Australia's Labor edges ahead in mid-campaign poll

1.00pm

CANBERRA - Australia's opposition Labor party crept ahead of the conservative government in an opinion poll released on Tuesday ahead of an October 9 ballot, as the rivals battled over how best to wage the war on terror.

The Newspoll, published in The Australian newspaper, showed centre-left Labor has a five-point lead with 52.5 per cent support on a two-party preferred basis -- when minor party votes are distributed to major parties and ultimately decide an election.

The poll of 1674 people was taken a week after Labor leader Mark Latham was deemed by political analysts and commentators to have won a nationally televised debate against Prime Minister John Howard and breaks a 50-50 deadlock of the past two weeks.

However, the eight-year-old government, seeking a fourth term, still holds a primary vote lead -- or first count of votes -- with 43 per cent support, down three points from a week earlier, over Labor's 41 per cent, up one point.

Australia's booming economy, national security and the US-led war in Iraq have been the main election issues, with the parties this week arguing over whether a pre-emptive strike was the best way to prevent a terror attack on Australia.

Australia has not been hit by a major terror attack on home soil but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 that were blamed on al Qaeda-linked Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.

Howard alarmed Australia's Asian neighbours, including Indonesia, in December 2002 when he said pre-emptive action in another country was a legitimate response to terrorism and he again criticised Latham on Monday for not making the same pledge.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer defended on Tuesday the government's pledge to stop a terrorist attack against Australia.

"The Australian prime minister ... should be able to say I would do everything I could to stop a terrorist attack against this country," Downer told Australian radio.

"How would you do it? You would obviously in the case of Indonesia and Malaysia and so on, work with those countries."

On Monday, Howard unveiled an A$100 million ($107.08 million) plan to base counter-terrorism police teams in South-East Asia, including in Indonesia and the Philippines. The plan drew a lukewarm response from Manila and was criticised by Latham.

Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said the government's "hairy-chested" comments were damaging Australia's standing in South-East Asia.

"(The government) is doing continuing foreign policy and national security policy damage in terms of our relationships in the region -- relationships we need to work with co-operatively in order to deal with the terrorism threat in our neighbourhood," Rudd told Australian radio.

The election has attracted international attention because it precedes the US presidential vote on November 2 and a British election, widely expected to be called in May or June. Both are set to be fought largely on security and the war in Iraq.

Howard remains the preferred prime minister in the Newspoll, although his lead weakened to 10 points from 17 points.

- REUTERS