Fed: Latham shrugs off poll boost

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2004
Fed: Latham shrugs off poll boost

CANBERRA, Aug 17 AAP - Opposition Leader Mark Latham today shrugged off the significance
of a poll which showed Labor was back in an election-winning position.

The latest Newspoll had Labor ahead of the coalition - 54 to 46 per cent - on a two-party
preferred basis after a slump in support for the Howard government.

The poll showed the coalition's primary vote fell six percentage points to 39 per cent
after two weeks of political debate over the free trade agreement (FTA) with the US.

Mr Latham told ABC radio that his main interest was what the Australian people were saying.

"The polls bounce around a fair bit, we've seen that in recent times," he said.

"My main poll is talking to the Australian people and they say `save bulk-billing,
save Medicare, make the education system more affordable' and increasingly they're saying
`let's have a government we can trust'."

AAP so/bes

KEYWORD: NEWSPOLL LATHAM

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