Prime Minister John Howard calls Oct 9 poll

[cal04]

Prime Minister John Howard has put an end to speculation over the federal election, announcing Australians will go to the polls on October 9.Mr Howard launched his election campaign after visiting Government House to Governor-General Michael Jeffery to finalise the date.

"This election, ladies and gentlemen, will be about trust," Mr Howard told a press conference."Who do you trust to keep the economy strong and protect family living standards? Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? Who do you trust to lead the fight on Australia's behalf against international terrorism?"

The October 9 date spells a longer-than-usual six-week campaign, the first time since 1984 that a federal campaign will run that long.
The election is likely to be fought on the domestic front - families, the economy, health, education, environment and truth in government.

But Australia's role in Iraq will also be a major issue.
The Labor Party needs to win eight seats from the Coalition for the Howard Government to lose its majority. It will be a tightly fought
election, with recent opinion poll results showing little difference between the major parties.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1187484.htm

[the Kelly Gang]

1. "little difference" ..between Bush & Howard...both liars

[Matilda]

4. Trust me when I tell you Saddam has WMD.....

trust me, the boat people threw their children overboard .... trust
me, invading Iraq will keep us safe from terrorism ...
trust me, we will never, ever have a GST ... trust me, I have no
intention of disabling Medicare .... trust me, the FTA will be good
for Australia .... trust me, the sun shines out of Bush's butt ...
trust me, trust me, trust me .....

[rooboy]

2. Quite ironic that Howard keeps using the word 'trust'... n/t

[2Design]

3. sure wish we had a six week campaign instead of all this

wasted money....the media makes tons.....but the rest of the country and world could use some of it.....and bush has been spending our taxes like a drunken sailor...

[daleo]

5. I am betting Howard loses

And quite decisively. The Australians usually show a fair degree of common sense.

[Matilda]

6. He played the race card last time, and the majority fell for it.

We may be in for a "September surprise" - nothing is too underhanded
for him. Including smear campaigns, something that we were free
of in Australian politics until he came along.

He's a thoroughly nasty little man, and I look forward to his
departure from public life with infinite delight.

[lebkuchen]

7. Latham has said he would withdraw Aussie troops from Iraq

I wonder if Australia will suffer the same treatment just before the election as Spain.

Airport security is very tight flying to Australia. The security people are even breaking open videocassettes, looking for explosive devices. So be sure to carry yours with you, if allowed.

[dudeness]

8. NO hoWARd

time to rid ourselves of this lying douche bag..

[no safe haven]

9. Trust Howard? You've gotta be joking!!!

Like Mark Latham says, the man can't even "lie straight in bed". The sooner Howard, Downer, Hill and the whole snivelling crowd of shrub enablers/facilitators/sycophants are out of office, is not soon enough for me. Polls showed 2 weeks ago that if an election was held then, Latham would win. Let's hope the momentum keeps up.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi no safe haven!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[displacedyankeedem]

10. Can Someone Give A Political Overview of Australia?

Such a lovely country, it's a shame it's a 24 hour trip for me to get down there!

[anakie]

12. the Australian political system

is based on the westminster system same as UK and Canada. Two houses the lower house or the house of representitives (where the majority party forms government) and the Senate which is a house of review.

The election is for the full house and half of the Senate; six senators in each state and two from each territory.

Like just about everywhere else there is an entrenched two party system - the conservatives called the Liberal Party who are now in power and are going for their fourth consectutive win and the Australian Labor Party who are middle left but moving ever further toward the right.

Polls running about 50 50 at present and the election will be decided by about 15 to 20 marginal electorates. The Labor Party needs to win 12 seats to form government.

The best hope for progressives is that the Greens will win the balance of power in the senate thereby having the ability to block any bills coming from the house of reps. If the Greens get one senator from each state most Aussies on this board will be pretty rapt.

One quirk of the actual voting system is that we have preferential voting ie if your first preference doesnt finish in the top two for that seat your next preference is then counted and your vote goes to them. If your second is not in the top two your third choice gets the vote etc. It is a great system for a protest vote and making sure that you preference away from the right wing groups.

Howard has proved in the past what a good politician he is and will resort to just about anything to win government. He has the gall to categorise election promises into core promises and others. He is a horrid nasty little man who should lose this election but he is made of teflon and nothing seems to think.

It looks like it is our turn first to get rid of Howard; then it is up to all of you to get rid of Bush.

[displacedyankeedem]

14. Is there a big rivalry between states?

I know that New South Wales and Victoria are rivals in everything, as are Melbourne and Sydney.

[Matilda]

16. The main rivalry is between Sydney and Melbourne,

but the states all have their own character. The most conservative
states are Quensland and Western Australia, which have very large
rural populations, but at the moment, all state governments are
Labor, which is unusual. So if Latham wins this election, the whole
country will be Labor. Although today's Labor leans a bit too far
to the right for my liking.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

15. Can Latham/Labour win the election?

[Matilda]

17. All the polls at the moment say it's neck and neck.

He could win - I just hope he doesn't make the same mistake as
Kim Beazley did last time (and that I think John Kerry is making)
by being so close to the Libs' position that there's virtually no
difference.

Howard is very cunning and knows every dirty political trick in
the book, but Latham has so far proved to be his match, and Howard
hasn't been able to outsmart him.

Although I hope to see Howard defeated, like many on the left of
Australian politics, I hope to see the Greens hold the balance of
power in the Senate, and it's just possible it could happen.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

18. Thanks!

[liberalcanuck]

11. If Latham wins the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" will get even

smaller.