Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sports
AUSTRALIANS TROOP off to the polls on Saturday to perform their own unique brand of compulsory democracy.
In a democracy, one should presumably have as much right not to vote as to fill out a ballot but not so Down Under where the rules have been turned upside down and it's vote or be fined.
By and large, voting is regarded by most Australians as a pesky inconvenience on a "Sat'dy arvo" and that will most likely be the predominant feeling across the southern continent this weekend.
On the domestic front there is little to complain about as Australia boasts one of the most robust economies in the western world and the election rivals are making billion-dollar promises on the usual election chestnuts of health care, the elderly and education.
FOURTH STRAIGHT VICTORY
On face value, incumbent John Howard and his Liberal/Country Party coalition should stroll to a fourth straight victory as it holds a comfortable but not insurmountable lead of seats.
'Little John' or 'Honest John', depending on which side of the political fence you sit, is a staunch monarchist, sports nut, and, at 65, comes across nowadays as a strict but benevolent grandfather who wants one more tilt in the Prime Minister's rocking chair before quitting politics.
His primary opponent is Labour Party leader, Mark Latham, a rough-around-the-edges 43-year-old who calls a spade a "bloody shovel". He's a breath of fresh air in a party which has stagnated since the mid-'90s when Howard surprisingly swept Paul Keating from office.
With little to sink his teeth into on the local front, Latham has turned his sights to Iraq and vowed to bring Australia's 800-odd troops there home by Christmas.
Howard, meanwhile, claims Australia is in for "the long haul" and will stick it out until the job is done.
Australians, like Americans and Brits, are uneasy about the reasons for going to war in Iraq and the current losing of the peace.
However, although Australia never had a 9/11 on its own soil, the horrendous Bali bombings which killed more than 200 people including 88 Australians still resonates loudly.
The polls show Latham with a slight edge with just a few days to go but there's usually a swing back to the Government on election day so the "should we stay or should we go" over Iraq could prove decisive and not just in Australia.
George Bush and Tony Blair have elections looming and will be keenly studying what transpires this weekend in their ally's backyard.
A Howard loss would cause concern in the halls of Washington and at 10 Downing St. It would be a warning that the Australians are sick and tired of Iraq and they don't even have family and friends dying or being maimed there.
SLAUGHTERED
It is said Australia became a nation on the hills of a Eastern European nation during World War I when thousands of Anzacs were needlessly slaughtered at Gallipoli, Turkey. That ridiculously run campaign forged an Australian identity.
On Saturday, the grandsons and granddaughters of the Anzacs have a clear voice to state how they feel about another seemingly go-nowhere affair far, far away.
What they say will not only be heard from Sydney to Perth and Darwin to Hobart, but much farther afield.>
Tym Glaser, an Australian, is Associate Editor-Sport at The Gleaner.
