Source:
https://scmp.com/article/582316/howards-luck-running-out

Is 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.