<html> <body> A slightly more colorful description of Latham than this article: <pre>><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/story.jsp?story=568922">http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/story.jsp?story=568922</a> </pre>Support for Bush may cost Australian PM re-election Aussie-rules politics feature tough talk   Daily Telegraph Monday, October 04, 2004 SYDNEY, Australia -- A populist opposition leader with strong republican sympathies and a commitment to bringing troops home from Iraq has a good chance of snatching an unlikely victory in Saturday's Australian election, polls suggested Sunday. Mark Latham, 43, was given little hope of depriving John Howard, the prime minister, of a fourth term when the campaign began. Latham, a protege of Labour party hero Gough Whitlam, has never held a cabinet post and was criticized for inexperience. He came to national prominence partly though his caustic tongue and a notorious incident in 2001, in which he broke the arm of a taxi driver in an argument over a fare. The driver declined to press charges on the grounds that Latham had obviously been drinking. Latham has said that Australia is not "a namby-pamby nation," but one that is happy to call a spade a spade, "and, if need be, pick up the spade and whack someone over the head with it." His comments about Howard's support for U.S. President George Bush sealed his notoriety, and established his credibility in a country where both Bush and the Iraq war are highly unpopular. Referring to Australia's token military commitment to the Iraqi operation, the Labour party leader has called Howard an "arse-licker." He has also publicly expressed other Australian colloquialisms best neither explained nor visualized. If Latham's hostility to the Bush administration initially caught the eye of the electorate, he has since toned down his rhetoric to concentrate on bread and butter domestic issues. He has also revived the traditional strand of Australian populism, presenting himself as the leader who would back the working man against those who have done well through the boom years of Howard's government. Latham has promised sharply increased spending on health care for those over 75. He has also made much of his upbringing in a tough, working-class part of Sydney and has committed himself to redistributive tax policies. Friends of Howard, however, say he should never be underestimated, even when he looks isolated. Television ads blanketing Australia stress that he has presided over eight years of economic growth and low interest rates. He says he will not raise taxes. His management of the economy may carry him to a fourth term. <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> N Paul Childs 5967-157 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5Y 2P3 e-fax 413-683-9725 _______________________________________________________ 'Gee thanks, your validation means oh, so much to me'. -Art 'Bones' MacDesalavo</body> </html>