SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister John Howard insisted Monday that he could win upcoming elections despite a new opinion poll showing him losing further support to his centre-left opponent.
In a rare admission the conservative leader acknowledged that he had made mistakes but defended his government's record and vowed he would not step down as Liberal Party leader ahead of the vote.
"This is not regarded as an incompetent government," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation a day after bidding farewell to a group of world leaders who attended a weekend summit in Sydney.
"I don't regard it as a perfect government as I certainly don't regard myself as being without failings as a prime minister. I've made my share of mistakes. But we are regarded as competent."
Howard said that despite the "very bad" polls, the "preconditions" for changing the government "do not exist at present."
An ACNeilsen poll in the Sydney Morning Herald gave opposition leader Kevin Rudd and his Labor Party a 57 to 43 percent lead over Howard's ruling Liberal-National coalition.
Rudd's personal approval rating had risen eight points to 67 percent, according to the poll, while Howard's remained steady at 50 percent.
The results are in line with a series of polls this year which have shown Rudd, 49, heading for a landslide victory over Howard, who has been in power for 11 years.
Howard, 68, dismissed growing speculation that he might step down as party leader and hand over to ambitious Treasurer Peter Costello, 50.
"The party addressed this issue last year and a decision was taken. The overwhelming view of the party then was that I should remain as leader and Peter Costello should remain as deputy leader and treasurer," Howard said.
"That's been the position and that will remain the position."
He denied that his party and cabinet colleagues were panicking at the prospect of losing their seats and their jobs to the Labor opponents they have derided in parliament for more than a decade.
"I don't think many of them are panicking. What I would say to my colleagues is: we can win this election," he said.
Most Australian punters prepared to put a bet on the election disagree, according to Sportingbet Australia.
"Howard is now the clear underdog in this race," said the betting agency's chief executive Michael Sullivan. "It seems that punters just can't get enough of Rudd."
Over the past two weeks, 88 percent of money bet on the election has been for Labor, leading the agency to slash its odds on Rudd to 1.4 to one while Howard is on offer at 2.85 to one.
Even hosting world leaders including the presidents of the United States, Russia and China at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit over the past week had failed to help Howard.
"It's clear that APEC hasn't given the prime minister the boost in the polls he was hoping for -- quite the opposite," said Sullivan.
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