Kevin Rudd first battle is Murdoch in Australian election
Labor leader Kevin Rudd faces an uphill battle as voters lose confidence and Murdoch's media turn against him over 'toxic' politics
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday launched into the first day of Australia's election campaign faced with a poll showing his personal support has slumped and the Murdoch press urging voters to "kick this mob out".
Rudd on Sunday named September 7 as the day Australians will go to the polls, hoping to complete a stunning political comeback with victory for his Labor Party three years after it ousted him.
But he faces an uphill battle after what newspapers said was years of a "toxic political climate" that saw Julia Gillard topple him as Labor leader in 2010. He then defeated her to retake the job in June in hopes of saving the party from an election wipeout.
Since then Rudd has re-energised Labor. But, in the first poll since the election was announced, the Tony Abbott-led conservative coalition continues to lead 52 to 48 per cent, unchanged from two weeks ago.
More worryingly for Rudd, the Newspoll of 1,147 voters published yesterday in newspaper showed a jump of six percentage points in the number of people dissatisfied with his performance during the past fortnight. And while he remains the preferred leader by a long margin over Abbott, the poll showed he has lost some ground.
Labor is also battling the might of the Rupert Murdoch press, which controls 70 per cent of the country's print media, with the mogul's in Sydney devoting its entire front page yesterday to Rudd and an editorial under the headline: "Finally, you now have the chance to ... Kick This Mob Out".
Finally, you now have the chance to ... Kick This Mob Out
The mass-market tabloid supported him at the 2007 election that he won, but now says it is time to "consign Rudd to the bin of history", calling for "an end to two terms of political chaos and economic decline".
"We agree with the prime minister when he says that 'the old politics of the past won't work for Australia's future'," said the newspaper, with Murdoch last week jetting in his trusted Australian lieutenant, editor Col Allan, to lead the editorial campaign.
Murdoch's broadsheet acknowledged Rudd had given Labor new life, but said: "Labor cannot distance itself from its record over the past six years."
It added that Australia had endured "a toxic political climate and a period of repeated government failure on core issues".
Rudd, whose campaign is focused on the economy and a decision to send asylum-seekers to Papua New Guinea and Nauru, began his pitch to voters in Canberra and said he was not surprised at Murdoch's stance.
"He wants to see the government removed and he wants to see Mr Abbott as prime minister," he told ABC radio, reiterating that while Labor were the underdogs they offered a better future.
"I think what the Australian people want is a new approach to the future which is based on positive policy and bringing the country together - government, business, unions - to deal with the central economic challenge which lies ahead," he said.
This, said Rudd, was handling the economy's transition away from a decade-long mining boom largely fuelled by China.
"This is a complex and difficult task, it affects every Australian," he added.
Abbott, campaigning in Brisbane, said he would make repealing Labor's carbon tax his first task if elected.
