands of my fellow Australians," Howard told reporters.

Conservative leader Howard, 68, has been in power for 11 years, but trails in opinion polls behind the opposition Labor leader, 50-year-old Kevin Rudd. Some polls predict a landslide victory to Labor, others say Howard and Rudd are neck-and-neck.

Howard is a staunch U.S. ally and if re-elected has committed to keeping Australian troops in Iraq. He has offered voters A$34 billion (US$29 billion) in tax cuts, but few new policies.

Rudd has pledged to withdraw combat troops from Iraq and sign the Kyoto Protocol, further isolating Washington on both. The Mandarin-speaking former diplomat would also be expected to forge closer ties with China and other Asian nations.




http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/a...