Howard calls Oct 9 election

By GREG ANSLEY

CANBERRA - Under slate-grey skies and the first rain to fall for weeks on Canberra, and facing increasing attacks on his honesty and competence, Prime Minister John Howard yesterday declared a federal election for October 9.

Ending a long, phoney war and repeated false alarms, Howard set the nation on course for a bitter six-week campaign marked by wafer-thin polling gaps and in which both the Government and the Labor Opposition are claiming to be the underdog.

Howard has also taken the unprecedented and remarkable step of allowing the Senate to continue sitting today and tomorrow before dissolving in the hope of stifling criticism that he muzzled the wilful Upper House before it could debate new claims that he lied over the "children overboard" affair.

The House of Representatives will not sit again until after the election.

The Senate was preparing a new inquiry into allegations that Howard knew before the last election the reports of asylum-seekers throwing children into the Indian Ocean were false, but continued to deceive voters to help cement support in the final days of the 2001 campaign.

Howard yesterday tried to thrust the past behind him by promoting his record on economic management and trying to resurrect traditional fears of Labor as wanton and profligate managers who would drive the country into penury.

But polling over the past few months has consistently shown the Government is trailing Labor which, aided by preferences from the surging Greens and other minor parties and independents, heads into the campaign with a narrow but decisive margin.

A Taverner poll in Sydney's Sun-Herald yesterday showed a Labor lead of 2 per cent on the two-party preferred basis that decides Australian elections, but a Morgan poll last Friday showed a 10 per cent lead.

"We start as the underdog," Howard said. "There's no doubt about that."

But the Prime Minister is a tough and skilled politician able to make the most of any openings that present themselves during a campaign, as he did with the September 11 terror attacks and the Tampa refugee crisis in 2001 when he turned the tables on a previously ascendant Labor.

He also has the example of former arch-rival Paul Keating, who entered the 1993 election as one of Australia's most disliked Prime Ministers, but who in the campaign's final stages convinced swinging voters to turn against Liberal leader John Hewson - previously considered unbeatable.

Both Howard and Mark Latham - the outspoken newcomer who became Labor leader in February - have nominated economic management, health, education, national security and trust in Government as their primary battlegrounds.

Howard emphasised the experience of his Administration and its achievements in office: strong economic growth, 1.3 million new jobs, a reduction of A$70 billion in Government debt, the lowest interest rates in 30 years and 14 per cent growth in real wages.

He condemned Labor's record on the economy, saying a Latham Government would drive the budget into deficit, push up interest rates and restore the power of the trade union movement.

Latham dismissed Howard's claims, promising fully costed and funded policies, a budget in surplus, downward pressure on interest rates and a lean, efficient government.

He said Australia had experienced too much dishonesty and deceit from the Government, but although Labor would highlight Howard's failings, its campaign would be overwhelmingly positive.