Source:
https://scmp.com/article/582316/howards-luck-running-outIs Howard's luck running out?
Another friend and important international ally of US President George W. Bush is on the retreat. Australian Prime Minister John Howard looks likely to face a close-run election later this year. For the first time in a long while, the Labor opposition leads not only in the ever-fickle opinion polls but also in that more reliable guide to the future - bookmakers' odds.
This may prove a flash in the pan, a knee-jerk public response to Labor's appointment of a new leader, Kevin Rudd. He combines a moderate, centrist standpoint and polite demeanour with workaholic ways that display his ambition to become the first Labor prime minister in over a decade.