AUSTRALIANS WILL go to the polls on August 21st in what will be the country’s first winter federal election campaign since 1987.
An opinion poll conducted since the election was announced on Saturday shows the ruling Labor Party and the Liberal/National coalition are tied on 50 per cent each after second preferences are distributed.
Labor’s primary vote has dropped to 38 per cent, six points below that of the coalition, but Labor is on target to get the majority of preferences from the Greens. If this were to be replicated on election day, the resultant 2.7 per cent swing would be enough to put the coalition in power.
Labor leader Julia Gillard has been prime minister for little more than three weeks, since she successfully challenged her predecessor Kevin Rudd for leadership of the Labor Party.
Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott has attacked Ms Gillard for the manner of her ascension to prime minister, calling it an assassination. An earlier poll found 57 per cent of those surveyed thought the way the leadership change happened would harm Labor’s re-election chances.
That poll also found Ms Gillard had a 23-point lead over Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister, and that most people believed Labor would win the election.
The theme of Labor’s re-election bid is “moving forward”. Ms Gillard used the phrase 22 times in her opening address of the campaign. “In this forthcoming election campaign I’ll be asking the Australian people for their trust,” she said.
“This election I believe presents Australia with a very clear choice. This election is about the choice as to whether we move Australia forward or go back.”
Mr Abbott said he expected a ‘‘filthy’’ election battle, with the government ‘‘throwing the kitchen sink’’ at him and the coalition. He then threw Ms Gillard’s slogan back at her.
“Why should people trust Julia Gillard, when even Kevin Rudd couldn’t,” he said. “The prime minister wants to move forward because the recent past is so littered with her own failures. If we stay with Labor, we’ll be moving forward to more spending, more taxes, more debt and more boats.”
The latter is a reference to refugee boats arriving in Australian waters in increasing numbers. Mr Abbott recently vowed to “turn the boats back”, and yesterday rejected suggestions by Ms Gillard that the government and opposition have similar policies on dealing with asylum seekers. He said there were major differences.
Both sides plan to process asylum seekers offshore, but Labor plans to do it in East Timor, which is a signatory to the convention on refugees.
The coalition would use either Papua New Guinea or Naura, neither of which are signatories to the convention.
The 2010 campaign is the first time in living memory that both the major party leaders involved were born in the UK. Ms Gillard was born in Barry, Wales, while Mr Abbott was born in London.