Australia’s opposition Labour leader Mark Latham staked his claim yesterday for victory in an October the 9th election with a vision for a stronger, safer, fairer country and billions of dollars in health care for the elderly.

A passionate Latham officially launched Labour’s campaign with an address pitched around a A$2.9 billion ($2.0 billion) promise of free hospital care for Australians aged over 75 from July 2006.

“(This policy) says something unique about who we are, about the things that make us uniquely Australian,” Latham told hundreds of cheering supporters in the northern city of Brisbane.

“It says that in our country, if you get sick then someone will care for you. It says that the Australian people look out for each other. That we help our mates and those in need. No one gets left behind,” he said.

<B>Conservative government</B>

Opinion polls in the past week suggest the race is still too close to call with some putting centre-left Labour ahead and others showing greater support for Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government as it seeks a fourth straight term.

Australia’s strong economy remains the biggest issue of the campaign, along with the US-led war in Iraq and national security.

Latham sought to woo families and the elderly with his focus on health and education. “Our plan is to grow the Australian economy by investing in skills and education, by creating incentives and rewarding hard work,” said Latham, who at 43 is 22 years younger than Howard.

“Our plan is to use this prosperity well, to ensure that the hard work and enterprise of the Australian people delivers a social benefit – the world-class health and education services we need for the future of our children,” he said.

In a second tilt at elderly voters, Latham unveiled a A$750 million plan to increase welfare payments for Australia’s 3.5 million aged pensioners over the next four years.

Latham and Howard have both pledged to keep downward pressure on interest rates and to keep Australia’s budget in surplus, but the government has tried to scare voters away from Labour by warning that interest rates would rise if Latham won office.

Latham maintained his attack on A$6 billion in spending promises announced by Howard at the Liberal/National coalition campaign launch on Sunday, which would almost halve the 2005/06 budget surplus by slashing it to A$2.7 billion.

“We’re the only party ... willing to respect the budget surplus, the only party putting downward pressure on interest rates,” said Latham, a father of two young boys.

Howard hit back, saying the speech highlighted the Labour leader’s inexperience because it was devoid of a plan to keep the economy growing strongly and to hold interest rates low.

“They are the fundamentals of delivering everything else and his speech has no plans to keep the economy strong and interest rates low. He takes those things for granted and he couldn’t be more wrong,” Howard told reporters while campaigning in Adelaide.

<B>The war on terror</B>

Latham, who once called US President George W. Bush “dangerous and incompetent”, said he was committed to a close alliance with the United States but reiterated that Australia should focus the war on terror in the Asia-Pacific region.

Before the election was called, Latham drew criticism from the United States with a pledge to withdraw Australia’s 850 troops from in and around Iraq by Christmas. Howard remains firm that they will stay as long as they are needed.

“The real job is in our region, working with our neighbours and the United States,” Latham said.

Australia’s election has attracted international attention because it precedes two others also likely to be fought largely on security and the war in Iraq – the US presidential vote on November 2nd and a British election expected in May or June.

<B>Michelle Nichols</B>