SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister John Howard's hopes for a fifth term received a boost Wednesday when an opinion poll showed most voters trust him on the key election battleground of managing the economy.
The Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper came as Howard and his Labor Party rival Kevin Rudd temporarily suspended campaigning to attend the funeral of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.
The poll showed that while Howard's conservative coalition continued to trail Labor 56 percent to 44, more voters felt the prime minister was best equipped to handle economic management and national security.
It had the coalition leading Labor 53 percent to 29 on the economy and 49 to 26 on national security.
The survey of 1,177 voters gave Howard a glimmer of hope in an election expected to be decided on hip-pocket issues such as tax, housing affordability and interest rates.
It was taken before Sunday's announcement of the November 24 election date, meaning Howard can anticipate a further opinion poll lift from tax cuts worth 34 billion dollars (30.6 billion US) announced Monday.
Howard has staked his political future on his ability to manage Australia's economic prosperity, labelling Rudd too inexperienced for the job.
However, the poll showed Labor enjoyed a 47 percent to 34 lead over the coalition on industrial relations, where Howard is facing a backlash over new laws seen as giving too much power to employers.
The prime minister said in an interview published Wednesday there was no reason Australia's 16-year period of economic growth could not be extended indefinitely.
"Why do we worry all the time that we can't succeed? Growth is good, we should aspire to it," he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Howard said that, if re-elected, he hoped to reduce unemployment from its current 33-year-low of 4.2 percent to 3.5 percent, effectively reaching full employment.
But with economists predicting an even chance that interest rates will rise before the election, Howard set up a potential clash with the Reserve Bank of Australia over its monetary policy priorities.
The independent central bank has pursued a goal of keeping inflation within a 2.0-3.0 percent target band since 1996 but Howard said its founding charter bound it to pursue the same goal of full employment that he was seeking.
"I don't think that the Reserve Bank is willing to slow economic growth," he said. "I think that's a misreading. The bank's charter is to maintain full employment."
The Reserve Bank lifted rates 0.25 points to 6.50 percent in August and governor Glenn Stevens said earlier this year that it was "absurd" to suggest it would take political considerations into account when determining rates.
Campaigning was put aside as Howard and Rudd attended the Brisbane funeral of trooper David Pearce, who was killed by a roadside bomb while driving a light armoured vehicle in Afghanistan last week.
Pearce's death was just the second combat loss for Australia since it sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq in the US-led "war on terror" following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
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