AUSTRALIA: Aussie election campaign turns nasty

The Australian government launched advertisements yesterday attacking Labor Party leader Mark Latham in a move that the opposition said brought negative campaigning into the Oct 9 election campaign

The Straits Times
Monday, September 20, 2004

SYDNEY - The Australian government launched advertisements yesterday attacking Labor Party leader Mark Latham in a move that the opposition said brought negative campaigning into the Oct 9 election campaign.

Television ads and mail-outs from the conservative coalition questioned his record as a suburban mayor in Sydney, claiming he left the Liverpool Council virtually bankrupt when he was in charge in the early 1990s.

'Mark Latham - if you can't run a council, you can't run a country,' the ads say.

Mr Latham rejected the claims of mismanagement, saying a public inquiry had cleared him, and vowed to keep his campaign positive.

'They are dishonest claims from a dishonest government that is going personal,' he told Channel Nine TV.

'They are talking about the past instead of talking about the country's future. Why is that? Because they have got nothing to say about the nation's future.'

Prime Minister John Howard denied Mr Latham was being attacked personally, saying the opposition leader's public record was being subjected to legitimate scrutiny.

Date Posted: 9/20/2004