Australia’s opposition blunders on internet policy on election eve

Australia’s conservative opposition was forced to make a quick about-turn on its internet policy to rule out more censorship on Friday, in a rare policy bungle on the eve of a general election it is poised to win.

Opinion polls are pointing to a solid victory for opposition leader Tony Abbott, ending six years of often turbulent Labor rule and the past three years of political uncertainty over a hung parliament.

Abbott has run a disciplined campaign, focusing on stability under his Liberal-National Party coalition in contrast to the infighting which saw the Labor Party dump Kevin Rudd as prime minister in 2010, and then recall him in favour of Julia Gillard in late June.

But the opposition’s short-lived policy blunder, suggesting a British-style compulsory filter for “adult content”, could also signal emerging divisions within Abbott’s Liberal Party between social conservatives and free-speech liberals.

“We made a mistake, we acknowledged the mistake. We corrected the mistake. It took about three minutes,” Abbott said in his final media conference of the election campaign.