I've just read this dailykos diary about GWB's visit on Monday to Syndey, Australia:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/3/874/29300

Bush flies to APEC : here's what's waiting for him
by oznick
Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 05:07:04 AM PDT


That diary contains lots of comments about Bush himself and Bush's possible effect on the coming Australian elections.

Also, that diary includes comments about the latest polls in that election such as this one:

"Polls continue to show Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party ahead of John Howard and the Government. A recent Galaxy poll had Labor widening its lead to 14 points on a two-party basis, 57 to 43 per cent

Not only that, but Howard's in real trouble of losing his own seat. In the Bennelong electorate, where Howard resides, he's being challenged by Labor candidate Maxine McKew, a former TV journo who has a real chance of knocking him off.

Howard has held this seat for 33 years, and now the Liberal Party considers it marginal. Some opinion polls suggest that McKew, regarded as one of Labor's star recruits, is a real threat to Howard, who could become the first Australian prime minister to lose his seat since Stanley Melbourne Bruce in 1929."

by AggieDemocrat on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 05:20:50 AM PDT

-snip-

Also, here's another post by AggieDemocrat who responded to a request from an self-admitted "myopic" American for a summary of the positions of John Howard and Kevin Rudd:

"In a nutshell... John Howard is head of the Liberal Party, which, despite its name, is actually conservative. Kevin Rudd's the leader of the Australian Labor Party, which, despite the Americanised spelling, is akin to the British Labour Party.

Liberals, despite what they keep trying to tell me, align with the Republican Party. Howard in particular is hawkish on Iraq, etc. A key plank in the Liberals' platform is privatising government services.

Labor is aligned with the Democrats, and has a good history with them. Al Gore has praised Rudd for his stance on climate change, and participate in Labor's climate change conference. They are pro-union/labor (duh), and are the centre-left party. (But they're pretty far to the left of the Democrats, really.)

As I said above, Labor and Rudd have been outpolling the Liberals and Howard pretty much all year. But the new news is that Howard might lose his own seat - so he'd be out of Parliament period.

If you're not familiar with the Westminster system -- the PM is just the leader of the party in power. Howard can lose the Prime Ministership, but retain his seat in the House of Representatives (if he wins in his district, but Liberals lose the majority). But, he might not even keep that seat.

While he has not decided on a firm date, Howard has said that the election would be held in 2007. It's not set, like it is in America. Under Commonwealth law, the election must be held by 19 January 2008, but must be called between 23 and 31 days before the nominated date. That's one of the weirdest differences to wrap your head around. (That, and the fact that the Queen could, theoretically, just fire every Member of Parliament if she had a bad hair day.)

Anyhoo - key stats for you. As mentioned above:

Polls continue to show Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party ahead of John Howard and the Government. A recent Galaxy poll had Labor widening its lead to 14 points on a two-party basis, 57 to 43 per cent.

Last week, a Burson-Marsteller (yes, that Burson-Marsteller)/Research International poll found that 77 per cent of Australian voters say they have made up their mind about whom they will vote for—with nearly 56 per cent saying they would vote Labor, and 34 per cent voting for the Government.

Hope that helps.

Your world, upside-down! Visit Sydneysided, my view of the world as a Texan, Aggie and Democrat living Down Under.

by AggieDemocrat on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 05:53:25 AM PDT"

-snip-

I'd love to read what Mudcatters from Oz think about these subjects.

Thanks.