Australian election turns into a contest, poll shows

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An opinion poll released Tuesday vindicates Prime Minister John Howard's controversial decision to hang on to the Liberal Party leadership and take on Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd at a general election expected in November.

The Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper shows Labor still ahead of the government but by a reduced margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

It's the first big improvement in the ruling coalition's fortunes since Rudd took over the Labour leadership in December.

"I was never in doubt that he should stay on," upper house member Ron Boswell said of Howard's decision last week. "We're in striking distance now, we're still behind but we have to articulate our vision."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer claimed a swing back to the government had put a fifth election victory into the realm of possibility.

"It's my view this is an election that's winnable for the government because the government has policies, it has ideas, it has a strong, strong record and it has a very, very good team," he said. "I think Labor is essentially a front bench of trade union officials and with a puppet called Kevin Rudd who is manipulated by the unions and who is a public relations stuntman and not much else."

Downer declared that leadership tensions were over, with the party now solidly behind Howard to contest the election and, if he wins, hand over some time during his term to heir-apparent Peter Costello.

Health Minister Tony Abbott was also upbeat, saying the poll showed the coalition back in the race.

"The public have never voted in a phoney, and have never voted out a government with a strong record," Abbott said. "It's a better poll but we've still got the job ahead of us. What it does mean is that our candidates and our members are back into the field feeling that it's winnable."

Greens leader Bob Brown said the poll showed nothing more than Howard clawing back some ground before being hammered at the ballot box later this year.

"The polls are consistently showing that the government is going to lose office and there's nothing in this poll to alter that presumption," the upper house member said. dpa sa aw