Aussie opposition keen to strengthen Asia ties
Aussie opposition keen to strengthen Asia ties
Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, Sydney, Australia
Australia's new opposition leader, touted as the most serious threat to the government in eight years, launched his bid for the nation's top job on Thursday pledging to strengthen ties within Asia.
With Labor's national conference pumped up by a rendition of "New Sensation" by Australian rockers INXS, Mark Latham hammered home the center-left party's core values, making education and health top priorities in the battle to oust conservative Prime Minister John Howard in elections later this year.
But Latham, 42, also urged his colleagues to unite after years of infighting to capitalize on a lift in opinion polls since his election eight weeks ago. The latest Newspoll survey shows Labor support at 39 percent and the government 41 percent.
"Let's show the renewed determination of our party and our movement to work together," Latham told a packed auditorium at the start of the three-day conference.
With Labor's chances of winning power rising, observers from eight Asian nations attended the conference where Latham is under pressure to prove he can unite Labor's leftist union-loyal factions and centrists.
Asian observers wanted to hear Latham's view on Australia's role in Asia, with Howard often accused of overlooking the region to play "deputy sheriff" to the United States.
Chinese Vice-Minister for the International Department, Zhang Zhijun, said Latham was keen to build on the present relationship with China, planning a visit there before the election which is expected to be held in October or November.
"In my discussions with Labor party friends, they expressed their determination to pursue this policy with a greater strength," he told Reuters in the wings of the conference.
East timor, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Solomons Islands and Fij also sent representatives to the conference.
Latham said the three pillars of his foreign policy would be "comprehensive engagement with Asia", United Nations membership and Australia's alliance with the United States.
"I believe in the American alliance but with Australia as an equal partner, not a deputy," said Latham, who was blasted for branding President George Bush "incompetent" over the Iraq war.
He has alienated some voters with blunt, often coarse language, and a reported scuffle in which he broke a taxi driver's arm.
But overall Latham has pushed the right buttons, depicting himself as a new generation leader in touch with modern Australia versus Howard, 64, a veteran with nearly 30 years in parliament. Howard denied Latham's youthful appeal had him rattled.